Review By Krankyboy, Media By Stu

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Episode #51 - Neptune's Nose Cone


The first of a series of “neptune rockets” is launched by NASA to measure the earth's magnetic field. When the rocket's nose cone is lost from orbit and plummets down into the Antarctic, J. Jonah Jameson sends teenage photographer Peter Parker and pilot Penny Jones in a Daily Bugle plane to investigate

Review:

Once again, our hero finds himself stranded in a strange environment populated by some of the most bizarre creatures to come out of Ralph Bakshi's imagination. And naturally, that includes the normal parade of green-skinned baddies (what other color would they be?) and monsters which include a “flying snake.” Sometimes the limits to Bakshi's animation techniques become a bit too obvious, with monsters represented by nothing but a pair of leering eyes in the darkness.

But despite this, “Neptune's Nose Cone” is still quite a bit of fun, and features the return of everyone's favorite newspaper publisher, J. Jonah Jameson. He's just as abrasive and cheap as ever. Case and point: after being informed by Penny Jones over the phone that the Neptune rocket has gone down, Jameson tells her to cover the story -- then asks the operator to “reverse the charges.” From Jameson's disillusions of grandeur at finding the rocket to Peter's look of utter disgust with his boss while adjusting his tie -- this is the closest this second season ever really got to the comic book. Jameson even gets something of a comeuppance in the end, thanks to a gift from Peter which takes the form of a hatching egg.

Not the best episode in the series, but without a doubt it's one of the more enjoyable installments in the second and third seasons.



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