Moe writes...

Hey Greg! I'm really excited about the Spectacular Spider-Man series and the direction its taken so far. I seriously haven't been this into an animated series since back when I was a kid. At first I was a bit skeptical about the decision to make the character designs more simplistic, but I found it to work quite well with the speed of the animation and the story line in general. Can't wait to see the next episode, and I hope there will be several seasons to come :).

CanusShamus writes...

Hey Greg! Long-time reader, first time writer </cliche>

Well, typically Entertainment Weekly waits for the first three episodes of a new series to come out before they write a review, so I thought I'd do the same. Short version: I liked it.

I'll admit I was skeptical at first, since WB's new Batman show not only didn't live up to movie, it wasn't even better than the 90s TV show. I am, however, one of the few who despised the Spider-Man movies, and going back to the 90s Spider-Man, I realized it didn't hold up too well over time, so I would tentatively say your version surpasses both of them.

If I had to pick the show's strongest point, it would be the animation. When Spider-Man fights Lizard on the train their fight technique is all one fluid motion, and each comes back from a hit right away, using the momentum for their next strike. It reminded me of a martial arts film, and was better looking than all the CGI that was dumped into the films. Also, I liked how Peter's tag is always sticking out of his shirt; it's a subtle thing, but it works great to play up the 'nerdiness' of his everyday persona.

Another development i enjoyed was the characters. I'm interested to see where you're going with Brock (especially after the animosity he showed at the end of episode 3), and I think not bringing in MJ right away was the smart thing to do (personally, I hope she doesn't show up for a good long while; it will make it seem more significant when she does). My only complaint is Gwen: not that I don't love the way she's written, it's just...well, as any Spider-fan knows, it's Gwen's destiny to die, and the fact she may do so before she even leaves high school just seems unbearably bleak. But you never know; she could go the distance after all.

Summing up, I haven't had occasion to watch ANYTHING on Saturday morning for a good long while now, but you can bet I'll be coming back for Spider-Man. Heck, the average fan would probably prefer this to the "Brand New Day" storyline that's going on in the comics right now.

Oh, and since this is a Q&A column: are there plans for any crossover episodes with other Marvel characters, such as Spider-Man teaming up with Daredevil or fighting against Dr. Doom?

Thank you for taking the time to read my comments. Hope to hear from you soon.

P.S. I thought I was so clever for catching the Broadway cameo, but I apparantly completely missed the Hudson one. Blerg.

Michael N writes...

How about asking Cary Bates to write the intro for the next trade paperback. It'd be a nice tie-in to your early comic book work on Captain Atom and he's certainly had a hand in shaping Gargoyles to what we know today. If nothing else it'd be nice to hear his take on Gargoyles.

I'm really enjoying Spider-Man so far. I think there's a lot of smart storytelling in the show; the same thing that attracted me to Gargoyles. I like that stereotypes are skin-deep. For example Flash fits the jock stereotype nicely, but you see some of his jock friends definitely don't. Likewise not all geeks are, well, geeks. That'll make Eddie's turn especially hard to watch.

I think you're a great match for the job of writing/editing Spider-Man. It's filled with characters that are neither "bad" or "good", but all sorts of in between. You've got an annoying (but in a good way!) habit of developing those sorts of characters in ways that make it hard to hate them and root for the "good guy". Xanatos awakens the gargoyles to use them for his own purposes like they're just tools. Then he tries to "discard" them. Then he helps them. Then he gives them a place to stay and helps to protect them. I want to hate him. I know he's going to try and (ab)use the gargoyles again. They know it as well. But I can't hate the guy. It's damn frustrating (but in a good way!) and Spider-Man is going to give you more opportunities to do that with other characters. You've already started doing that with Electro and Vulture.

My understanding is Electro was "created" when Max was struck by lightning. Was the change in his creation a nod to Gargoyles with respect to the creation of the mutates or was that more coincidence than anything else?

Thanks Greg!

Charisma82 writes...

Okay, I hadn't planned on giving a review for each Spidey show that came out, (& I'm still not planning on it as of right now) but I had to give you and all the people who worked on the episode "Natural Selection" props. I feel this has been the best episode so far, and hey, this is only the 3rd one. I really felt for Spidey at the end of the episode, having to look like a coward in front of his friends so he could keep his Spiderman secret. I guess I'm just a sucker for characters who save the day and never get the recognition they deserve, and even worse, look like they wimped out when they really didn't. The whole story was great, and I can't wait to see more.

Thank you for your time and all that you do.

-Charisma82

Jess writes...

Hey Greg! I'm still keeping up with Spectacular Spider-Man and "Natural Selection" didn't disappoint. I feel like each episode is slightly stronger than the one before it as everyone gets more in-tune with the material and each other.

I think you found just the right note with the Billy subplot, where it was genuinely emotional and not cloying. I liked the "I took a cab" bit with Eddie at the zoo. Just a fun little jab a typical cartoon logic. I was not expecting Peter to be fired, so that was a cool moment for me as well. Somehow I have a feeling we'll be seeing the serum again.

Nice continuity nods with the ring-tone alarm, the mention of Electro, and especially Peter and Eddie calling each other "Bro", then having Spidey try to cover it up when he does the same.

One thing I noticed was that during Peter's voice-over before he plans on taking the serum is that he mentions "a hard 9PM curfew" where before it had always been 10.

The cast continues to be amazing (or rather spectacular). In particular, Kath Soucie and Lacey Chabert just completely nailed their parts this week.

Since this is "Ask Greg", I do have a quick question: For small parts i.e. the people at the coffee shop in "Interactions", or Thug #1 in this past episode do you have certain people in the cast in mind, or do you just ask whoever's in that day if they want to do it?

Thanks for your time!

Harvester of Eyes writes...

Thoughts on the Spectacular Spider-Man episode "Natural Selection."

First off, I like this incarnation of the character of Peter Parker a lot, more so than in other cartoon versions. He's still a kid with a lot to learn, and like most kids, he thinks he knows everything. I like how even getting a good picture of himself as Spider-Man is a learning process.

And I also like the continuity in the series. In the previous episode, we see Connors's formula get shocked. And Curt puts it in his pocket. And now we see the consequences (unless, of course it just resulted from months of him injecting himself, and that last one was the proverbial back-breaking straw). The animation was awesome, in particular his morphing into and out of the Lizard. I like how the tail was formed. And the pacing of the fight scenes reminded me of the movies, which was fine. Those gave us a fantastic sense of Spider-Man's agility, as do these.

I also didn't expect to find myself saying this, but I like Eddie Brock as a character. I wasn't thrilled when I first saw his name in the cast, but I love what you've done with him so far. Giving him this personal connection with Peter Parker might actually make Venom more interesting. He seems to be building a reputation of not being able to successfully tackle baddies in Connors's lab. And I like the way he and Spider-Man worked together at the end. He's a bit reckless, but he also seems to have a strong moral sense. So he and Peter have that in common. I'm actually finding myself caring about what sets him on the road to becoming Venom.

Anyway, favorite moment in the episode: Billy Connors confronting his mutated father. I'm not sure Curt recognized him, and I'm wondering if this might come up again. And I also like how Peter Parker chose not to take what might cure him of his powers, but he also didn't throw it away. More foreshadowing, I suppose.

All in all, you and the rest of the crew have done a fantastic job so far. I was never a regular reader of the Spider-Man comic, but I'm getting more and more excited about this show the more I watch it. Keep up the good work.

David Blyth writes...

In the new Spider-Man animated series, Gwen already has a small inkling into Peter's financial problems, so why get irritated when she perceived his photo-taking of The Lizard as selfish when it was to benefit his Aunt? Is she just following the crowd's attitude, or was she afraid for Peter's safety and her anger is a result of that?

Aldrius writes...

Ramble on Spectacular Spider-man episode 3.

That attitude is gonna get Peter into a lot of trouble... so is actually having a happy life. Don't you read comic books, young man? Any time you're life is going WELL, that's when fate smacks you upside the head.

Still like that theme song.

Aunt May is okay. I think I jumped the gun when I watched the first episode.

Hmm... is Stan Lee always the executive producer on these marvel animated programs?

Stop meddling with weird science, Curt! It never results in good things. Though I do like the attention here. He's well intentioned. He's not selfishly just trying to heal his own arm. He's trying to save decapitated people all over the world.

Go Gwen. Yay! Random jock friend who's name I should really learn. Is he a classic Spider-man comics character that I don't know about?

"What are we celebrating? Oh... crazy god-defiling science!! This will end well."

Smart AND perceptive. Quite a man this Parker boy.

So Billy's a scientist too. They start them so young these days.

That's a very nice lizard design.

Peter the coward. That's nice of him. He could have come up with a better excuse than 'My aunt may won't be able to sleep unless I get home.' But I guess he didn't have much time.

Still very funny. I like Peter's banter. Feels very natural. And of course it fits the character perfectly.

Spider-man seems to like fighting on the subway/train lately. I guess the subway's a subterranean place for the Lizard to hide out.

People really should check on those over-anxious kids more often.

I wonder what kind of Lizard Curt blended his DNA with... a cocktail of iguana, and crocodile, or what?

Heh. Peter even cares about Polar Bears! What a guy.

And Aunt May proves herself more dangerous than the Lizard! That's three super-villains that she's beaten out with her telephone!

And the Lizard reverts back to normal.

That ending was really, really powerful. I'm feeling that one in my ribs. And hey, great responsibility, there are consequences for Peter's actions. Even if they weren't his fault per se. Halcyon would be proud.

The ending REALLY sold this one to me. And the general mood and feel of it. And I'm still not sure about the spider mask in the sky at the end. It's... interesting... but... yeah. Not sure about it.

Over-all. Bravo.

Algernon writes...

Just stopping by to share my thoughts on the latest episode of Spectacular Spider-Man.

SPOILERS AHOY!

Survival of The Fittest.
I've always thought one of the best aspects of the Spidey mythos was the fantastic cast of supporting characters and this episode just proves it.

I absolutely love this version of Gwen, standing up to Flash, helping save Dr. Connors she's pretty heroic in her own right. Speaking of heroic, how about Eddie Brock using himself as lizard bait. It's going to be interesting to see what turns him into a Spidey hating psycho later in the series.

The Connors family are also noteworthy. In most other versions I've seen Martha and Billy don't seem to be much more then appendages to Curt's character but they really shine. I particularly liked Billy's understated yet heartbreaking portrayal of a traumatized kid desperately afraid of losing his dad.

But the real star of the show is of course everybody's favorite wall-crawler. A classic Spidey touch is to see Peter do the right thing despite being vilified for it. It's one thing to save the day expecting a medal or a parade afterwards, it's quite another to save the day knowing your going to get spat on for your trouble. That's something else Spidey has in common with certain other defenders of the night.

Rebel writes...

Hey Greg!

I just wanted to say that I really liked the transformation scene from human to lizard in "Natural Selection". I especially like the part where his head started to cave in. I dunno if that was your idea or not, but I applaud it. It really emphasizes that he's turning into a simple-minded, primal beast.

Also, some of The Lizard's roaring sounded a lot like Fox's in "Eye of the Beholder". Did you use a similar effect?

Todd Jensen writes...

A few comments about the Lizard episode of "The Spectacular Spider-Man".

I enjoyed it. Another good capture of Peter's life; he starts off still taking poor photos of himself as Spidey, he has to give up dodging water balloons when he realizes that everyone else is going to get suspicious - and worst of all, after finally getting a good snapshot of himself as Spidey, he convinced everyone else that he deserted them in a crisis and now they're all angry at him! Yep, that's definitely Peter Parker all right.

Some great humor as well; I especially liked Spidey's indignant response to Lizard being able to walk on walls ("If you start spinning webs too, I'll sue!") and his element of surprise ruined by his cell phone going off (and wouldn't you know that its tune would be "Itsy Bitsy Spider")?

I noticed that he doesn't throw the gene cleanser away, but merely web-stashes it under his bed. Why do I get the feeling that it's going to return later, in another episode?

Keep up the good work, both you and everyone else on the production team.

Shane writes...

Greg, Long time fan. In fact, Gargoyles got me interested in writing my own stuff and, like every other Gargoyles fan, into Shakespeare.

But I wanted to ask something about two of the Spidey characters that seem to be neglected in the questions. Namely the two most important girls in Peter's life: Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson.

I noticed that the latter was out, which, while I thought it was a bold move, did lead to some questions in my mind. In the origional 616 comics, Peter meets MJ through Gwen, and through their mutual grief over Gwen's death, become the couple we know today. That fact, coupled with Gwen looking upset that the cheerleader was giving Peter some attention have poked extreme thoughts into my mind: Will you be doing a "Death of Gwen Stacy" rendition in your series? As someone who believes that was one of the best comic book story lines of all time, I would much appreciate seeing that finally acknowledged (unlike in the movies) correctly (unlike in the Ultimate title, which you seem to be loosely following). I know this is a kids TV show, and the manner of how Gwen died (Peter caught her in a web line, causing her neck to snap due to whiplash) is somewhat gruesome for Saturday Morning TV, but it seems the trend of most Spiderman media to include Gwen with her death sentance. Very few do it right though, and I was hoping that after almost a decade, you would still be capable of pulling another "Deadly Force" on us.

Gabriel writes...

Hey Greg,

Watched the first 2 episodes of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" and I gotta say thank you.
Thank you for putting the humor back into Spidey, specifically his banter (the movies seriously lacked this). I like lighter toned Spidey. Drama's great, but I love the Spider-Man zingers!
Thank you for the jam-packing of continuity references- both to the comics, and between the episodes.
And I don't know if this thank you goes to you or Sony, but I'm thankful we're getting at least 26 episodes of this series.

Couple questions since this is "Ask Greg":

1. While watching "Interactions" the opening teaser looked vertically stretched when it aired on KTLA- was it? Maybe I'm still getting used to the designs, or maybe you guys were trying some low-angle perspective stuff, but it looked like it also happened sporadically throughout the episode. I mainly noticed it when seeing Conners or Brock. This is assuming you watched the broadcast- since you've seen the episode countless times already I wouldn't be surprised if you passed.

2. I enjoyed the theme song. Is that the whole song or is there an extended cut?

3. Will you post the lyrics to the theme song? Or since you can be a stickler for phrasing- What are the lyrics to "The Spectacular Spider-Man" theme song?

4. I'm not super familiar with Gwen's classic personality- the most I know of Gwen comes from Loeb/Sale's "Spider-Man: Blue" and Busiek/Ross's "Marvels" so is her characterization in this series a dramatic departure, a subtle re-working, or spot-on?

Couple observations.
I was a little shocked that MJ wasn't in the opening credits- until the scene with Anna and May at which point I went "Oh, there introducing her like in the comics, cool."

Loved the Flint Marko cameo at the start of "SotF".

Looking forward to both Sandman and the Scorpion (whenever they show up).

I've been seeing here, and on other boards across the 'net, that some folks are having trouble with the designs. For me, it reminds me of my initial reaction to the "Batman: The Animated Series" designs when I first saw them- I laughed out loud. At the time I didn't "get it." Now course I love those designs, so first impressions can be misleading. I personally don't have an issue with "TSS-M" designs- I've seen Cheeks' work on the Hellboy DTV's so I know they can be dark and dramatic if necessary. But again I like light and funny, so take from that what you will.

I don't have to tell you to keep up the great work, since I know you will anyway- but don't forget to get some sleep and take a break every once in a while.

Ciao,

Gabriel

Mara writes...

Spectacular Spider-Man Episode 2
Interactions

And classic one word titles.

And Max looks like Crispin Freeman!

See? Martha's kinda lonely for her hubby. Get the sense that if she didn't remind him he'd not eat.

Nice ring tone.

Hey... wasn't that lizard juice the stuff he put into his robot arm last episode?

Yeah, on second thought, maybe leaving the tank out wasn't a good idea.

Oh: Theme song is updated but keeping the beat of the old. Nice.

Yaye! An El train coming from Brooklyn/Queens going to Manhattan. I'm sure eventually I'll get tired of glowing about all the NYC detail but since I haven't lived there for about six years anything like this just really tickles me.

C-minus! Sweet!

Unmasked Spidey sense.

Reason for the suit. Explanation for the villain's appearance. Always good.

"I'm not sure you understand. Flash so totally called you and Peter having a THING last episode."

No tv and no coffee makes Max go something something. Go crazy? Don't mind if he does!

And Peter learns the #1 way of attracting girls: Complete indifference.

Spiderman works on his MySpace photos.

Uh oh, inadvertent creating of a super villain. Although Electro was heading that way, poor guy.

God, what IS that ringtone? Oh. It's Itsy Bitsy Spider. Spectacular.

Liz: "It's up to me? Oh I can't resist indifferent boys!"

Cop is not helping. Is the bioelectricity making his so... temperamental or is it that he's always had a temper and we just didn't know?

Liz is made awkward by the nerds.

Gwen gives meaningfully wistful look.

Nice both Peter and Eddie were gonna make a move. But Eddie didn't take the time to quip.

Lightening Butt? No, not that! More nice fighting. Throwing the computer monitor at him made me giggle a little.

Great time to set limits, Aunt May.

Electro makes water go kablooey.

Petey and Liz have nice moment. Liz is apparently mean, but is also saving Peter from getting his butt whooped by the jocks. High school is never simple.

Gwen gives meaningfully wistful comment. High school is never simple.

Is Martha referring to helping Electro, or to helping Conners, since he seems to have some fixation on the odd lizard juice... We'll have to tune in and see.

/end ramble for episode 2.

Mara writes...

The Spectacular Spider-man episode 1
Survival of the Fittest

Ramble, as I re-watch:

Opening: Nice landscape shot. Hudson! Stone... at night? Eh, it's a different universe. Really, really nice backgrounds. You definitely get a sense of the normal NYC landmarks (like Cheesewedge building.)

We have title.

Spider sense tingling!

It looks like the spidey signal is sticking it's tongue out because of the placement of the bag.

Marco needs to rethink his life. I like how they're stealing rough jewels instead of finished jewelry. More easy to fence, I guess.

Opening credits: A little gratuitous to put the creator cameos in there? But I like it. Oh, we have venom costume too.. I missed that on my first viewing.

REALLY great backgrounds.

On Peter's design: He has a beauty mark near his eye... doesn't that mean many tears ahead in his life, or some junk? Poor Peter.

I *like* the eyes. I think they're expressive without going overboard. Excessive eye detail is too anime. On the streamlined design in general- it's not as excessively done as the Batman stuff of a couple of years ago. Just the right amount, I think.

Anna looks like the lady from Apartment 3-G.

Aw! Peter's sweet, pretending not to have heard.

Mr. Toombs looks like Robert Englund. Awesome.

Osborn has that hair curl thing going. Looks nice in this version.

Midtown Manhattan Magnet High School. ... Wait for it.

Gwen! *bliss.*

Don't criticize the World Tour, Harry. It was universe building.

It's like reverse Buffy, for a second there. The sidekicks weren't in town while the hero fought crime. Neat.

M cubed. Nice. I was thinking 3M. But this will work.

Pink-haired girl: The e-surance girl went to Spiderman's high school? Really?

Background music for cheerleader watching=awesome. Haha! Nice sound effect of the record scratching.

Interracial couples= yaye. Sally's Bay Ridge accent? Even better.
Seriously... it's a nice touch. (Possibly Bensonhurst- but in any case, she sounds like she's from Brooklyn.)

Flash: WAY to put ideas in Liz's head, there, buddy.

And we have episode title, albeit in blackboard form.

Peter looks kyoote with the glasses, but I'm glad those got dropped for his current design.

Yeah, I really like the different accents in the characters. The science teacher sounds vaguely British, but more in the schooled-in-Cambridge kinda way.

No no, Peter. He's a RUTHLESS scientist. Ruth-less. Lacking Ruth.

Harry calls his dad Sir? And there's characterization in a split second.

Poor Vulture- terrorism never works. Especially not on Ruthless mean men.

Great power and great responsibility mentioned but not drilled into my head? Thanks!

Webshooters! Thanks!

Martha's not a big fan of overworking. Hopefully there'll be more to her in the future. Pretty sure there will be.

Train and bus, Cheesewedge building again. Love the attention to detail.

JJJ > (is greater than) lots.

JJJ's assistant is so not intimidated by JJJ.

Spider senses tingling, same eye thing as the opening when he DOESN'T say it.

The crumbling gargoyle statute. So does that mean Spidey and Goliath are now even? (Since Goliath broke the flag pole in Awakenings and all.)

REALLY nice smooth animation for the fight scenes. Flag pole!

You can kill Norman, but he will NOT apologize. Ever.

Nice how Spiderman's buff but in proportion to other people he's fighting, still teenage tiny.

Also loving how the webs seem to CONNECT to actual buildings. Thanks!

Bedtime! Haha.

Mmm, pie.

And you still have amazing pie, Peter. You still have amazing pie.

/end ramble for episode 1.

Grant writes...

You are so the man. I was afraid the new Spider-Man series might just be a rehashing of old stories for the youngins but I'm having a ball with it. How does it feel to write a script and know it's gold? :D I had some solid laughs, and that line about "...Harry losing his dad..." was chilling. The voice acting is quality (some familiar ones in there too, I don't know all the names like some of the hardcores here I do remember them ;)). I've only seen the first episode yet and I love how it wasn't just linear with one villain, one small fight where Spider-Man gets beat down, and one big fight Spider-Man eventually wins. Multiple arcs, both high school and super hero life, and multiple villains building in the same episode is where it is at. I didn't actually realize you were so involved in this project but I am so glad you are. The powers that be chose wisely! No pun intended. Every since it went off the air I've urned for Gargoyles to make reappearance on the small screen or, be I so bold as to say it, the big screen! I guess in some way your legacy will live on vicariously through this series, not that Spider-Man should fit in a Gargoyle's mold, but you get my drift. Keep it real pisano.

kyle tonarella writes...

dear greg weiman i love watching garoyles as a kid i thought it was a bad ass show and watched the first 2 episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man and say this show is going to be pure bad ass i love the vulture robert englund was ment to play him and thank go you made a marvel comics cartoon sticking to the comics unlike prevoius series and now my question will Shocker in the episode "Market Forces" have charatcer development and will be one of the mebers of this shows version of the sinster six

Rachel writes...

Hi Greg! I don't have a question, just a few thoughts on your Spider-Man.

I really enjoyed it, although I'm not the target demographic (24-year-old woman). I'm also not a comic book fan (except for your Gargoyle comics), so the only Spider-Man stuff I'm familiar with is the movies--and even then, I've only seen the first two and wasn't even that impressed by them. Actually, my three favorite aspects of your cartoon are also (in my opinion) major differences it has from the films.

1) It's pretty darn funny.
In the first episode, I loved the minor storyline about his shoes, but my favorite part was [wording approximate] "Haven't you heard the one about great power coming with great responsibility?" Hilarious. And it's nice that the humor is more often radiating from Peter than simply being at his expense (see also #3).

2) What I think of as a Weisman trademark: the shade-of-gray villain.
Vulture and Electro each had an element of the typical-comic-villain "I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!" thing going on, but I'd have to say that on the whole, each of them was more sympathetic than not. Vulture's demands from Osbourne? Extremely reasonable. (Speaking of, I also want to endorse your decision to keep the line about not letting Harry lose his dad the way Peter had lost his uncle. Because, again, Vulture had a valid point when he wondered why Spider-Man was siding against him [besides the whole kidnapping/assault thing, of course], from his and the viewers' point of view.)

3. I really like Peter's positive attitude.
It's a problem endemic to storytelling of all media that to keep up dramatic tension or the conflict that the writer has set up, the hero has to be, in a way, obstinate and narrow-minded. The audience is supposed to be convinced there's a problem because the hero is convinced there's a problem. Or maybe it's just a personal preference, and I happen to like plucky determination better than brooding pessimism.

Anyway, I liked it a lot and am eager to find out what happens next!

ColdFusion writes...

Hey Weis guy! :D
I saw the new Spider-Man series, it was truly excellent. Good to see something remotely intelligent on Saturday morning for a change.
Interesting look for Peter (mole?) and interesting how he's experiencing mom-troubles instead of the more familiar social-appointment-troubles.. what with him being younger.
Of course I caught the gargoyles reference, very nice.
One thing I found kinda funny is how Pete explicitly mentions the almighty hyphen (love that hyphen) but then just a few scenes later a newspaper lacks it. C'est la vie.
Keep up the excellent work, can't wait for Gargs 8!

Dustin writes...

Hi Greg,

I just watched the first two episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man and I loved it!
I was surprised how young Aunt May looks, even younger than the Ultimate Spider-Man version, but that's fine, if there was one thing that always annoyed me, it was her poor health and the heart attacks she almost had, whenever Spider-Man was mentioned. A younger and stronger May is what Peter needs, he has enough things to worry about. I was surprised that Sally was included (let's face it, in the comics she's practically a nobody), the supporting cast is bigger than I expected. I hope we'll see more of the Bugle characters in the next few episodes, once Peter manages to take good pictures of himself.

I'm glad Mary Jane is not part of the show yet, I love her, but Peter had a life before MJ and it should be shown, if only for a few episodes, I'm pretty sure we'll meet her soon.

I thought the animation was great, and I like the character designs, although the eyes are kinda scary ... no pupils, strange.

I'm going to watch this show every week and I'm so buying the DVDs, you and everyone else involved did a great job!

Charisma82 writes...

Hey! I just thought I'd post my congratulations to you and all the talented people who worked on the new Spectacular Spider Man show. I watched it a couple days ago, so I'm not going to go into a big ramble on it, but I will write a few things I remember off the top of my head.

First things first, I LOVED the Spider Man humor. This is coming from a person who never read the comics, who heard how funny and witty Spiderman was, and saw the movies & was disappointed. The movies were good, but that humor wasn't there. I like how Peter is his smart-mouth self as Spiderman and then his nerd/geek self when he's back to Peter Parker. Great job at establishing the differences in his two personas.

I thought Peter's eyes were a bit huge. It kinda bugged me (pun intended). I can't remember the other characters that had huge eyes like that, but I definitely remember Peter had them.

I was suprised not to see MJ. For some reason I had the impression she was going to be in the TV series, but I guess she won't show up right away.

I liked having the variety of bad guys. I also loved all the hints in there about the bad guys to come.

And, most of all, the gargoyle cameos! And only a few seconds into the show! I recognized a Broadway looking gargoyle (at the beginning of the 1st show) and a Hudson looking gargoyle (that almost smashed into Spidey when he was fighting the guys in the helicopter).

All in all, I think the show started off well. I can't wait to see what else happens.

Thank you for your time and all that you do.

-Charisma82

Phoenician writes...

Hey Greg,

A little behind on the my review for the comics, will get to those one day (just know right now I've loved each and every new issue that comes out:) ).

That said, I did want to post some random thoughts about Saturday's Spiderman. I must admit that my only exposure to Spidey thus far has been the 90's incarnation as well as the three feature films . . . I've never had the chance to delve into Peter's comic origins.

That said, some thoughts:

- Love seeing the tributes to Hudson and Broadway. Shame about the Broadway statue though. Don't the folks in Spidey's world know how much us fans would pay for a collectible Gargoyles statue?? :P

- You really are a weaver of great stories, and that can be seen with all the set-up of stories to come. We meet the characters of the Green Goblin, the Lizard, Venom, and (from what I've gathered in the CR) other Spidey antagonists that I never knew about. And though I vaguely knew about the Vulture and Electro (was Electro even in the 90's version? I can't remember . . .), I still loved these two episodes -- both characters had amazing lines.

- I'm totally sympathetic for Peter with his cell phone constantly ringing during his fights, and I have no good reason why. It's not like I've been webslinging in New York City fighting crime, right?

- Speaking of web-slinging, I found it interesting that Peter's using web-cartridges, instead of having spinners. I know the movies had Peter with spinners, and the 90's show had the web-cartridges.

- I also loved Peter ripping his costume. I think my favorite part of the films was just how much his suit got torn-up in his final battles, so that little moment gave me a chuckle as well.

- I could have sworn that the classic "bad-guy-crashing-into-fellow-bad-guy" trick from Gargoyles was going to be used in one of the aerial flights, but I can't remember if it actually happened or not. I don't think it did, but I really got the impression that it was going to happen. Maybe it was because Peter was on Vulture's back that triggered the thought.

- Love the Banana Cream Pie scene.

- I really love this version of J. Jonah Jameson. While I loved him in both the 90's cartoon and the films, my memory of him is that "His bark is worse than his bite, but his bark is still totally see-through." As of Spiderman 3, he was pretty much "cute." But Saturday was the first time I actually got scared from him. Was it the voice actor, the words he said, or just the animation of Jameson ripping one on Peter? Not totally sure -- but I know my eyes went as big as Peter's. So kudos on that!

That's pretty much it -- be happy knowing you've got at least one more college guy getting up early on Saturday Morning for cartoons!

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.