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Spider-Man: Pros, Cons, and Amateurs

So, in a comment to yesterday's post, That One Guy says that I'm watching and reacting to "what is effectively the last five to seven years of comics distilled into one show." That's hilarious and would explain a lot.

I don't read comic books. It's an expensive habit, and I'm not fond of the "decompressed" style that's been adapted in the last 10 years or so.

So it's funny when I complain that this animated series is too much compressed. "Venom" in the comics, for instance, was a pretty extended story, wasn't it? I hope it was less compressed than the one-episode treatment (with two bonus appearances) that this animated series gave it. Was "Spider Island" also an adaptation? Quick research suggests it was, but I'm not going to do a deep dive, because the idea feels goofy at any length. Maybe it got a sensational treatment in the comics, but it feels like the worst kind of comic-book stunt, the kind that begins with the editors bragging THE STORY THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING! and ends with them rushing to confess WE DIDN'T REALLY MEAN IT, WE DIDN'T REALLY MEAN IT!

There are other places where the cartoon's compression bothers me, not because the results are bad but because they're not nearly good enough. Places where the ideas and approach are terrific, but the execution fumbles.

So the thing I like best about the series -- which also comes from the comics -- is the melodrama surrounding the Osborns, and the way it envelops an unwilling Spider-Man. I like the Machiavellian plotting of Norman Osborn, and the three-cornered tug-of-war that erupts between him, Peter Parker, and Spider-Man to pull Harry in every which direction.

I like the conflict between Osborn and Raymond Warren, and I particularly like that Osborn's justified paranoia about Warren motivates his paranoia about Spider-Man, as he has a justified (though false) belief that Spider-Man is an early manifestation of a Jackal plot. It's the kind of thing that elevates a character from hackneyed villain to flawed human being, or even -- if the right work is done -- misguided hero.

And I especially like that there are all these pieces moving just beneath the surface, where Peter can't see but which cause earthquakes he has to deal with -- and which without his realizing it are moving him and Harry toward a confrontation.

What I don't like is that these revelations come tumbling out in a higgledy-piggledy way, so that most of those developments are in place by episode 5. They feel more like the kind revelations that should have taken place across a 15 or even 20 episode stretch. Then it would have felt more like a living, evolving world and less like the chess pieces being quickly moved into position.

I also don't like that with Harry they seem to have lost the plot. After doing a good job of setting up his conflicted feelings, those conflicts are only banged at instead of developed: Norman pressures Harry into hating Spider-Man; Harry gets snotty when Spider-Man shows up; Harry and Peter swear their undying friendship; return to start. Then, when there's finally a break between Harry and Peter (episode 17), it is quickly papered over. Then it opens up again in Episode 18 ... and is papered over. Opened and papered over again in Episode 19. By the time Norman dies (Episode 25), I no longer cared where or how Harry was going to come down again, because I was sure it would just reverse again whichever way it went. The story should build to an irrevocable break between the friends, because that's where the logic points.

I have finished Season One now, and I don't regret the time or the $15, not by a long shot. I have been taking extensive notes and will be posting some synopses and analyses of the episodes. There is stuff to learn from them. I am now off for Season Two, which with luck I will finish up today.

EDIT: Here's a pretty good YouTube review   of the series, and I'm pretty much in line with what he says, except that his critique of Harry Osborn dives too deep for me to share, since I don't know the character that well.

One thing I'll add: I have always hated how chatty earlier Spider-Man cartoons are, how he self-narrates himself around the screen and through his adventures. It's "radio talk", the kind of stuff you put in to explain things that the audience can't see or understand. It's in every Spider-Man cartoon I've ever tried to watch, and it's always driven me from a Spider-Man series after giving it one or two chances. I know Spider-Man is supposed to be a talkative guy, but what works on a comics page doesn't work in a cartoon or movie.

I don't mind it nearly so much in this series, though, because they turn it into characterization -- it's how Peter talks himself through situations -- and they even lampshade it. He tries practicing his stealth skills in one episode, and Miles catches him because "I heard you talking to yourself." Peter: "I don't talk to myself!" Miles: "You might want to look into that." So it feels less like cliched old-time cartoon writing -- "Great Scott, I've got to stop that dam from bursting and inundating that valley where ten thousand people, including my Aunt May, live in relative suburban comfort, from being swept away by the subsequent catastrophic flood!" -- and more like real writing.