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Outnumbered

Rhino, Shocker, Sandman, Electro, Vulture, and Doc Ock. All of them were defeated by Spider-Man when they fought him solo. So they go with the strategy of strength in numbers. Today's episode of the Spectacular Spider gave us "Group Therapy," the first incarnation of this shows Sinister Six.I don't mean to sound like an overeager fanboy, but it really is hard not to say good things about this cartoon because in each episode, I always get reminded of why this is the best animated version of Spider-Man. Both of Spidey's fights with the Sinister Six were amazing. Even with the black alien costume, he took a nasty beating when he battled the Six for the first time. To Spidey's dismay, all of his previous methods of disposing of his enemies didn't work here, leaving him to find another way to win. Spidey actually retreated to go home and rest after his first fight. Before Peter fell asleep, he wished he could wake up and the Sinister Six would be beaten. Seems Peter's new suit is into granting wishes because it did just. I for one was really hoping they would incorporate one of my favorite elements from the Alien Costume Saga from the comics; the suit taking Peter out for web-slinging and crime fighting while he sleeps. During Spidey's second fight with the Six, he didn't say anything, not a wise crack, not a grunt, not one word, and that's when I knew he was asleep. Not only did the suit beat the Six for our hero, it also took pictures and e-mailed them to the Bugle in time for the next edition. So that's a good thing, right? Sounds a little too convenient. Even Peter had to wonder about the suit.

The interactions between the members of the Sinister Six was pretty much what I expected. They were able to work together but you could tell tensions were rising among them on more than one occasion. Doc Ock being the leader of the Six was icing on an already delicious cake. There isn't a more qualified maniac in that group. And like many suspected, when sleeping Spidey took out the other five members of the group, Ock was the last man standing.

Eddie Brock has terminated his friendship with Peter, evident by his harsh words towards Peter in the beginning of the episode. He even wished ill will towards Peter, expressing his desire for him to lose something. Ouch. Yes, Eddie, let the hate flow through you. In a surprising turn of events, Eddie took Mary Jane out on a motorcycle ride. It started off well enough at first but it quickly spiraled downward. Eddie's tone was quite disturbing when he was telling MJ about Peter and Eddie's past history together. Add that into Eddie's reckless driving and you've got one frightened MJ. After demanding Eddie stop, MJ got off and said that whatever faults Peter may have, he's more of a man than Eddie will ever be. MJ may be a bit of a flake and a party girl, but she's still a good judge of character. The creators of the show had said that Eddie has some issues and it looks like they came to surface in this episode.

And who remembers aunt May nearly passing out in "Persona"? We all knew something was going on with her. Peter was so busy fighting the Sinister Six that he didn't get the messages left by Anna Watson that his aunt is in the hospital. He still thinks aunt May is sleeping at home. It isn't until MJ shows up at the front door and tells Peter his aunt had a heart attack. Yeah, things are only gonna get even more interesting from here.

Comments

At first as I saw Eddie in his jacket I thought he's warming up for his role as Venom.

So many people hate the "Biker's-Scene"

The alien felt a lot of pain, I wonder if it sucks adrenaline in this show.
I think I've liked every alternative media version of Venom more than the original comic book version of the character. I always loved the black costume. I didn't really care if it was a symbiote, it was just looked so sleek on Spidey. You can see it in the original Leonardi design sketches and it always looked so slick on Spidey.

I never thought Eddie Brock looked good in it. He looked Bulky in it. Add to it that his origin never made sense to me. Okay, he worked for the Globe, somehow he managed to scoop the Daily Bugle about the incorrect presumption about who the Sin Eater was, even though that guy was unmasked as the Sin Eater at the Daily Bugle. Then somehow, when the real identity of the Sin Eater is revealed, he's considered a laughing stock and fired because he came to the conclusion that the guy unmasked as the Sin Eater was the Sin Eater (oh the shame). I'm sure that no other papers printed that in the time between the masking and all the time that that guy was unmasked and that the real Sin Eater ransacked Jameson's home. And it's not like that guy wasn't related to the case. I have no idea why this is something Brock would be banished from journalism for. Add that very non-sensical motive to Venoms moronic behavior ("Venom eat your brains"), and the fact that they made the costume look even less sleek and mysterious by adding all the goony features like teeth and a tongue and then suddenly making the costume have all these incredible powers that it never displayed before... they took something that was very cool from the 80s, and totally overplayed it, and essentially, in my opinion, ruined it.

Wait, you were talking about the cartoon, right? They've done better with Brock at least. Too bad that they used an altered version of the design for Spidey that looks no where near as cool on Spidey as the original version looked (which I assume they're saving for Venom, like in the movie. Which is unfortunate since it looks better on Spidey).
Tommy said…
Brock (in the comics) cracks me up when he's spouting his misguided rhetoric while fighting with Spider-Man (or anyone). The guy is definitely a fruitbasket.

I think Nova pointed out the same points to Venom in an issue of Nova where the two battled. The same issue had a major continuity hole, in that Brock was said to have a sister, which completely went against what we were shown in Lethal Protector. Win some, lose some, it seems.
Unknown said…
Anyone else get the feeling that MJ may be taking the fall off the bridge this time? Felt like a bullseye was painted on her after that twice the man line.
I don't think MJ will be dropped of a bridge anytime soon. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Eddie did put her on hist hate list.

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