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 Review and Media By Stu
Episode #9 - Spidey Goes Hollywood Written By: Christy Marx Music Composed By: John Douglas Guest Starring: Peter Cullen as Bruce Banner/The Hulk/Mysterio and Frank Welker as Sam Blockbuster Review: I remember originally disliking this episode when I first saw it, but it grows on me each time I see it. The plot is the basic hero goes to Hollywood to star in his own movie, realises the fights are real and defeats villain without making actual movie, but there’s a lot of fun to be had here. The episode is historic for one thing, however. It is, to date, the only animated team up between Spider-Man and The Hulk ever! Given how Spidey and ol’ jade jaws are practically Marvel’s equivalent to Batman and Superman in terms of mainstream popularity, I’ve always been surprised we’ve never seen them teamed up more often on screen. There were rumours of a Hulk/Spider-Man movie in the late 70’s/early 80’s, based on their respective live action TV shows. Anyone who has seen the live action Spider-Man television series is no doubt praying to thank God for not allowing the movie to be made! Speaking of Hulk, I can’t help but feel he was wasted here. The design wasn’t brilliant, the voice seemed off and the famed purple pants were… pink. Scandalous. The appearance did its purpose, however. The Incredible Hulk arrived on NBC the following year in his own, outstanding show – undoubtedly my favourite cartoon of the 80’s. It put his appearance here to shame in terms of visuals, writing and casting. This episode saw one of my favourite Spider-Man villains animated once again – Mysterio. For reasons even I can’t begin to fathom, I’ve always loved Mysterio. I think there’s something so cool about his utterly goofy design and the character is just to quirky – he fits in so well with Spider-Man’s weird and wonderful rouges gallery. He’s not too bad here, despite a really weird design. The fishbowl looks too small making him appear to be headless, and for some unknown reason it’s black. The rest of him looked fine, but I felt his voice was a little too camp. This is pre-Batman The Animated Series days however; squeaky voiced villains were the norm. Despite how utterly gay I may come across as for saying this, I still prefer the 60’s version to this one. The rest of the episode is typical of the show and I find myself enjoying it more each time I watch it. Not a spectacular episode by any means, but still highly enjoyable. Screenshots: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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