Greg Bishansky writes...

Just a few comments. I'm sure we'll discuss it in more detail soon.

Okay, first two episodes were pretty damn good.

- Loved Keith David as the unseen Big Man.
- Spidey's quips were funny, and as Pete he was very geeky and awkward, which was cool.
- I am really liking Gwen Stacy here, she's like a spunky version of Willow when she was in High School.
- On that note, you can tell that Greg is a Joss Whedon fan, but in a way, this had a bit of a Buffy feel, especially in the High School scenes.
- I liked Vulture a lot. The re-design was great. Loved hearing Freddy Kruger's voice come out of him.
- Electro was both an imposing an sympathetic villain. Crispin Freeman did a great job with that voice.
- Eddie Brock was great... I never thought I'd ever say that, but I like this Eddie. Giving him a connection to Peter is a brilliant move, which will make things all the more tragic when he becomes Venom.
- Cameos, cameos, cameos. Flint Marko and the Rhino as criminals before they become supervillains.
- Nice foreshadowing for the Lizard. I like how the villains are interconnected. Works better than random radiation accidents.
- And Gargoyles fan service. Goliath, Hudson and Broadway statues... Broadway shattered in the fight with Vulture.
- Norman Osborn is perfect in this series. He was a ruthless businessman. Unscrupulous, amoral and a bully. His one scene with Harry said all we needed to know about what kind of father he is, and how disappointed he is in his son. I love how Harry calls him "Sir."

I also loved how Vulture didn't even manage to faze him. He is being held hundreds of feet up in the air, and dropped, and he still insults him. Yes, this is the Norman Osborn I always read in comics. Much better than the 90s version who was reduced to being the Kingpin's whiny victim, and who wasn't a bad guy before he got powers.

Algernon writes...

My Thoughts on The Spectacular Spider-Man

Wow, I am truly gobsmacked by these first two episodes. I'm particularly impressed by how many figures of Spidey-lore you have managed to squeeze in here. From big names like Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy to the insanely obscure ones like Sally Avril and Stan Carter. Most comic-based shows don't intro this many familiar faces in a whole season, this show does it in the pilot. Pretty much every single character with a speaking role is lifted directly from the comic page. But on to the episodes themselves...

Survival of The Fittest

A whole lot going on in this ep, Vulture's vendetta against Osborn, Foswell and the Enforcers cracking down on Spidey plus a whole lot of pipe laying for future story lines. It really is a great running start for the series, hope you keep up the momentum.

Interactions
Another episode bursting at the seems, lots of different plot lines interweaving. Seriously I'm amazed these episodes are only 22 minutes long. Electro's never been a fave of mine but I like what you did with him here.

Random Thoughts

*Keith David's Big Man is the standout for me. I especially dig the unseen ominous voice angle, Kingpin, shmingpin I Say.

*It seems your going the Ultimate route with Eddie Brock's character development. Not my favorite incarnation of Brock but it'll be interesting seeing where you go with it.

*I'm pretty sure this is the first time Sandman's been animated since the eighties.

*Who does the voice of Norman Osborn? It kinda sounds like Kelsey Grammer

Great work so far, keep it up.

Jordan writes...

Hey Greg,

I caught the spider-man premire and I have to say it was one of the best saturday mornings I've had in years. Congrats to you and your crew.

In the time between Gargoyles and Spider-man, how would say the overall process of creating an animated show has changed, for better or worse?

chuck logan writes...

Saw the new Spider-Man series and I have some quick questions:
1. Why does Doc conners have a robot arm?
If he has a perfectly fuctioning macanical arm, that may work better then a real one, why is he in such a hurry to grow a new arm? With this macanical arm (unlike in the comics) his life and ability to function is not hindered like it would be without it. The machanical arm deflates his motivation and the urgency to experiment on himself. I understand his wanting a flesh and bone arm but with a wife and child and a perfecly good maybe better robo arm his motives come across purely selfish and even more unnessisary.

2. Why do all the characters have eyes like the children in those old marionette/claymation christmas specials? This is especilly distrubing on Peter Parker.
3. Why introduse eddie brock so eairly in the series and not marry jane? Both these characters came much later in spider-man's life.
Mary Jane The Amazing Spider-Man #42 November 1966 (full apperence) \
Eddie Brock Web of Spider-Man #18 (Sept. 1986 Venom)

4. There are a couple other things that bug me, those are the big ones. Aginst my better judgment I actully like the new look of Vulture and Electro. My only problem with Electro is he is basicly a mutent. I would like it better if he uesed the suite to as a means of power not a way of containing it. This way he can lead an outwordly norm life and look like any rondom guy on the street until it is time to strike. At the end of the episode electro shattered his helmet. I hope he dosen't get another one he lookes cooler without it.

The animation on Spider-man during the action sequeces is great.
Thank You, Thank, You Thank You for giving Peter Parker/Spider-Man web shooters.
Is it true Kingpin will not appear in this show?

Todd Jensen writes...

I saw the first two episodes of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" this morning, and enjoyed them. I immediately spotted a few of the elements that people have commented on here before me: the stone gargoyles in the first episode (knowing that you'd written that one, I wasn't at all surprised that they showed up), Keith David being cast as the mysterious boss determined to get rid of Spider-Man, and the way that Electro's accident evoked "Metamorphosis".

I'm looking forward to seeing the others - and I'm pleased that it's easy to follow for someone who (like me) has only a general familiarity with Spider-Man (though I got a few of the allusions, such as to Uncle Ben's death and the significance of lizards in Dr. Connors' lab). Congratulations.

Demonskrye writes...

I'm really glad we're able to give you our feedback on "Spectacular Spider-Man". My husband and I watched it this morning. We're big Spidey fans - the kind with all the Essential volumes on a easily accessible bookshelf - so I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that we both loved it. The "Cheeks" designs look great in animation and I'd even say this series looks better than any previous animated incarnation of Spider-Man. My husband got a kick out of seeing the Enforcers and we both really liked the takes on Liz Allen, Gwen Stacy, and Eddie Brock. Great buildup to the upcoming Lizard episode and nice subtle tease of the Sandman too. I was also impressed that we're two episodes in and there's no direct reference to Spidey's origin. I think by now it's fair to assume most viewers know what happened. I'm sure I won't be the first person to comment on the cameo by Hudson and a couple of Broadways (or was the other one Hollywood?)), but it was really fun.

So since I feel like I should ask a question, do I recall correctly that you mentioned reading "Untold Tales of Spider-Man" in a previous interview about the show? It's one of our favorite Spider-Man comics and we'd both be thrilled to see some aspects of it make their way into the show.

I know the show has been a lot of hard work for you and likely everyone else involved, but it looks like you're having a lot of fun too. Keep up the great work; it's paying off big time.

KingCobra_582 writes...

**SPOILERS**

Weeks of waiting, and it's finally here. Video-taped "The Spectacular Spider-man" this morning on Kids WB! (the only reason I would ever watch that channel) and thought I'd leave my two cents.

It has a lot of nice touches to it. Loved the brief, but still informative info on the characters. Peter's infamous spider-bite, etc. I figured the entire first episode would've been devoted to it, instead of a little scene. Nice to be proven wrong, for once.

Of course, I loved the little nods to 'Gargoyles'.

Recognized Robert Englund right off (having been watching Fred Kruger movies since I was 7 or 8, not to mention his other horror films over the years, how could I not?) and thought he was just spot-on as Vulture. Vulture is now on my growing list of favorite Spider-man characters, thanks to Robert's performance and your writing. I don't know much about the character in the comics, but in the series, I think you did Vulture justice. Hope I get to see him again!

Electro. Another great villain, and another character that I could get used to. Gotta feel sorry for the guy, thrown into a situation that he didn't ask for nor could do anything about. I am curious, though. Why, when Dr. Connors said he needed more time for a cure, did Electro rage "I don't have time!"? Was he dying? Did he have something that's now impossible to do? Or was he just being impatient? Curious...

Captivating show, Greg. Definitely can't wait for next week's episode.

Never used to be a Spiderman fan, but then the movies came out, which (Not as much on part 3, though I still liked it) made me like it a little. Now we have this show, and now I just want to start reading the comics. I think I'm on the path to full fledged-spidey geek.

Thanks for that. :)

Jess writes...

Hey Greg! Just watched the premeire episodes of Spectacular Spider-Man, and I loved them! The scripts were tight as usual. I thought the way you used voice-overs for Peter was perfect. It didn't feel gimicky at all, and gave a lot of insight into Peter's thoughts. My favorite moment is during the fight with the Vulture, where Spidey's quipping away and then all of a sudden we hear "I can't let Harry lose his dad the way I lost Uncle Ben." Beautifully understated and very powerful.

The animation style took a little time to adjust too, but it grew on me, and IMO felt very fluid. Also, I noticed the Gargoyles that showed up during the opening shot and at the end of the first episode. Nice shout out.

I'll also add that the cast is very strong. Was it just me, or was Keith "Goliath" David the mysterious man on the phone?
I'm amused at find out that Josh Keaton and James Arnold Taylor have played each other's characters in various videogames, but both were great at the parts they won in the series.I was also very very happy to hear Crispin Freeman as Electro. I'm something of a fan, espicially since I just finished The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

I can't wait 'til next week!

Lumpmoose writes...

Hey, I just saw the first 2 episodes of Spectacular Spider-Man and I thought they were fantastic. I found them very engaging, so the writing-on-multiple-levels thing is working great. I caught three Gargoyles references: Hudson at the beginning, Broadway crumbling in the middle, and the policewoman that had Elisa's hair and skin color. Did I miss any? ;)

I have only one technical question. Victor Cook said at the Comic-Con panel that the series was being produced in high definition. I was watching my local affiliate of CW in HD, but the show was in 4:3 pan and scan. All the publicity screenshots before the premiere were released in 16:9 widescreen, including one in an HD resolution: http://marvel.toonzone.net/specspidey/media/gallery/04.jpg

So it seems the HD content is there, but someone just didn't put in the right tapes, or something. Spidey was born to be in widescreen, HD, digital sound, etc. Is that something you can fix?

Thanks! Love the show so far!

Ricky writes...

I'm back!

Great first episodes, just as I expected! The Spectacular Spider-Man has totally lived up to all my geeky hopes and expectations.

A few questions about some things:
The gargoyle that fell off the building and smashed..was that Broadway? I'm limited to a plain old cable box, no tivo or DVR to rewind or rewatch.

Loved the Gargoyles references, whether they were just plain old gargoyle statues or our favorite Gargoyles characters, it's nice to see them stuck in whenever possible.

Keith David is great, I love having him as a part of this show, he could probably voice just about anything and make it interesting, compelling and just plain fun. Every time I hear him I can't help but think, "it's Goliath!"

Also, did I catch Jeff Bennett's voice in there, as one of the enforcers?

Anyway, keep up the great work and thanks again!

Aldrius writes...

Here's my ramble on the first two episodes of Spider-man. Sorry the ramble is kinda disjointed. I just wrote each thought as it occurred to me.

Okay, so by the intro we already have Keith David and Clancy Brown. I think that Keith David might be the Kingpin. Which I wouldn't mind at all. And the intros really cool. Looks like we're getting a black suited spider-man soon. Which I don't mind. Always liked the look of the black suit.

By the way, was that Hudson as one of the gargoyles at the beginning? Can't go 8 seconds without a gargoyles cameo, eh?

Just teasing.

Commercials suck.

Peter Parker's design is a little creepy...

I can't recognize May or Anna's voices.

I like Peter's characterization here. Thinks he's such a smooth operator. Is a huge nerd. That's our Peter Parker.

Wow. Three villains' alter-egos in the first episode. Norman Osbourn, Adrian Toomes, and Flint Marko. Not bad. Norman kinda reminds me of Xanatos a little bit. Which isn't a bad idea all things considered.

...Eek. Harry. That's kinda disappointing Maybe it'll change.

Phil LaMarr is the random jock friend of Flash. That's so great. "It's cool." I can tell I'm going to like you Mr. Jock Friend.

Oh man. I love Keith David. He plays every role he does so well. He's hilarious, heart-warming and cunning and all that. And we have Hammer Head here too. So I'm starting to wonder who he's playing. Still think it's the Kingpin.

Curt Connors now.

And oh... Lacey Chabert is Gwen Stacey, huh? That's not bad casting.

... and here's the Vulture.

GOD DAMMIT HARRY. HARRY. WTH IS WRONG WITH YOU!?

Norman is still pretty great. Reminds me a lot of what Wilhem did with it. The super-proud manipulative father.

And so we continue the Spider-man TAS trend of Osbourn pissing people off and getting kidnapped. What was that joke in Batman: The Animated Series? "Another super-villain provided by a fund from the Wayne Foundation"? Something like that anyway.

Dear god. That vulture is persistent. And now we have some random guys in a helicopter too. And more Jeff Bennett, which is always great.

"YOU WILL APOLOGIZE!"

...is that really all he wants? An apology? I kinda drifted out there for a second...

And Osbourn won't give it to him? What the hell?

This show is actually pretty funny.

Aunt May is useless Amazing Spider-man Aunt May. Guh! Curses! Hopefully that'll change eventually.

Oh no. Random mechanic. I wonder if he'll turn out to be a bad guy.

That would be a twist...

Curt Connors is an irresponsible father-figure! Damn him!

Haha. Aunt May, worse than the Green Goblin, Electro and Venom combined. "You're to be home by ten young man!!"

Oh no, random mechanic just was in a strange accident.

I wonder if he has superpowers now...

Oh shoot. I recognize the doctor's voice, is that the same actor who played Talon in Gargoyles?

The hospital even provides super-suits for their super-villains now. That's service!

Aha. Liz Allen.

Ah, this kinda reminds me of that Justice League villain who couldn't touch anyone.

Ah, the Superman cut. I like the jazzy spider-man theme. That's a really nice touch.

I like Electro... his design is cool, and his voice is kinda neat.

Ah, so next up is the Rhino... that could be interesting...

I think one thing that makes Greg such a great writer is that he puts depth where there really is none. This is all typical super-hero fare, but it's given a lot of life and energy by the writing.

And is that... oh shoot... the fellow who played Matt Bluestone as the cop? Tom Wilson. That's it. That's type-casting for you. Heh. Tom is great.

"We're all nerds. Join us!" The future is at hand.

Everyone's eyes creep the heck out of me...

Liz Allen's 'petey' bit is interesting.

Haha. Spider-man is an irritating bastard.

Electro seems a lot more powerful than the Vulture was.

Again, this show is actually really funny. The light-heartedness (that's a word, I swear) really comes across well.

Aunt May, I kinda hope she gets in on 'the secret' so to speak. Sooner rather than later.

Liz Allen... is that... Maria Canals?

Maybe wrecking the lab wasn't such a hot idea, Electro.

That was actually a really good hour I think. I like this series and I think it has 'marvelous potential'.

The spider-man's head in the sky thing is an interesting way to end each episode. I'm not sure if I like it or not.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm being snarky. I really love the show and what you're doing with the mythos. I snark because I like it.

All in all. Bravo.

Ricky writes...

Hey Greg,

Can't wait for The Spectacular Spider-Man, by the time you read this it will have already aired, and you'll probably have another message from me telling you how incredible it was. I'm a huge Spider-Man fan (and an even huger Gargoyles fan) and I know that with you behind the wheel, we're in for a great show.

That was more of a comment, so here's my question:

Any chance that you could give us an update on how things are going for:

a) Gargoyles #8 and Bag Guys #2, any updates on how things are coming along, whether they've been approved or approximately when we can expect them? Sorry to bug you about it but I'm just so excited to see where both new issues will take us.

b) Clan-Building Volume 1, did it sell well? I know I did my part, I bought 4, and I've reread it at least 20 times. It's nice to have them in a compact form, and I love the size of the book. I was expecting it to be about the size of the individual issues, but I was pleasantly surprised (it's the perfect size to read in class and not get caught :P).

I also bought two of the new t-shirt, so hopefully that'll help send Disney the message that we want more Gargoyles merchandise!

Thanks a lot for everything, it's so great to have Gargoyles to look forward to again. Here's to hoping for the Season 2, Volume 2 DVD, and the renewal of the license for the comics!

Cagalli writes...

Are you going to make third season of W.I.T.C.H. i mean it seemed like there was going to be another season i realy like that show but i watched it a million times

Georry writes...

Georry writes...

I am looking forward to seeing the new Spider-Man series you are working on.

I read somewhere that the series first season order has been extended from 13 to 26 episodes, is this true?
Greg responds...

Yes.

Thanks for your response! Thats great news!

Without going into details, how does that affect your plans for the first season?

Will you stretch out the already planned arc to span 26 episodes rather than 13?

Or will you do the first 13 episodes exactly the way you planned, and continue from there?

Also, will the writers strike have any affect on the series?

Thanks again!

Georry writes...

I am looking forward to seeing the new Spider-Man series you are working on.

I read somewhere that the series first season order has been extended from 13 to 26 episodes, is this true?

Jurgan writes...

Been working non-stop lately, but I did get a chance to read issue 6, and now that I've got a little time off, I'm going to try to drop a review.

Good news, first: when I went to my usual comics store, which has always stocked several of each issue, on the afternoon of release day, they were sold out. I know your question is always "will you order more?" so you'll be happy to know that I heard the employee say, "we need to up our orders for Gargoyles." At least, I'm pretty sure he said that, though I don't know if they ordered any more of issue 6 than the two copies I ordered (I keep one in plastic, mainly so that if I'm reading one on the bus or I loan it to a friend and lose it, I'll always have a complete set that never leaves my house). The upshot for me was that, by the time I got to reading it a week later, I already knew about the production errors and wasn't as confused by them. It did throw me a bit when I saw Coldstone and Goliath fighting and talking, but then I remembered talk about errors and figured it out. And I've seen similar errors before- my Death of Jean DeWolff paperback had two pages in reverse order, so it jumps from Daredevil fighting a mob, to Spider-man (with a hyphen!) and Daredevil talking on a roof, to Spider-man swinging into the mob to save Daredevil. Anyway, the point is that I thought the errors were a bit confusing, but nothing so bad that I couldn't figure them out. So, 'nuff said on that issue.

Reunion was a rather down issue in a number of ways. Since it was a flashback, we already knew how things would ultimately turn out, so it didn't advance the plot much (although there were some hints about future developments). It felt more like a highlights reel than an actual complete story- the travelers had barely arrived when they were on their way out again. Still, there were certainly some good things in it:

I was a bit confused right at the beginning why Angela said Goliath was "healing." Wouldn't stone sleep cure him instantly? Was Thailog's wound that bad that it took days to recover?

I'm very amused by Thailog's emperor get-up. He's barely touched the wine, though. But I also like how Shari is pretending to be subject to him. She seems to enjoy the game of being his servant, knowing that at any moment she can switch to her master role. Also, artwise (I rarely have much to say about art), I like the very dark eyeliner Shari wears. Some people thought that was another mistake, but I have no problem with her looking different from day to day. One of the advantages of comics over cartoons- methinks Elisa's buying a whole new wardrobe.

Shari starts telling the story, but opens with the line "who can say if it be true." This raises an interesting question- how reliable is Shari as a narrator? I enjoy the device of the unreliable narrator, but I can't tell if it's being employed here. So, can you tell us: is what we see in the flashback literally what happened to the travelers, or is it a distorted version of the story told by Shari?

The laundry room arrival was rather silly, but clever at the same time. I can't decide whether I like it or not.

I love Bronx's vest.

Master Dawa's kind of fun. Far too many sage characters only speak in vague, portentous platitudes. It's nice when they know how to crack a joke or two, as in "their bodies are such lousy shots."

The action sequence in the cave is excellent, with a great sense of motion. And I can hear Frank Welker's barks in my head. And then, jalapena. This word should stay around forever, and now you don't have to worry about the art crew's objections (I've never understood what it was about that word that was so objectionable, anyway).

Goliath and Angela may not look very Yetiish, but in his white fur get-up, Coldstone actually does. The next action scene is also pretty good, though not quite up to the first.

The conversation scenes are nice, and Goliath gets his first chance to tell someone about the eggs surviving. I love his little grin. I also like Bronx asleep by the fire.

Angela's talk about Gabriel being his "biological" son was a little odd to me. I thought that once Goliath acknowledged her as his daughter, her talk of biology had ended. I assumed Gabriel's heritage would be an issue obvious to us, the viewers, but never made explicit to the characters, just like Hudson/Broadway.

So, you managed to slip a quick recap of Coldstone's situation in. Probably for the best, as Coldstone's story was always one of the more confusing elements of the series for me. I didn't figure it out until my second run with the series in college, five years after it went off the air. I also like that Coldstone is learning monastic meditation techniques, or something, to control Iago. I'm not sure how that will matter in the long run.

And then there's another great fight. Tell Purcell that he does some of the best action sequences in the book so far. I know Hedgecock's working hard, but Purcell should be on your short list of fill-ins. So far, 5 and 6 definitely have the best artwork. Unlike some, I've enjoyed almost all of the art we've seen so far, even if there've been a few problems (I didn't care for some of the goofy extras in #4, and there were a few Hedgecock panels that were ridiculously out-of-proportion). However, Karine and Purcell are the ones whose art really looks like the Gargoyles we grew up with. Anyway.

Coldstone's "neck-snapping" comment was downright disturbing. There's something you never would have pulled off on television. The funny thing is, while it does seem a bit over-the-top, it works when we realize who's really in control. Othello's trying to impersonate his evil brother, but he's a hammy actor and plays it too broadly. Maybe I'm reading too much into his few lines as "Iago," but that's what it seems to me. If only I could hear Michael Dorn do this one.

Speaking of Othello, I was impressed by his character in this issue. I've never been too fond of the guy. He strikes me as a moral coward who's willing to compromise his integrity and take the easy way out until cajoled into doing the right thing, in both "High Noon" and "Posession," and perhaps other places as well (a big part of his relationship with Desdemona seems to be that she acts as his conscience). So it was nice to see him take action immediately to protect his family, even though he surely would have preferred to return with them. Of course, it's a very status quo choice- Coldstone had already left the clan, and nothing seems to have changed in this issue. Or has it? There are some hints.

I've never heard of Shambahla. I ran across suggestion that it's another name for Shangri-La- is that right? The travelers left with apparently nothing accomplished, but Avalon did not send them back. Having them leave unconscious was probably the only solution, since they would not have gone voluntarily without him (well, Elisa might have, but Goliath can be pretty stubborn).

"A story for another night." Sounds very similar to the Weird Sisters' pronouncement. In their case, though, they were talking about themselves. Shari's story is certainly one we'd like to hear sooner or later. The comment room denizens have a great theory about her which I wish I'd thought of myself (then again, I came up with the reigning theory on Number 1's identity, so I shouldn't be too jealous). A little bit I liked was Thailog referring to Iago as his "uncle." It shows how un-gargoyle he is mentally, since any gargoyle would refer to Othello as one of his rookery fathers. And then Shari suggests that Goliath may not have failed- and Thailog freaks out. We've seen Thailog angry before, but I don't think we've ever seen him completely lose his composure like this. He seems genuinely afraid at this point. Shari's an incredibly captivating character, and I can't wait to see more of her. Her talk about "fruit" suggests something big is brewing, and the possibility that there's more going on here than meets the eye saves this issue from the doldrums of mediocrity.

Scarab returns, and Xanatos meets with Coldsteel. Wonder what that's about...

All in all, this wasn't a bad issue, but it strikes me as a bit of a dud. It was nice to fill in some gaps, but there was nothing really surprising or significant about the Himalayas adventure. However, if this pays off in the next story arc, and the pay off is good enough, I may change my tune. I wonder how this would have worked as an episode of the TV show. It would have to be framed quite a bit differently. Here, we're willing to see a sort of mundane story because we sense that it's still significant. As part of the World Tour, though, it wouldn't be very satisfying to see an episode in which nothing significant appears to take place- the gang show up, get chased away, and leave. I assume the plot would have been expanded quite a bit- maybe adding in an external threat so that there could be a sense of closure to the episode.

This issue also brings to mind two of the bigger disappointments in Gargoyles. One was the other untold World Tour story, showing how Xanatos took advantage of Goliath's absence. The other is the end of Legion. While a decent episode on the whole, Legion always feels weak to me because of its ending. The Xanatos tag was that he stole a computer virus, but compared to the stunners immediately preceding in Leader of the Pack and Metamorphosis, it's not that impressive. Even worse, though, was that there was never any follow-up to this virus that Xanatos thought was so valuable- you'd think he would have found some use for it eventually. A rare moment of waste in the Gargoyles universe. So I'm making a formal request that we find out what Xanatos used that virus for. I can think of possible uses in the next story arc, but those are ideas, so I'll keep them to myself (of course, you've already written the next story arc, but something down the road might be similar to what I'm thinking, so...). If you've already got plans, I don't want to know specifics (not that you'd give them anyway). I'm happy hanging on for the ride. Just letting you know that that's something I've always been curious about.

All in all, a decent issue, but nothing too spectacular. The weakest issue of the book so far, due to the fact that it currently seems like mostly filler. 2.5/4 stars (note that this is by Gargoyles standards- compared to other comics, it'd probably get 3 or 3.5). If it's redeemed by future issues and takes on greater significance, as I suspect it will, my opinion may improve a good bit. Thanks for listening.

Jess writes...

In my previous post I referred to your upcoming Spiderman cartoon as Ultimate Spiderman instead of Spectacular Spiderman by accident. Whoops! Once again I plead midterms, because they ate my brain. With ketchup.

Landon "Lumpmoose" Thomas writes...

Hello, long-time reader, first time asker. I just caught "Ken 10" and loved it. I think it's one of the best Ben 10 episodes yet, and that's saying a lot. I love seeing the shades of Gargoyles in there with your fearlessness in shaking things up, adding drama, introducing new characters, and playing with the time line. It makes me all the more excited for Spectacular Spider-man (congrats on the 26-episode pick-up, by the way).

I'm currently pondering a career in sound design/editing/engineering. Animation is my passion and that's what I'd like to work with, at least partially (i.e. I can't draw). You've mentioned Advantage Audio in the past as the Gargoyles post-production house. Advantage Audio looks like a great place to work, but it surprises me that Disney television animation would contract out for audio work on one of their flagship products.

1) I know smaller animation studios usually contract out for audio post-production, but how often do the big studios, like WDTVA, WB, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon, use external post-production houses?

b) Do they even have in-house audio teams? If so, how often do they use them?

c) Just out of curiosity, what does Culver Entertainment do?

2) The thing I'm worried about most is being 'merely' a tech grunt in the audio production field. In your opinion, how much creativity is there in the audio post-production field?

b) How closely do you, as a writer/producer/director, work with audio teams? Do you just pass the work on and expect an end-product?

3) This is a personal, limited-in-scope question of which you may have no opinion. I'm currently in Minneapolis with a BA in theatre, minor in computer science, and very little audio experience. I'm pondering going to Full Sail for a trained-by-the-best kind of thing. Does that school stick out for you or would a local tech school and/or experience be good enough to break into the big time?

Thanks for any help! I know questions weren't strictly Gargoyles-related, but Gargoyles was what inspired me to steer into the entertainment industry in the first place!

A-Fan writes...

What are the chances of a crossover between Spider-Man and Batman for the two cartoons?

Jurgan writes...

A couple Spider-man (the one you're working on) questions for you:

1: You said in an interview that there was "one villain" who is off-limits to you for legal reasons. I remember hearing a while ago that the Kingpin is exclusively attached to Daredevil, whose rights are owned by Fox, not Sony, so am I right to assume that the Kingpin is the villain whom you cannot use? Kingpin got enough use in the 90's cartoon, and he was always more interesting in Daredevil than Spider-man anyway, so that'd work for me.

2: In that same interview, you were asked if you'd use movie villains, and you said you'd definitely use the Goblin, Doc Ock, and the Sandman. I notice you didn't mention Venom. Are you planning to leave him out? I'd be thrilled with that decision, since I think he's a terribly dull character, and I know he came after your formative years with comics. I wonder, though, if the execs might eventually insist on your using him, as they did with Sam Raimi.

I can't wait to see what you've got planned.