Alex Ross, ya’ll.

My good friend David posted a well-reasoned column “What’s so great about high school Spider-Man?” last week, which you should read here before reading this rebuttal because, well, that’s how these things work.

So go do that.

…

OK, welcome back.

And for those of you who can’t follow instructions, I offer you a brief synopsis: David not only doesn’t like the somewhat-recent news that MARVEL and SONY are reportedly going with a 16-year-old version of Peter Parker, he also doesn’t understand the fascination with high-school era Pete (hopefully you gathered that by the title of his column).

Now that you’re ready to see the other side of the coin presented, I must preface my response by saying I agree almost entirely with David’s post.

You’re probably thinking: “Ryan, I don’t think you understand what ‘rebuttal’ means…”

I do! I promise. Hence the “almost,” but David makes a number of points I agree with. I, too, wanted Miles Morales. I also think a college-aged Pete would have been more believable in the existing MCU. I agree that three origin stories (all starting in high school) in roughly a decade is excessive.

And he’s right, you can accomplish all of the same life conflicts by placing him at a university instead of a high school… almost.

Which brings us back to his prevailing inquiry: “What’s so great about high school Spider-Man?”

I’ll begin answering that question by borrowing words from somebody else and taking them out of context (strong start!). Current Amazing Spider-Man scribe Dan Slott recently said in an interview that, “Whichever Spider-Man you care about is the real Spider-Man.”

Some people love Miles Morales. Some people love Miguel O’Hara. Some probably even love Spider-Ham. Surely a good number of fans love the committed Mr. and Mrs. Parker version, while others like to see Spidey sticking his Peter in Felicia Hardy. But what about the general movie-going public? The masses who will flock to see a Spider-Man who belongs in the MCU with the Avengers, who do they want in the costume?

The answer: teenage Spider-Man because, as David quoted me as saying in his post, that is when the character seems to be “at his most magical.”

But why?

For starters, in many people’s eyes, Peter Parker is the quintessential “teen superhero.”

Spider-Man has one of the three most recognizable origins in comic book history, alongside DC juggernauts Batman and Superman. But Spidey has something up his web shooters the other two don’t thanks to his station in life — relatability.

High school Peter has no money. Few friends. Homework. Pimples. Awkward changes to his body. He’s struggling to talk girls and a bullying victim. He has sticky white stuff shooting out of him (In the Ultimate Universe, at least).

I realize David used this in his, too. But it helps prove my point!

Of all the great superhero origin stories, Peter most closely resembles the “everyman.”

Sure, you feel bad for the kid who just lost his planet and his parents and is forced to grow up in rural Kansas, but who can relate to Kal-El when he’s lifting tractors over his head in diapers? And, yeah, you feel for Bruce when his parents are gunned down but very few can relate to the billion-dollar trust fund he inherits. It’s also hard to put yourself in the shoes of  a guy who immerses himself into world-traveling, hyper-obsessive training over the better part of a decade to become the world’s greatest detective and the master of 127 martial arts.

Spider-Man is also the only one of the “Big Three” who becomes a superhero immediately after his tragic event. Spider-Man had to learn what he was doing on the fly (accidental spider pun!).

This tremendous origin has helped Spider-Man defy the odds by overcoming years of sub-par story lines, nearly irreparable continuity and a seriously bloated roster of Spider-Beings.

Surely this wouldn’t seem overwhelming to a newcomer, right?

He is dealing with all of these struggles that we all must endure when he gains his powers. His origin takes place smack dab in the middle of one of the most confusing and trying times we all go through in life.

As much as I agree with David’s sentiment that this will make it hard to believe he belongs with the way-older Avengers in the MCU, you could also argue that it adds an element of youth that is missing from the group.

That time in life is ripe for good stories. And one man saw this and updated it for the modern era, creating one of the most beloved versions of Spider-Man ever: Brian Michael Bendis.

Sure, there are a ton of Bendis haters out there for some of his controversial work on some of MARVEL’s big event comics (House of M, Avengers Disassembled, Age of Ultron, etc., as well as his recent polarizing run on the various X-Men titles) and some of the criticism is certainly earned. But Bendis knocked it out of the park(er) with Ultimate Spider-Man.

This scene kinda gets my point across in a nutshell: Peter tells MJ he’s Spider-Man. It’s powerful, emotional stuff.

When I was reading Ultimate Spider-Man in high school, I just felt it come to life off the pages. As a big comic fan myself, few runs have resonated with me in such a meaningful way.

WARNING: spoilers for a nearly 15-year-old comic incoming!!!

Also, just know that if they do choose to go the Ultimate Spidey route, it offers subject material from which they can draw without treading through the exact same stuff as the first two series: Gwen Stacy is a troubled teen, the symbiotes aren’t of alien origin. Peter’s web shooters are organic, not mechanical. Spidey dies.

It’s entirely Bendis’ world and it’s still going strong, albeit with Miles Morales swinging through NYC.

But why Miles and not Peter now? Because adult Peter lost its magic. So Bendis took the series back to what makes Spider-Man so special — high school. Young, relatable, malleable, fun.

Now just as a support for using the Ultimate Comics as inspiration, I’d like to point you to “The Avengers” film.

If you didn’t know, it closely resembles Mark Millar’s stellar run on The Ultimates. (But as David fairly pointed out to me in a recent conversation, the film benefitted greatly from Joss Whedon’s sense of humor.)

Look at the Wikipedia synopsis of Vol. 1 of The Ultimates: “General Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. establishes a strike force of government-sponsored metahumans which includes Captain America; scientist couple Henry and Janet Pym (Giant-Man and the Wasp); Bruce Banner (the Hulk) and Tony Stark (Iron Man). Together they are based at the S.H.I.E.L.D facility, the Triskelion. When Banner injects himself with the super-soldier serum and goes on a bloody rampage as the Hulk, he is eventually stopped by the other metahumans with the aid of Thor. The team then join forces with the mutants Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch and agents Hawkeye and Black Widow against the alien shape-shifters the Chitauri, who are defeated.”

Look at that roster: Captain America, Ant-Man, Wasp, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver…. sound familiar? Well it should considering every one of them (I’m guessing Evangeline Lily will eventually be Wasp, but that’s a guess) is in the MCU.

Here are a few other tidbits the MCU borrowed from The Ultimates: a black Nick Fury, the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D. establishing the Avengers by way of piecing together a metahuman strike force. Oh and stopping alien invaders named the Chitauri? Yep, check!

The Ultimate universe hasn’t exactly failed on the silver screen. They got to step out from under the weight of decades of main-universe continuity with battle-tested, modern source material to back them up.

Now that there is access to Spider-Man, I could definitely see MARVEL looking back toward the Ultimate universe to breath life back into the franchise in order to spin a different web, as it were, in the third re-telling of Peter’s origin in roughly a decade.

It’s not like the one they just abandoned was going anywhere special (except for maybe the rumored Aunt May spinoff! I wanted it to be “The Aunt-May-zing Spider-Man.”)

Ok, this is exceedingly long at this point. I promise I’m wrapping it up. As Uncle Ben once said, “With great word count, comes great unreadability.”

After the disaster that was Spider-Man 3 or the poorly-executed Amazing Spider-Man 2, this franchise needs a jolt and that will come from belonging to the MCU, not from making him older.

And if those aforementioned duds and a few decades of polarizing continuity decisions in the comics (second Clone Saga, Sins Past, One More Day, etc.) have taught us anything, maybe it’s that the question really is: “What’s so special about Spider-Man after high school?”

The defense rests.

“Well, let’s just say that I’m a civic-minded citizen with a lot of time on my hands.” — The Clock King, Episode 14.

Hello and welcome to the first installment of a new ongoing series where I, Ryan, plan to focus my ample free time on examining every episode of the iconic 1990s animated interpretation of the Dark Knight.

But before we can jump cowl-first into this beloved series, we need to do a little scene setting.

First, the ‘90s was the greatest decade ever for cartoons, and it’s hard to imagine someone arguing against that (consider yourself challenged, Internet). Some of my personal favorites are/were: X-Men, Spider-Man, Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, Doug, Darkwing Duck, Tailspin, Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs, Rugrats, and the list goes on.

Long story short: It was a tough decade in which to stand out on the small screen.

Secondly, a major factor playing into this show’s success was that it came on the heels of an unquestionably monumental stretch of time for the Bat-verse on the page and on the screen. The mid-to-late ‘80s and early ‘90s saw a substantial shift for the character where Alan Moore (The Killing Joke) and Frank Miller (Year One, The Dark Knight Returns) ushered in the era of the gritty, dark interpretation of the Bat, sparking a resurgence in the popularity and cultural relevancy of the character.

Then, Tim Burton’s 1989 classic BATMAN movie fueled full-fledged Bat-mania.

Jack Napier: Enraging Batman purists for a quarter of a century.

All of these factors created plenty of stiff competition and set the bar high, but optimists at Warner Bros. Animation saw the platform it presented.

The WB brought together the art/production duo of Bruce Timm and the all-too-often forgotten Eric Radomski, a badass corps of writers, musical wizard Danny Elfman, and perhaps the best cast of voice actors ever assembled (*bias alert*) to join forces in taking us on an after-school journey into a noir crime drama that we will never forget.

Cue goosebumps….

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEx9r5enZsk&w=420&h=315]

I still remember the way that intro made me feel as a kid, and I’ll spend an entire post breaking it down frame-by-frame at some point, but in the interest of soon-to-be-abandoned conciseness, I’ll move along for now.

One of the things that really jumps out is the artistic style; it really is something to behold and admire.

With a heavy reliance on blacks, greys and reds, the dreary color palette creates a menacing atmosphere that effortlessly conveys the twisted, inherent hopelessness of Gotham.

In fact, this was the first cartoon ever drawn/painted on black paper. True story!

The GCPD may be outgunned and facing corruption at every level, but at least it has blimps!

But the atramentous world isn’t the only thing that stands out; it’s the style of the buildings, cars and people that inhabit it.

The artistic team referred to its creation as “dark deco,” paying homage to the art deco movement of the 1920s and ‘30s. That unique look really took this show to a different level.

It’s hard to put a time frame on this series as, in many ways, it does feel like it takes place in a Dick-Tracy, gangster-era Chicago or New York, but for every paper boy in a flat cap or Tommy Gun-toting mobster, there is also a high-tech Batcomputer or an elaborate machine that induces dreams. And this confusing timeline was purposeful.

Holy Gatsby-era street urchin, Batman.

Radomski and Timm were inspired by what the former referred to as an “otherwordly timelessness” seen in Burton’s film, where vintage clothing, antique cars and police blimps portrayed a Gotham that resembled a grungy Roaring Twenties-era metropolis, while at the same time littering it with modern amenities and various technological advancements.

Otherworldly, indeed.

And taking another note from the ’89 film, the city itself is exaggerated, massive and ominous in a way that transforms it into a character more than a setting; an animated version of Burton’s hell on earth. This effectively puts Batman in a setting that not-so-subtly imparts on the viewer a measure of the evil that resides within; one of the many layers that gives this show its staying power.

Gotham City as it was meant to be.

It really is a time and place all its own. And that cannot be understated in its importance in the long-term success of BTAS (that’s the acronym we’re going to roll with, FYI).

Truth be told, I could ramble on for another thousand words about the art, so we’ll just pick this time to move along to something I know nothing about: music!

Don’t get me wrong, I love listening to music, but I don’t know a damn thing about it and have zero natural ability with it in any capacity. And on the opposite end of that spectrum, we have Danny Elfman.

Mr. Elfman did what any self-respecting person did in the pre-Internet age and put his God-given ability to use, blessing my ringtone gallery and the world at large with two of the most iconic superhero theme songs ever produced with his work on BATMAN ’89 and Batman: TAS.

He also did the theme music for Spider-Man 3, but if you’re anything like me you’ve spent the past seven years pretending that movie never happened.

No. No it wasn’t, Harry.

But back to the point at hand, Elfman really rubs in his musical talents having composed the music and/or theme for the following: Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, The Flash, Beetlejuice, Army of Darkness, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tales from the Crypt, Corpse Bride, Chicago, Desperate Housewives and most famously of all — The Simpsons.

He’s a machine and his jam-packed schedule probably played some role in him turning down the initial job offer to compose the theme for BTAS,  but he eventually hopped on board and wrote a variation of his hit BATMAN ’89 theme for the show.

Listen and compare below.

Batman ’89  (Skip ahead to the 30-second mark)

and

Batman: TAS

While undeniably similar, the BTAS theme is different enough to stand on its own, and it absolutely captures the mood of the show and how it deviates from the film. And that’s not even taking into consideration the masterful in-show music he provided, which I’ll touch on in the next installment.

Speaking of delayed gratification, the voice acting is something I’ll tackle more thoroughly on an episode-by-episode basis as characters are introduced, but if you are unfamiliar with the glorious performances this show was graced with, here is a handy video I stumbled upon that will provide an overview of what is to come.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmu-9ln-kjs&w=560&h=315]

Most people know and revere Kevin Conroy’s Batman and Mark Hamill’s Joker (both of which are still the voices I hear in my head when I read Batman comics) and those are deservedly lauded, but they tend to overshadow other worthy performances, most notably Arleen Sorkin’s Harley Quinn.

Not only was Sorkin the first to voice Mr. J’s  uber popular sidekick, she literally provided the inspiration for the creation of the character by Paul Dini in 1992.

You can see (or hear, rather) the makings of Miss Quinn in this clip from Sorkin’s “Days of Our Lives” stint:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ORRN1Tbb3g&w=420&h=315]

In addition to the previously mentioned trio, Efrim Zimbalist Jr. (Alfred), Bob Hastings (Commissioner Gordon), David Warner (Ra’s al Ghul) and Richard Moll (Harvey Dent) were just a few of the other standout performers that instilled this show with the believability, charm and emotion that helped bring the unique art and the intelligent, thoughtful writing to life.

All these factors combined continue to give Batman: The Animated Series a lasting allure and relevance more than 20 years later and warrant it wholly deserving of this labor of love I am embarking upon.

On behalf of Batman and myself, we’d love to have you along for the ride.

Until next time.