Bzzzap.

I was at the gym yesterday and I saw on one of the monitors part of an episode of the latest Spider-Man cartoon, The Spectacular Spider-Man. I watched it without sound for a little bit, seeing Spidey hop around dodging energy blasts from a guy in a green suit that looks similar to Ultimate Scorpion, but without the tail. His mask was opened up partway through the fight and he seemed to have a sort of green Ghost-Rider-style flames around his head. I then plugged my headphones into the jack to see who the hell this guy was supposed to be. The audio came up just in time for me to hear this villian go "They're gone! Gone! My only chance at a cure!" as some bystanders run away. "It's your fault!" he ranted at Spidey, "and I'll make you pay!" Blast. Dodge. Blast-blast. Dodge. Then the villian stole some electricity from a nearby machine.

Then it hit me.

This is meant to be Electro.

What the fuck?

First off, don't draw electricity like flames. Draw it like lightning. Lighting is cool. Green flames are not. It used to bug me when Transformers would draw metal crumbling and falling apart like rock, so this is not a new pet peeve of mine.

Secondly, I hate Spider-Man fights where he's hopping around like a jumping bean avoiding hits and allowing tons of collateral damage when he should be fighting proactively, like, say when a civilian or two is nearby. The fact that they based the climax of the episode around a fight like this bores me.

Thirdly, Electro! He's an electrified goon! A mercenary! He enjoys his powers because he's basically a big bully. Picture Nelson Muntz if he could electrify things. The guys on iFanboy had this discussion where basically Spider-Man villians fall into three categories: those that are misunderstood out-of-their-control monsters (like The Hulk, or to some extent, Venom), pure evil (either homicidal or world-domination style, such as Carnage, Doctor Octopus, and the Green Goblin), and there are the powered bank robbers (such as Scorpion, Vulture, and Electro). All they want is money. Putting a tortured, "oh, I'm a freak, all I want to do is be normal"-Mr-Freeze-style-backstory on Electro is like putting an elevator in an outhouse. It don't belong.

I know it's a kids-oriented show, and they think by giving him this backstory, it'll make people sympathise. They might, it's true, but then having Spidey whomp this guy into oblivion kind of stops you from enjoying that sympathy.

But I digress.