This first week of September, I'll be reviewing Spider Man: TAS, which I'll be open and just admit, is my hands-down favourite show ever. It's the iconic best adaptation to my favourite iconic Marvel suuperhero, so it's fitting we begin with it.
Spider Man: The Animated Series aired for 5 seasons from 1994 to 1998. The animation was good however the CGI they use in some of the backgrounds does not blend well. The opening theme song wasn't iconic like many others of its time, but it was good enough.
Now, getting into the actual show it was the first time that a lot of Spider-Man's rogue gallery was adapted, including my favourite Spider-Man villain, Venom. This is an especially good thing considering that Spider-Man is renowned for fighting some of the deepest and most complex supervillains in comics. The storylines are always engaging and they fleshed out their characters (especially their main one) well enough to do justice to the comics. Spider-Man in particular showed how strong they were in making you relate to the characters, in fact I'd say it was their strongest suite, You really felt his pain in balancing his normal life as Peter Parker and his responsibilities to New York as Spider-Man. You understood where he was coming from when he was tempted to quit, and you were proud of him when he chose not to. In fact, you really understood the motivations and intentions of ALL the characters, including the antagonists, which is a hard feat to accomplish.
The storylines were great, though they got confusing once the show had gathered up enough continuity. My favourite ones would be the Venom Saga, where Venom is introduced and taken out over the course of 3 episodes and then reintroudced alongside his son Carnage a season later, the Green Goblin saga which is too complex to even describe here and the "I Really Hate Clones" two-part series finale (A MUST SEE).
Like the actual comics and all the other adaptations, we start off with Spider-Man already having been Spider-Man for some time. Unlike the comics and the very first, 1960s Spider-Man cartoon, we never get to see his origin story, even later on. That is one thing I always wished they'd do in more of the Spider-Man cartoons. Now, most fans believe the ending of the series to be lackluster as *SPOILER WARNING*SPOILER WARNING* Spidey's love interest, Mary Jane, is still MIA in some alternate dimension by the end (even though he's actively searching for her *SPOILER OVER*SPOILER AVERTED* I however, in a minority that is perfectly satisfied by the ending. However.......there WAS a sequel series (which doesn't resolve the plot thread that annoys fans that I mentioned earlier in the spoiler) that, though not up to the same standards, I personally am ok with. It's called Spider Man Unlimited. I'm not going to make the case that it was better, as good, or even nearly as good as the original, however it wasn't BAD. Except for the ending which is a TRUE cliffhanger that enrages me to no end. *ANOTHER SPOILER WARNING*ANOTHER SPOILER WARNING* The series ended with a building that Spidey is in about to collapse, and an alien invasion about to begin all in the next 30 seconds. That is the ending. With no forseeable salvation. *SPOILER OVER*SPOILER AVERTED*....again. And worse yet, Spider Man Unlimited was the last series to air in the MAU (Marvel Animated Universe), meaning that the entire 8 YEAR LONG SHARED CONTINUITY WITH OVER 7 SEPERATE ANIMATED SERIES ends on perhaps, the worst cliffhanger ever. However, that is not the fault of the original Spider-Man: TAS, thank goodness.
Now, I understand I haven't really gone too in depth on the premise like I usually do, but that's mostly because the likes of Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man are so iconic that I don't think most people need me to. Nevertheless, I shall give a short summary. Peter Parker is a 16 year old (college-aged by the time this series starts though) who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and now has all its abilities. Web-shooting, wall-crawling, "Spidey-sense" that alerts him to danger, and enhanced agility and strength. He uses these to fight crime as a masked spider-themed vigilante. On his way he makes enemies out of many criminals, and more importantly, many super criminals.
Overall, the series was good, but where it really shone through is where I said it did before, in it's characterization. For even just how maturely it handled its characters, it clearly was a show that respected its audience. And with that, I give Spider-Man: TAS a 98, woo-hoo. Thanks guys, next week i'll be reviewing Batman: TAS, please comment!
Spider Man: The Animated Series aired for 5 seasons from 1994 to 1998. The animation was good however the CGI they use in some of the backgrounds does not blend well. The opening theme song wasn't iconic like many others of its time, but it was good enough.
Now, getting into the actual show it was the first time that a lot of Spider-Man's rogue gallery was adapted, including my favourite Spider-Man villain, Venom. This is an especially good thing considering that Spider-Man is renowned for fighting some of the deepest and most complex supervillains in comics. The storylines are always engaging and they fleshed out their characters (especially their main one) well enough to do justice to the comics. Spider-Man in particular showed how strong they were in making you relate to the characters, in fact I'd say it was their strongest suite, You really felt his pain in balancing his normal life as Peter Parker and his responsibilities to New York as Spider-Man. You understood where he was coming from when he was tempted to quit, and you were proud of him when he chose not to. In fact, you really understood the motivations and intentions of ALL the characters, including the antagonists, which is a hard feat to accomplish.
The storylines were great, though they got confusing once the show had gathered up enough continuity. My favourite ones would be the Venom Saga, where Venom is introduced and taken out over the course of 3 episodes and then reintroudced alongside his son Carnage a season later, the Green Goblin saga which is too complex to even describe here and the "I Really Hate Clones" two-part series finale (A MUST SEE).
Like the actual comics and all the other adaptations, we start off with Spider-Man already having been Spider-Man for some time. Unlike the comics and the very first, 1960s Spider-Man cartoon, we never get to see his origin story, even later on. That is one thing I always wished they'd do in more of the Spider-Man cartoons. Now, most fans believe the ending of the series to be lackluster as *SPOILER WARNING*SPOILER WARNING* Spidey's love interest, Mary Jane, is still MIA in some alternate dimension by the end (even though he's actively searching for her *SPOILER OVER*SPOILER AVERTED* I however, in a minority that is perfectly satisfied by the ending. However.......there WAS a sequel series (which doesn't resolve the plot thread that annoys fans that I mentioned earlier in the spoiler) that, though not up to the same standards, I personally am ok with. It's called Spider Man Unlimited. I'm not going to make the case that it was better, as good, or even nearly as good as the original, however it wasn't BAD. Except for the ending which is a TRUE cliffhanger that enrages me to no end. *ANOTHER SPOILER WARNING*ANOTHER SPOILER WARNING* The series ended with a building that Spidey is in about to collapse, and an alien invasion about to begin all in the next 30 seconds. That is the ending. With no forseeable salvation. *SPOILER OVER*SPOILER AVERTED*....again. And worse yet, Spider Man Unlimited was the last series to air in the MAU (Marvel Animated Universe), meaning that the entire 8 YEAR LONG SHARED CONTINUITY WITH OVER 7 SEPERATE ANIMATED SERIES ends on perhaps, the worst cliffhanger ever. However, that is not the fault of the original Spider-Man: TAS, thank goodness.
Now, I understand I haven't really gone too in depth on the premise like I usually do, but that's mostly because the likes of Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man are so iconic that I don't think most people need me to. Nevertheless, I shall give a short summary. Peter Parker is a 16 year old (college-aged by the time this series starts though) who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and now has all its abilities. Web-shooting, wall-crawling, "Spidey-sense" that alerts him to danger, and enhanced agility and strength. He uses these to fight crime as a masked spider-themed vigilante. On his way he makes enemies out of many criminals, and more importantly, many super criminals.
Overall, the series was good, but where it really shone through is where I said it did before, in it's characterization. For even just how maturely it handled its characters, it clearly was a show that respected its audience. And with that, I give Spider-Man: TAS a 98, woo-hoo. Thanks guys, next week i'll be reviewing Batman: TAS, please comment!
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