[7.7/10] This is my third time seeing a Spider-Verse story (between the 1990s animated series’s version, 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse, and this one), and what I’ve liked so far is that they’re all fairly different from one another. Sure, each of them involves the Goblin and some interdimensional shenanigans, but on the whole, each reflects different sorts of Spider-Men and Spider-Women, and shows the breadth of how many ways you could twist and bend Peter Parker’s life and abilities and come up with interesting and compelling worlds and characters.
And hey, as one of the seven people who watched and/or remembered Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, there’s something kind of fun about seeing Spidey done up in that sort of CG animation again. (Sadly, no NPH, but I’ll take the star of Planet Terror as Spider-Man 2099 as a worthy substitute.) The novelty of seeing our familiar hero in a different medium does a lot of the work here (and the video game cutscene charm would likely wear off beyond the 7 minutes we get), but I like that the show packs in an abbreviated but still tidy little story in that world as well.
I appreciate Spidey 2099’s arc that he’s ready to give up the crimefighting life because crime never stops, only to be inspired by getting to team up with the hero he thought was a legend, and keep going. The Spider-on-Spider combat is well done, and there’s even a tidy little setup and payoff between the pair double-binding their webs and then using it to keep a building from plummeting over. Again, it moves very fast, but the action is solid and they quickly but firmly add a dose of character.
We get a little longer with the gender-flipped dimension, and it’s much the same. There’s the inherent novelty of meeting Spider-Girl, J. Joanne Jameson, Nicole Fury, and Norma & Harriet Osborn. But once that wears off, you get a solid little tale about Petra Parker feeling unappreciated, but heartened by the fact that there’s other Spider-people out there still fighting the good fight. The episode goes a little overboard on the “I can’t believe I was saved by a boy!”-type material, and it bends over backwards to recreate the famous Goblin bridge scene from Spidey’s past, replete with mutual rescues over the course of the segment, but it works.
Overall, I love these sort of dimension-hopping adventures, so I ate this up with a spoon, and appreciate how the first part of this arc balanced novelty and storytelling. And with Christopher Daniel Barnes already on board as Electro, I’m hoping we might still see a few more familiar Spideys yet!
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2019-01-25T22:28:59Z
[7.7/10] This is my third time seeing a Spider-Verse story (between the 1990s animated series’s version, 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse, and this one), and what I’ve liked so far is that they’re all fairly different from one another. Sure, each of them involves the Goblin and some interdimensional shenanigans, but on the whole, each reflects different sorts of Spider-Men and Spider-Women, and shows the breadth of how many ways you could twist and bend Peter Parker’s life and abilities and come up with interesting and compelling worlds and characters.
And hey, as one of the seven people who watched and/or remembered Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, there’s something kind of fun about seeing Spidey done up in that sort of CG animation again. (Sadly, no NPH, but I’ll take the star of Planet Terror as Spider-Man 2099 as a worthy substitute.) The novelty of seeing our familiar hero in a different medium does a lot of the work here (and the video game cutscene charm would likely wear off beyond the 7 minutes we get), but I like that the show packs in an abbreviated but still tidy little story in that world as well.
I appreciate Spidey 2099’s arc that he’s ready to give up the crimefighting life because crime never stops, only to be inspired by getting to team up with the hero he thought was a legend, and keep going. The Spider-on-Spider combat is well done, and there’s even a tidy little setup and payoff between the pair double-binding their webs and then using it to keep a building from plummeting over. Again, it moves very fast, but the action is solid and they quickly but firmly add a dose of character.
We get a little longer with the gender-flipped dimension, and it’s much the same. There’s the inherent novelty of meeting Spider-Girl, J. Joanne Jameson, Nicole Fury, and Norma & Harriet Osborn. But once that wears off, you get a solid little tale about Petra Parker feeling unappreciated, but heartened by the fact that there’s other Spider-people out there still fighting the good fight. The episode goes a little overboard on the “I can’t believe I was saved by a boy!”-type material, and it bends over backwards to recreate the famous Goblin bridge scene from Spidey’s past, replete with mutual rescues over the course of the segment, but it works.
Overall, I love these sort of dimension-hopping adventures, so I ate this up with a spoon, and appreciate how the first part of this arc balanced novelty and storytelling. And with Christopher Daniel Barnes already on board as Electro, I’m hoping we might still see a few more familiar Spideys yet!