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POSTINGS 2008-03 (Mar)

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Rachel writes...

Hi Greg! I don't have a question, just a few thoughts on your Spider-Man.

I really enjoyed it, although I'm not the target demographic (24-year-old woman). I'm also not a comic book fan (except for your Gargoyle comics), so the only Spider-Man stuff I'm familiar with is the movies--and even then, I've only seen the first two and wasn't even that impressed by them. Actually, my three favorite aspects of your cartoon are also (in my opinion) major differences it has from the films.

1) It's pretty darn funny.
In the first episode, I loved the minor storyline about his shoes, but my favorite part was [wording approximate] "Haven't you heard the one about great power coming with great responsibility?" Hilarious. And it's nice that the humor is more often radiating from Peter than simply being at his expense (see also #3).

2) What I think of as a Weisman trademark: the shade-of-gray villain.
Vulture and Electro each had an element of the typical-comic-villain "I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!" thing going on, but I'd have to say that on the whole, each of them was more sympathetic than not. Vulture's demands from Osbourne? Extremely reasonable. (Speaking of, I also want to endorse your decision to keep the line about not letting Harry lose his dad the way Peter had lost his uncle. Because, again, Vulture had a valid point when he wondered why Spider-Man was siding against him [besides the whole kidnapping/assault thing, of course], from his and the viewers' point of view.)

3. I really like Peter's positive attitude.
It's a problem endemic to storytelling of all media that to keep up dramatic tension or the conflict that the writer has set up, the hero has to be, in a way, obstinate and narrow-minded. The audience is supposed to be convinced there's a problem because the hero is convinced there's a problem. Or maybe it's just a personal preference, and I happen to like plucky determination better than brooding pessimism.

Anyway, I liked it a lot and am eager to find out what happens next!

Greg responds...

Great! The episodes keep coming (I know because my blood pressure keeps rising), so stay tuned!

Response recorded on March 24, 2008

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ColdFusion writes...

Hey Weis guy! :D
I saw the new Spider-Man series, it was truly excellent. Good to see something remotely intelligent on Saturday morning for a change.
Interesting look for Peter (mole?) and interesting how he's experiencing mom-troubles instead of the more familiar social-appointment-troubles.. what with him being younger.
Of course I caught the gargoyles reference, very nice.
One thing I found kinda funny is how Pete explicitly mentions the almighty hyphen (love that hyphen) but then just a few scenes later a newspaper lacks it. C'est la vie.
Keep up the excellent work, can't wait for Gargs 8!

Greg responds...

"mom-troubles"?

And don't get me started on the hyphen!

Response recorded on March 24, 2008

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The Spectacular Spider-Man #104

___________________________________________________________________________

The Spectacular Spider-Man
Ep: "MARKET FORCES"
Main and End Title Credits ___________________________________________________________________________
Main Titles
Executive Producers
STAN LEE
CRAIG KYLE
ERIC S. ROLLMAN
___________________________________________________________________________

Developed For Television By
VICTOR COOK & GREG WEISMAN

Created by
STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO

Opening Credits

Card #1
Supervising Producer and Story Editor
GREG WEISMAN

Card #2
Producer and Supervising Director
VICTOR COOK

Card #3
Producer
DIANE A CREA

Card #4
Written By
ANDREW ROBINSON

Card #5
Directed By
DAN FAUSETT
___________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________
Closing Credits

Card #6
Starring
JOSH KEATON as PETER PARKER / SPIDER-MAN
__________________________________________________________________________
Card #7
Also Starring
JEFF BENNETT as MONTANA / SHOCKER
CLANCY BROWN as ALEX O'HIRN
LACEY CHABERT as GWEN STACY
GREY DELISLE as BETTY BRANT
JOHN DIMAGGIO as FLINT MARKO, HAMMERHEAD
BEN DISKIN as EDDIE BROCK
ANDREW KISHINO as NED LEE

_______________________________________________________________________
Card #8
Also Starring
PHIL LAMARR as RAND ROBERTSON, ROBBIE ROBERTSON
JOSHUA LEBAR as FLASH THOMPSON
DARAN NORRIS as J. JONAH JAMESON
ALAN RACHINS as NORMAN OSBORN
KEVIN MICHAEL RICHARDSON as BIG MAN, COACH SMITH
DEBORAH STRANG as MAY PARKER
JAMES ARNOLD TAYLOR as HARRY OSBORN
__________________________________________________________________________
Card #9
Voice Casting and Dialogue Director
JAMIE THOMASON
__________________________________________________________________________
Card #10
Music by
LOLITA RITMANIS
KRISTOPHER CARTER
MICHAEL McCUISTION

___________________________________________________________________________
Card #11
Associate Producer
ERIC VESBIT

___________________________________________________________________________
Card #12
Staff Writer
KEVIN HOPPS

Apprentice Writer
RANDY JANDT

Card # 13
Storyboard Artists
JENNIFER COYLE
TIM ELDRED
LARRY HOUSTON
JUAN MEZA LEON
NATE CLESOWICH

Storyboard Revisionists
PAUL HARMON
JEFFREY S. JOHNSON

Card #14
Lead Character Designer
SEAN "CHEEKS" GALLOWAY
____________________________________________________________________
Card #15
Character Designers
PHILLIP BOURASSA
THOMAS PERKINS
GREG GULER
JOSE ZELAYA

Assistant Character Designers
JOSH BISHOP
WALTER GATUS
JEFFREY S. JOHNSON
JOEY MASON
KAY PARK

Card #16
Background Supervisor
VINCENT TOYAMA

Background Designers
KENNY McGILL
ART MORALES
BOB KLINE
TED BLACKMAN

Prop Designers
TAE SOO KIM
ANDY CHIANG
ART LEE

Card #17
Background Painters
JOEY MASON
MIKE INMAN
WEI ZHAO
FRED WARTER
LIN HUA ZHENG

Color Stylists
PAMELA LONG
DAVID SVEND KARROL
CRAIG CUQRO
NANCY ULENE

Card #18

Supervising Timing Director
GORDON KENT

Timing Directors
BRIAN HOGAN
RANDY LUDENSKY
SWINTON SCOTT
TONY CRAIG

Animation Checker
SANDI HATHCOCK
__________________________________________________________________________
Card #19

Storyboard Production Manager BRIAN G. SMITH

Production Art Supervisor JOHN "BUENOS" DIAZ

Production Coordinator SHERRIAN FELIX

Episodic Casting Supervisor MATTHEW C. OTOSKI

Production Assistant BEN MALONEY

Post Production Assistant JENNIFER L. ANDERSON

Production Accountant NATHAN HARAMOTO

__________________________________________________________________________
Card #20

Associate Producer for Marvel
JOSHUA FINE

Production Coordinator for Marvel
ADAM TOOTLA

__________________________________________________________________________
Card #21

Recorded at
STUDIOPOLIS, INC.

Dialogue Recording Engineer
ERIC LEWIS, C.A.S.

Dialogue Editor
TERRY REIFF

Track Reading
SOUND BYTE, INC.

Animatic Technician
MIKE MANGAN

__________________________________________________________________________
Card #22
STUDIO POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
ELVIDA ABELLA

Editors
RALPH A. EUSEBIO
BRUCE A. KING

Assistant Editors
DONNELL EBARRETE
CHUCK SMITH

Digital Effects Supervisor
ULYSSES ARGETTA

Card #22

Music Engineers MARK MATTSON
MAKO SUJISHI

Post Production Sound Services ADVANTAGE Sound Services

Sound Designer ROBERT POOLE II

Dialogue Editor ROBBI SMITH

Foley Artist CRAIG NG

Foley Mixer MARY ERSTAD

Digital Audio Transfer ROBERT PRATT

Re-Recording Mixers MELISSA ELLIS
FIL BROWN
Card #23
Main Title Theme by
THE TENDER BOX

Main Title Directed by
VICTOR COOK

Main Title Storyboard by
PHIL WEINSTEIN

Main Title Color by
JOEY MASON

Main Title Animation Production by
HANHO HEUNG-UP CO. LTD

___________________________________________________________________________
Card #24
Animation Production by
DONGWOO ANIMATION CO., LTD
___________________________________________________________________________
Card #25

This Motion Picture is protected under the laws of the United States and other countries, and its unauthorized duplication, distribution, or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution. Many of the characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious, and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely coincidental and unintentional.

"The Spectacular Spider-Man, the animated series (C) 2008 Adelaide Productions, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Spider-Man and all related characters TM & (C) 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc."

Adelaide Productions, Inc. is the author of this film/motion picture for the purposes of Article
15(2) of the Berne Convention and all national laws giving effect thereto.

___________________________________________________________________________
END LOGOS

MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT CULVER ENTERTAINMENT

SONY PICTURES TELEVISION


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MARCH 22

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

March 22nd...

2198
Earth surrenders to the Space-Spawn.


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Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

Catching up on my reviews/feedback to the comics... random thoughts as usual, and not very thorough.

Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy the Trade Paperback, since I'm unemployed and low on money. Maybe someday. But I intend to continue buying the individual issues. I sincerely hope that the comic continues long after #12! And I really hope #8 comes around soon.

I forgot to mention, I like that #7 visually confirms that Delilah turns to stone like an ordinary gargoyle.

Issues #3-5:
I read these a while ago, and watched the Radio Play online before reading #5. Lots of new revelations about the Illuminati in this set. Overall, I didn't find the Illuminati stuff in the series as interesting as this. They really are sinister and scary. Whatever they're doing, it won't be in the clan's best interest.

Art
The different art styles in the three issues makes it strange to read them in sequence. Being the critic that I am, I notice many flaws, but I don't think that the art in #3 and #4 these issues was bad overall. I'm just not as good at describing the parts I like.
David Hedgecock's art isn't as good in this issue as in the latest issues drawn by him, which I already mentioned in my reactions to #7. It appears he was still getting used to all the various characters. Some good character asides are worked into the frames -- like Margot's obnoxious expression as she walks out of the meeting, and Brooklyn facing Malibu while Al talks to Shari. I don't understand the frame in which Talon is covered in warts, though. That wasn't in Metamorphosis, though it could have happened off-screen. I prefer Dustin Evans' shading style to Will Terell, but Morgan, Matt, and Thailog are colored oddly. I dislike the lines stabbing out of the gargoyles' eyes when they glow. As I've already said, Hedgecock's art looks best in #7, and with Robby Bevard's colors.
I quite like Nir Paniry's art on the Mutates, I think they looked very good. I also generally like his art for gargoyles' faces, I think he does good facial expressions in general (except the first page which looks more cartoony). I think he does a great job on Hudson. Talon's face when he says "I'm not leaving Maggie!" is especially well done, and very expressive. But the lines on Angela's face look like eyebrows. And I don't like seeing the gargoyles with such huge muscles. The split frame of Goliath's and Thailog's faces looks good. I also like the effect of the frame with just Goliath, Elisa, Morgan, and Delilah standing alone, as if the party is not all around them. It conveys the emotion of the situation (for Elisa and Goliath, at least) more effectively than words or faces could. I also enjoy the frame where Broadway and Lexington go after the food.
Karine Charlebois' art is amazing, it looks just like the animated show! The art in #5 is excellent, both the lines and the colors. Morgan still does look paler and Malibu's hair greener than I remember, but otherwise this issue is spot on the models in most frames. Brentwood is even drawn with the extra spikes he has on his shoulders. I am also pleased that the blood was drawn (not avoided) but also was not gratuitous or excessive -- especially considering that Thailog was not trying to kill anyone.
My main problem with these three issues is the inconsistency with the Mutates and the Clones, who are off-model in various ways in #3 and #4. In #3 the Mutates have tails. In both #3 and #4 the Clones have white teeth and red mouths, and Thailog and Brentwood look black instead of blue and purple. (Actually, I was kind of hoping at first that the Clones' mouths and teeth had simply changed to the normal color over time, as I find their black teeth and green tongues rather nasty.)
The inconsistency with Broadway's costume was less avoidable, though dramatic. Angela's footwear also seems to change from #4 to #5, but that is hardly noticable. Maybe they changed clothes?
In any case, such things also happened in the animated series, they were just harder to notice in moving images. They'll probably be rarer once every issue is by the same art team (you are going to pick a permanent color artist eventually, right? Please make it Robby Bevard!)

#3
Ugh, Margot. She's just so hateable. I don't really know why, some other antagonists are more of a threat.

I think Hacker is lying to everyone he talks to here. The Illuminati manipulates and uses its lower members. Probably Hacker isn't totally in the loop either. They can't want to kill all gargoyles, because they already know where the Manhattan clan sleep. I think I know what they're up to with the Quarrymen, Taskforce, and Xanatos, but would guessing in print be an idea?

The conversation between Lex and Fox is funny, though less than last time. But I notice he takes her word for it.

I really like how Goliath and Elisa's relationship is handled. Too many fantasy stories have inter-species romances in which the characters don't act at all sensibly. They just jump into it as though cross-species mating is normal and they expect healthy children and total social acceptance. But Elisa has a realistic reaction. She may be a gargoyle-lover, but she isn't crazy. Goliath's behavior surprises me more, that he has no doubts at all. Is it because falling in love after losing the first mate is so rare that he doesn't question it? Because his life is already so different from how he grew up, that he just goes with it?

LIMITED is right.

And Demona takes the crystal. Nice to see that, to know what happened to it.

#4
Hudson! I like Hudson, he's one of my favorite characters.
If people didn't want to believe real bad that gargoyles are just animals, if the idea of sentient gargs wasn't so impossible for a person, I doubt they'd fall for the "I'm wearing a mask" trik. No way a garg's face looks like a rubber mask.

"Excuse me? Cyborg." Somehow this line is very funny to me. But how does his costume just happen to be identical to the one in Future Tense? Did Puck see the costume in a prophecy? It can't be a coincidence. Of course it is only a costume, but from an in-the-universe point of view, the perfectly identical appearance is pretty creepy.

Go Claw! He has some guts in him.

Roebling is hilarious. Clearly he is wasted. And Delilah is so naive! Who would ever say such things in public, to total strangers... wow. English she has learned, but not basic social niceties.

I wonder why Alex is growing so fast. Is it his magic training? And I can't fail to notice that this Ambassador Chung has a son named Terry... he's pretty young yet, though.

I was very worried about Maggie when I read this. Now having #7 I'm not worried anymore of course.
Clearly Derek has a lot of feeling for her.

I love the way Owen handles Thailog. He knows that if his head is blown off, he will be dead like any mortal. But he's deadpan calm as always.
And that line about endlessly repairing the castle had me laughing so hard!

#5
The bloody cover of #5 with the Disney logo on it is ironic/amusing/strange. I'm sure most people don't expect that from a Disney comic! But I was sure you weren't ready to kill Goliath yet, so I didn't worry.

I already watched the Radio Play but of course it is much better with visuals. Because I watched the Radio Play, I get to hear Brentwood's hilarious lines in my head. I gasped along with the audience at the end.

There are Mary and Finella. It has to be them. And using their old clothes as costumes.

Morgan sure takes that news very well. That's kind of him.

I was very surprised that Duval is only #2, and I'm eager to learn who #1 is. We will find out eventually, right?

I laughed so hard at the Super-Garg pose! Brooklyn looks hilarious there.

Never expected Angela to start dropping profanity.

The way the clan treat the clones is kind of sad. I understand that for the Manhattan clan, the clones are unsettling and perhaps frightening, and it is difficult to think of them as being their own separate selves, partly because until now they have mostly seemed fairly passive, serving Thailog or going to the Labyrinth because they were told to. Yet I can also see that the Manhattan clan are being very inconsiderate and dismissive, and I imagine it makes the clones feel pretty bad.

I wonder about what led them to choose the Labyrinth over Thailog. Angela phrases it in terms of good and evil, but I have the feeling the clones did not reject Thailog for that reason. They aren't really old enough to have a good grasp of "good" and "evil" yet, though of course that isn't to say they can't or won't learn about such things in time. I think it was more a matter of freedom and slavery to them, than a concrete conviction that Thailog has done immoral things. Probably also it was a matter of their personal liking for the Mutates, and for each other, versus Thailog. Whereas Brentwood likes Thailog as a person more than he likes the Mutates or his siblings, but I don't get the feeling that he has a clear sense that Thailog has been "evil," either. I could be wrong, but it seems they are too young to expect that of them yet. Nevertheless, Delilah knows when she herself has been wronged, whether or not she phrases it that way. I was certainly surprised by her and Breentwood's choices here.

The scene with Jeffery Robbins is very nice. But does Hudson really smell like concrete? The stuff is made of limestone I think. And how does Robbins know that gargoyles are strictly nocturnal? Seems like the Quarrymen are telling people about stone sleep...
But I'm glad to see Robbins and Dr. Sato become friends to the gargoyles here, even knowing what they are. It even looks like Brendan was the one who got the doctor.

Quincy and Xanatos interacting is amusing. Xanatos making wisecracks at the #2... he's rather full of himself. But amusing.

In the end Elisa and Goliath kiss. And he says something very wise about free will. Brooklyn becomes funny. And Sevarius gets in a rather grotesque line.

Greg responds...

Glad you liked the run. I was pretty proud of it. Hope 7-9 works as well for you.

Response recorded on March 20, 2008

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Anthony Tini writes...

Greg,

I don't know if Peter Jackson or George Lucas are/were fans of Gargoyles, but an intro by either of them for the TPB Vol 2 would be awesome.

Also, I know you were a fan of Gummy Bears. Were the creators of Gummy Bears fans of Gargoyles? Maybe people involved in Gummy Bears like Art Vitello, David Block, Diane Dixon, Jymn Magon, Bruce Talkington, Alan Burnett, Bryce Malek, or Mark Zaslove could do an intro for you?

Maybe you can have a contest and the winning fan can have a shot at it?

Greg responds...

Bruce Talkington passed away, unfortunately.

I don't know a few of those people mentioned (like, say Lucas) and I'm not in touch with many of the others anymore, though I still talk to Jymn and Alan on occasion. I'm not sure they were gargoyles fans though. But they're good suggestions. Tad Stones might be good too.

Response recorded on March 20, 2008

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Ricky writes...

Hey Greg,

It would be incredible if you could get Joss Whedon to write the intro for Clan-Building Volume Two. I know that might be a bit of a stretch, but it would be great, and could probably turn some Buffy/Angel fans on to the series, who may have been previously unaware of Gargoyles.

Just a fanboy's wishful thinking.

Greg responds...

That would be great. But (a) I don't know him or any way to contact him and (b) I have no idea if he's a fan or even aware of Gargoyles' existence.

Response recorded on March 18, 2008

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Dustin writes...

Hi Greg,

I just watched the first two episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man and I loved it!
I was surprised how young Aunt May looks, even younger than the Ultimate Spider-Man version, but that's fine, if there was one thing that always annoyed me, it was her poor health and the heart attacks she almost had, whenever Spider-Man was mentioned. A younger and stronger May is what Peter needs, he has enough things to worry about. I was surprised that Sally was included (let's face it, in the comics she's practically a nobody), the supporting cast is bigger than I expected. I hope we'll see more of the Bugle characters in the next few episodes, once Peter manages to take good pictures of himself.

I'm glad Mary Jane is not part of the show yet, I love her, but Peter had a life before MJ and it should be shown, if only for a few episodes, I'm pretty sure we'll meet her soon.

I thought the animation was great, and I like the character designs, although the eyes are kinda scary ... no pupils, strange.

I'm going to watch this show every week and I'm so buying the DVDs, you and everyone else involved did a great job!

Greg responds...

May doesn't look that young to me...

Response recorded on March 18, 2008

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Charisma82 writes...

Hey! I just thought I'd post my congratulations to you and all the talented people who worked on the new Spectacular Spider Man show. I watched it a couple days ago, so I'm not going to go into a big ramble on it, but I will write a few things I remember off the top of my head.

First things first, I LOVED the Spider Man humor. This is coming from a person who never read the comics, who heard how funny and witty Spiderman was, and saw the movies & was disappointed. The movies were good, but that humor wasn't there. I like how Peter is his smart-mouth self as Spiderman and then his nerd/geek self when he's back to Peter Parker. Great job at establishing the differences in his two personas.

I thought Peter's eyes were a bit huge. It kinda bugged me (pun intended). I can't remember the other characters that had huge eyes like that, but I definitely remember Peter had them.

I was suprised not to see MJ. For some reason I had the impression she was going to be in the TV series, but I guess she won't show up right away.

I liked having the variety of bad guys. I also loved all the hints in there about the bad guys to come.

And, most of all, the gargoyle cameos! And only a few seconds into the show! I recognized a Broadway looking gargoyle (at the beginning of the 1st show) and a Hudson looking gargoyle (that almost smashed into Spidey when he was fighting the guys in the helicopter).

All in all, I think the show started off well. I can't wait to see what else happens.

Thank you for your time and all that you do.

-Charisma82

Greg responds...

Thanks for watching!

Response recorded on March 18, 2008

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Phoenician writes...

Hey Greg,

A little behind on the my review for the comics, will get to those one day (just know right now I've loved each and every new issue that comes out:) ).

That said, I did want to post some random thoughts about Saturday's Spiderman. I must admit that my only exposure to Spidey thus far has been the 90's incarnation as well as the three feature films . . . I've never had the chance to delve into Peter's comic origins.

That said, some thoughts:

- Love seeing the tributes to Hudson and Broadway. Shame about the Broadway statue though. Don't the folks in Spidey's world know how much us fans would pay for a collectible Gargoyles statue?? :P

- You really are a weaver of great stories, and that can be seen with all the set-up of stories to come. We meet the characters of the Green Goblin, the Lizard, Venom, and (from what I've gathered in the CR) other Spidey antagonists that I never knew about. And though I vaguely knew about the Vulture and Electro (was Electro even in the 90's version? I can't remember . . .), I still loved these two episodes -- both characters had amazing lines.

- I'm totally sympathetic for Peter with his cell phone constantly ringing during his fights, and I have no good reason why. It's not like I've been webslinging in New York City fighting crime, right?

- Speaking of web-slinging, I found it interesting that Peter's using web-cartridges, instead of having spinners. I know the movies had Peter with spinners, and the 90's show had the web-cartridges.

- I also loved Peter ripping his costume. I think my favorite part of the films was just how much his suit got torn-up in his final battles, so that little moment gave me a chuckle as well.

- I could have sworn that the classic "bad-guy-crashing-into-fellow-bad-guy" trick from Gargoyles was going to be used in one of the aerial flights, but I can't remember if it actually happened or not. I don't think it did, but I really got the impression that it was going to happen. Maybe it was because Peter was on Vulture's back that triggered the thought.

- Love the Banana Cream Pie scene.

- I really love this version of J. Jonah Jameson. While I loved him in both the 90's cartoon and the films, my memory of him is that "His bark is worse than his bite, but his bark is still totally see-through." As of Spiderman 3, he was pretty much "cute." But Saturday was the first time I actually got scared from him. Was it the voice actor, the words he said, or just the animation of Jameson ripping one on Peter? Not totally sure -- but I know my eyes went as big as Peter's. So kudos on that!

That's pretty much it -- be happy knowing you've got at least one more college guy getting up early on Saturday Morning for cartoons!

Greg responds...

Daran Norris is brilliantly funny as Jonah.

Response recorded on March 18, 2008


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