Spider-Man: The Animated Series Episode Reviews

Make a Wish
Review by Stu, Media by Kolbar

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Episode #29 - Make a Wish
Original Airdate: May 4th, 1996

Peter is on the brink of giving up the Spider-Man costume when he meets a mystic figure named Madame Web and his biggest fan, a little girl called Tyana. Meanwhile, Doctor Octopus returns and attacks Spider-Man with his new Octobot.

Credits:
Story By: John Semper, Elliot S. Maggin and Meg McLaughlin
Written By: Mark Hoffmeier
Music Composed By: Shuki Levy and Kussa Mahchi
Animation Services By: Toyko Movie Shinsha (TMS)
Guest Starring: Christopher Daniel Barnes as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Ed Asner as J. Jonah Jameson, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr as Dr. Octopus

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Review: While the intentions are good, this episode is a bit of a mess. "Make a Wish" pulls inspiration from two different comics, Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man's origin story, and the incredible "The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man" from The Amazing Spider-Man #248. The sad fact is, it's nowhere near as good as either of these comics.

The main problem with the episode is that it's all been seen before. His origin had been shown in a shortened version in a few previous episodes, because there wasn't really any need to see an extended version of it. The other problem was that the little child whom he was telling his story is your standard cartoon child protagonist - annoying.

The rest of the plot was pretty generic stuff, but it has some damn nice animation. Nothing of the quality of the first season, but it was good all the same. Dr. Octopus appearance was pretty much wasted, as once again, he's shown as a lackey for The Kingpin. Kingpin's appearance here wasn't necessary at all, either. Unfortunatly, it wouldn't be the last these two are just jammed in to give Spidey a foe to (not) punch. Here Dr. Ock is no longer a disgruntled scientist, just a generic lackey.

The episode also introduced Madame Web, the first of her many appearances. But she's here, constantly training Spider-Man for some giant battle, and irritating legions of Spidey fans while she was at it. While Joan Lee does a good job with her performance as Web. the character does come off as a little unlikeable.

It was better than it's conclusion, but both episodes had storeies that didn't really need to be told.

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