Spider-Man: The Animated Series Episode Two: The Spider Slayer

The Spider Slayer

First Aired: February 4th, 1995

Synopsis: Spider-Man is attacked by flying robots which explode while he's out web-swinging. He defeats them, not knowing that scientist Spencer Smythe and his son Alistair are behind it. Norman Osborn is funding them, which Spencer has agreed to as he wants the money to make a hover-chair for Alistair, who's in a wheelchair. Unbeknownst to them, Norman is working for the Kingpin, and if the Spider-Slayer - the giant robot they've designed to defeat Spider-Man - doesn't do the job, Kingpin gets control of Norman's company. Elsewhere, a gala ball is behind organised by J. Jonah Jameson, who's hosting it, and Felicia Hardy, whose mother is a philanthropist sponsoring it. Peter is assigned as the photographer since he's cheap, and Jonah discovers that Peter and Felicia go to college together. Once the gala starts, Felicia starts flirting with Peter, which annoys Flash enough for him to change into a Spider-Man costume in an attempt to humiliate Peter - right before the Spider-Slayer attacks.

Peter manages to get away and change to Spider-Man, but after a brief fight Spider-Man's found unconscious and taken away by the Spider-Slayer. Eddie Brock is also working in association with the villains, and unmasks Spider-Man on TV...only for it to turn out to be Flash Thompson. Armed men sent by the Kingpin arrive, and the real Spider-Man comes into save Flash. The Spider-Slayer is reactivated, and in the fight that ensues a fire starts. Everyone but Spider-Man and the Spider-Slayer, controlled by Spencer Smythe, escape. Spider-Man ends up putting some web cartridges in the Spider-Slayer's propulsion system, gunking it up and sending the robot into a vat of acid. Spencer Smythe is unable to escape the fire and dies while Spider-Man saves a hiding Flash Thompson. In the aftermath, Eddie Brock is fired from the Daily Bugle for humiliating Jonah. Felicia is annoyed at Peter and Flash for their behaviour at the gala. The Kingpin approaches Alistair and offers to form an alliance with him to stop Spider-Man.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• The opening has changed slightly from last episode - we now get some shots of some classic villains, like Scorpion and Mysterio. If I had to guess, I'd assume that it's probably to pad out the episode a little, and that we'll get different versions of the opening depending upon how long the episode is.
• Unlike in the classic comics, Felicia Hardy is portrayed as blonde here. Around a decade later, the Ultimate Spider-Man comics will portray her as having short brown hair and wearing a wig when in costume. Assuming that this version does become Black Cat, I'll be curious as to whether something similar will be done.
• Aunt May is brought to the gala by Peter, and says that she wants Peter to meet their neighbour, Mary Jane Watson. For his part, Peter is pretty put-off by the idea of a blind date. This is exactly the same set up that occurred in the comics prior to Mary Jane's first appearance.
• As mentioned, Alistair Smythe is in a wheelchair. In the comics, he initially was able-bodied, and only needed a wheelchair after his first confrontation with Spider-Man led to him piloting his Spider-Slayer into some power lines. I suspect that we won't get an explanation for how he lost the use of his legs in this series, although I hope we do get one.

Review: Spider-Slayers tend to be a bit hit and miss for me in the comics - none of them have really captured what made the original one so deadly, and a lot of the time they can feel like generic robots. While this Spider-Slayer (named the Black Widow) is a little generic, it has a really cool design, and I can't deny that there's a good fight between it and Spidey. I really appreciate the way it's defeated, too - it's mentioned earlier in the episode that the only thing that can penetrate its armour is acid. I assumed that we'd have a moment of Spider-Man working this out and then weaponising the acid, but it's more like an unfortunate thing that happens as a result of a natural tactic of Spidey's. It feels very organic.

Outside of the Spider-Slayer, the setup in this episode is also pretty damn good. We've got the introduction of Norman Osborn, and it's hard to say at this stage whether he's an unfortunate victim of the Kingpin or whether he's another antagonist. The hint of more Spider-Slayers as a result of Alistair and Kingpin's alliance is promising, and while the developments in Peter Parker's personal life are a bit of a backseat to these, even those could go somewhere. We also can't forget Eddie Brock being fired, another step in the road that will no doubt lead to him becoming Venom.

If I had to choose some flaws about this episode, I guess it'd be the pacing. The initial fight with the flying robots drags a bit when the real meat of the scene is the Smythes planning with Norman. Post-Spider-Slayer attack at the gala, there's also maybe a minute or two of Spider-Man hanging around with Jonah and Aunt May, when there's really no reason for him to not go after Flash Thompson right away. These are minor flaws, however, and I've got to say that I was pretty pleased with this episode. I'll be keen to see what's in store for Spider-Man next.