Got Cheeks? recently updated with a link to an interview at ENI concerning the new Spectacular Spider-Man animated series. Featured in the article and on Got Cheeks? site are the character concept art he did for the series. The original promo poster for the series did very little to instill confidence in me, but I recently checked out the trailer and was quite impressed with the new art style and direction the series was going in. You can check the character concepts for Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane and several others after the jump.
The line up looks very solid. Peter has a very Scott Pilgram-like look to him that I am unsure if I like or not. While I loved the Bruce Timm Batman animation style that pervaded most comic related cartoons of the last decade or more, I am happy to see the more rounded and natural designs for this series. Everyone seems more alive and do not appear to be mere statues or cut outs standing around.
Only real complaints on the designs are with Curt Connors and Eddie Brock. Brock looks to be taking Flash Thompson's place as the jock character with his design and the lack of Flash in the line-up here. It's not so much a complaint on Brock as it is the lack of a key character in favour of putting him there.
My complaint for Connors is the mechanical arm. It comes off as a tacky addition and, to me, serves only to show that his amputated arm makes him less viable a character and needed to be hidden from view. It seems to imply that physical handicaps should be hidden away. If he has a fully functional robotic arm, his whole character's purpose for creating the Lizard disappears, as he would not need to experiment on himself to regrow the arm and thus, not become the Lizard.
It's not as big a deal as my previous paragraph makes it out to be though. I'm really digging the new designs, as I stated earlier. Those are just some minor fanboy, nerd rage spasms. If you are interested in an animated preview, click here to see a preview from Marvel.com, dating back from the end of August.
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2 comments:
You are aware that things called "prosthetic devices" or "prostheses" are often worn by people who are missing limbs?
Of course I am aware of these things, but it doesn't change the way I feel about the unneeded change to a long time Spider-Man character simply to make him 'look cool' for a cartoon. I'm not going to start a crusade or boycott the show over it, but it was just something that upset me and I felt it cheapened the character's motivation.
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