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Masterdramon writes...

Good day to you. I'm a long-time lurker, though a first-time poster.

First of all, I'm quite glad that "The Spectacular Spider-Man" Season 2 finally has a concrete air-month. I was extremely impressed by the series as a whole, and it is without a doubt the greatest adaptation of Spider-Man outside of the original comics. Its character development, multi-layered storylines, and sheer coolness are nearly unparalleled in the realm of animation, with the notable exceptions of the DC Animated Universe, "Avatar: The Last Airbender," and of course "Gargoyles." Now it's time for us fans to cross our fingers for Season 3...

Anyway, a long while back you made a very insteresting post discussing how a good villain invariably acts as a foil for some aspect of the hero. To demonstrate this point, you gave a list of who you considered Batman's greatest villains:

a) The Joker, who represents the chaos that opposes Batman's order...
b) Two-Face, who personifies Bruce Wayne/Batman's duality...
c) Catwoman, who symbolizes the darkness that continually seduces Batman's soul...
d) The Scarecrow, who, like Batman, exists to inspire fear...
e) And Ra`s al Ghul, who takes Batman's pursuit of order to fascistic extremes...

This sort of thread simply fascinates me. So I was just wondering - could you do the same with Spider-Man's rogues gallery? Who, in your mind, are the greatest of Spider-Man's many great villains? And how do they speak to Peter Parker's soul? I have some ideas in my head as to the answers, but I'm very interested in hearing what your take on the subject is.

Thanks a lot, and good luck with "The Spectacular Spider-Man"! May it live long enough to introduce the greatest Spidey villain of all time: A Guy Named Joe!

(Well, let's hope it lives long, anyway...)

Greg responds...

I won't go through EVERY Spidey villain, but here's a sampling...

Vulture's age in opposition to Spidey's untried youth.
Venom's dark reaction to the tragedies that Peter faced.
Doc Ock represents the science that Peter loves run amok.
Spider-Man (like Anansi the spider) is a trickster figure. Green Goblin takes the trickster to a negative extreme.

Response recorded on October 08, 2008