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© St. Petersburg Times, published May 2, 2002
DVD: New and noteworthy for digital players
Spider-Man: The Ultimate Villain Showdown
Saturday mornings B.C. (before cable) were days when I'd pull out the sofa sleeper at 5:45 a.m., knowing that it would take at least 15 minutes of fiddling with a rabbit-ear antenna to get a fuzzy signal from WSB in Atlanta. Sleeping later and tuning to local channels for Space Ghost or The Batman/Superman Hour would be easier, but the coolest cartoons were Marvels.
WSB was the only place a child in Weaver, Ala., could find Captain America, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four and my personal favorite, Spider-Man. Fun times, whenever a snowy screen and static didn't block out the action. Please, just hold off the atmospheric conditions long enough to hear Spidey's groovy theme song: "Is he strong? Listen, bud: He's got radioactive blood." Some mornings, that's all I'd get, but it was worth it.
Those memories were revived by a DVD screening of Spider-Man: The Ultimate Villain Showdown, a compilation of TV episodes including the superhero's 1967 cartoon debut, The Origins of Spider-Man, and a 1981 chapter detailing the origins of Green Goblin. Play those two episodes back-to-back and you have the outline of Sam Raimi's current live-action blockbuster. Other programs feature Spidey battling the pre-Jabba the Hutt villain named Kingpin and the multi-armed, mechanical Dr. Octopus.
Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee introduces each episode with an endearing assurance that he created classics. Not boastful, but proud of the moralizing he sneaked into the mix, such as including African-Americans in leadership roles or as hard-working business owners terrorized by white gangs. Duty and responsibility were recurring themes, and Spider-Man's alter ego Peter Parker was as otherwise normal as any teenager could be.
Bonus features include a detailed Rogues Dossier spotlighting 12 of Spidey's archest enemies. Each character profile includes trivia, excerpts from cartoons demonstrating their powers and a list of their abilities. For example: Hobgoblin (real name: Jason Macendale) first appeared as a villain in Amazing Spider-Man No. 289, showing off his superhuman strength and weapons cribbed from Green Goblin plus razor bats that can slice through almost anything. Lee also comments on each villain's motivation and creation.
DVD users haven't seen the last of Spider-Man, either. Next month, another compilation of episodes will be released with Lee joined by filmmaker and confessed comic-book geek Kevin Smith (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) for running commentary. As Lee always signed off his comic-book editorials: 'Nuff said.