Studio: Sony Pictures
To all those people out there who think they're too old to watch cartoons, I feel sorry for you. As much as I love the trippy '60s Bakshi helmed Spider-Man series, this new Spectacular Spider-Man might be the best Web-slinger series for true believers yet! This incarnation of Spidey has him as a highschool student and it draws from every official source possible: all eras of Spider-Man comics, Ultimate Comics, the movies, and even the classic '60s series! The way they sew together continuities to incorporate key characters is actually pretty spectacular (couldn't help myself). Gwen Stacy, Mary-Jane Watson, Liz Allan, Mark Allan (known as Mark Raxton in comic continuity), Flash Thompson and Peter all go to school together, while Eddie Brock (Venom), Curt Connors (The Lizard), Miles Warren (The Jackal), Norman Osborne (Green Goblin), Donald Menken, and Peter are all part of the same scientific community. The action sequences are the best an animated Spider-Man series has ever seen. The way they connect flips, swings, glides and web-slinging looks like one of those insane Marvel vs. Capcom 2 combos. On top of that, Spidey actually takes a beating almost every episode, and I mean a hard battering. This gives you a much better sense of the strength and durability Spider-Man truly has.
While the name Sean "Cheeks" Galloway might not ring a bell for you, I would check out anything this guy does the character designs for. He worked on both of the Hellboy Animated flicks, as well as some very cool DC and Marvel comics. He sticks fairly close to the looks of the villians, although he does revamp the Green Goblin and Vulture costumes quite a bit. He gives Spidey an angular face that definitely modernizes the look a bit.
The name of this DVD is a bit of a misnomer because while it's Volume 5, it is the first DVD release from the second season. Volume 5-8 will make up the Complete Second Season. If you are a Spidey or animation fan, you are in for a treat here...but you might want to watch the Complete First Season first.
