Spectacular Spider-Man's Saturday Morning Debut

Ultimate Spider-Man: Animated.

I woke up early, well earlier than normal, on Saturday to catch the first two episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man on the Kids WB. The show, which is being produced by Culver Entertainment, features a young Spidey on a timeline similar to that found in Ultimate Spider-Man. It also happens to be pretty good.



From what was shown in the first two episodes it looks like The Spectacular Spider-Man is going to stick around for the long haul. This is mainly because of aspect; connectivity. There seem to be quite a few subplots running through and fusing together each episode. Even after only an hour of animation I felt as if enough seeds had been planted to feed another three or four future stories. We may have only seen Vulture and Electro in action but Eddie Brock, Kurt Connors, and Dr. Octavius have all been established thus far. The one thing that bothers me the most with a show like this is when each story is self-contained. It looks like that won't be a problem with The Spectacular Spider-Man.

I'm also quite a big fan of the action scenes in the SSM. You really get a sense of movement when Spidey is in action as the camera swings and cuts quite a bit. The feeling is very cinematic and sets itself apart from other Saturday morning cartoons.



If I have one complaint about The Spectacular Spider-Man it's that it can get rather cheesy. Both episodes seemed to have a morale message tacked on that didn't really tie into the story. There's nothing wrong with sending a good message, I just felt that it was situationally unnecessary in both episodes.

Did any of you guys catch the first two episodes of SSM? What did you think? Post a comment and share your thoughts. If you haven't you can check them out on YouTube.

The Spectacular Spider-Man airs Saturdays at 10:00am on The CW.

Cheers.

Subscribe in a reader

Ultimate Spider-Man #105 Review

The conclusion to the clone saga. How will Brian Michael Bendis mop up this mess?

Maybe I'm a bit harsh calling Bendis' take on the infamous clone saga a "mess." Sure, the arc has been convoluted and all over the place, with so many details and characters being thrown around that it's hard to keep track of, but I've thoroughly enjoyed it. An homage to the original clone saga wouldn't be complete without a bit of confusion anyhow.

Well, issue 105 hit the shelves on Wednesday and provided, in 32 pages, a chance for Bendis to wrap up the enourmous number of events that have occured in this 8-part story-arc. When I say there were an enourmous number of events I'm referring to Peter getting cloned, clones going crazy, Peter's dad coming back from the dead, so did Gwen Stacy, Aunt May having heart attack, MJ turning into a wolf-beast, Doctor Octapus ending up out of jail, the Fantastic Four gotting involved, Shield getting involved. Am I missing anything? Probably. It has been a crazy arc and an entertaining one.

Now, unlike my Spawn 164 review, I don't want to give too much of this issue away. Ultimate Spider-Man 104 ended with the Fantastic Four giving Peter the question of a lifetime: continue as Spider-Man or let them take away the burden of his powers. Now, this question takes the entire issue to answer but is broken up by some key plot developments. We find out Nick Fury's reasoning behind sending all those spider-mechs to Peter's house in Queens. Peter also gets closer to Mary-Jane than he has since they broke up and must choose between MJ or Kitty Pryde. Peter must also deal with Aunt May who is recovering in hospital. She now knows her adopted Son is Spider-Man and Peter doesn't know if she will be able to cope.



Brian Michael Bendis does a good job wrapping up the story while leaving some of the story open for conclusion later on in the title's history. I think he did an excellent job with the Clone Saga and was able to throw so much at the reader without losing them (too much). I'm always in awe of how Bendis is able to really capture the human quality of things in such an action packed book. As much as I enjoy his fight sequences and the battle royales, I always appreciate the conversation scenes that much more. Sure, some of the stuff is corny and cheese fluff, but it works well in the book.

Mark Bagley is also up to his usual standards in issue 105. His compositions are top notch as usual and he does an excellent job nailing his characters' emotions in this issue. I don't think I'm saying anything new when it comes to Mark Bagely's art. He's done 105 consecutive issues on the title, the man knows how to draw AND meet his deadlines, something some of the best artists aren't able to do these.

I thought Ultimate Spider-Man 105 was a great issue and I'm looking forward to seeing what Bendis and Bagley can do with their next issue: Daredevil.

Cheers.

Subscribe in a reader

Ultimate Spider-Man 100 Covers

100 unique covers, all proceeds go to charity.

A few months back Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man 100 hit the shelves of comic book stores all over, celebrating 100 continuous issues with the same creative team of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. To celebrate, Marvel sent out 100 blank Ultimate Spider-Man covers to a vast array of comic book artists, each one given the task of creating their own unique cover to complete the milestone.

Well, Marvel is now planning to auction off all 100 covers at some upcoming comic conventions, and on eBay, with all proceeds going towards The Hero Initiative, a charity that helps comic book creators in need.



Some of these covers are simply amazing and will most likely sell for prices I can't even compute. My favourites have to be Clayton Crain's, Ron Garney's, Todd McFarlane's, and Humberto Ramos'. I also find it quite amusing that Guillermo Del Toro (director of Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) did a cover.

Check out all 100 covers HERE.

Cheers.

Subscribe in a reader