Welcome web-slinging warriors and joystick jockeys to another thrilling episode of Play Comics where we untangle the sticky situation of comic-to-game adaptations with the precision of Peter Parker trying to explain away his sudden photography skills! This week we’re diving headfirst into the cel-shaded spectacular that is Ultimate Spider-Man, the 2005 game that took Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s comic masterpiece and somehow convinced every gaming platform from here to the Daily Bugle that they needed a piece of this web-slinging action.
Released across more systems than Spider-Man has quips in his arsenal—PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS—this Treyarch-developed adventure let players experience both sides of the symbiote coin. Whether you were swinging through Manhattan as everyone’s favorite wise-cracking wall-crawler or stomping around as the terrifyingly toothy Venom, this game promised to deliver more comic book authenticity than J. Jonah Jameson has anti-Spider-Man editorials.
Joining us for this ultimate discussion are two absolute legends from the podcasting multiverse: Derek B Gayle and Doug Fink, the dynamic duo behind Walloping Websnappers and a whole constellation of other fantastic shows on the Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective that may not be directly relevant to our web-slinging shenanigans today, but are undeniably brilliant nonetheless. When they’re not busy dissecting every Spider-Man cartoon ever created or exploring the depths of various other pop culture phenomena, these two bring their encyclopedic knowledge of all things Spider to help us determine whether this game truly captured the essence of the Ultimate universe or if it just left us feeling like we’d been caught in one of Green Goblin’s elaborate schemes.
So dust off those early 2000s gaming controllers, practice your best Venom growl, and prepare for an episode that’s guaranteed to be more entertaining than watching Eddie Brock try to explain his sudden career change from journalism to alien symbiote hosting!
Learn such things as:
- Can you make a game that really fits in with the continuity of the comics AND have it stay that way?
- Will we sucker any artists into making Venomized versions of The Muppets?
- What kind of good butt battle would ensue between Venom and Captain America?
- And so much more!
You can find Derek and Doug on a bunch of stuff on the Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective, including Walloping Websnappers, Skreeonk!, and Falling With Style. You can also find Doug on Novel Gaming and on BlueSky @ickybooley. You can also find Derek on Gimmicks and Lee Carvallo’s Podding Challenge, and on BlueSky @derekbgayle. Or you can find Walloping Websnappers on BlueSky @wallopingwebpod and play the game where you guess who is using the account at that moment.
If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.
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A big thanks to Keeping the Zoo and The Wheel Weaves for the promos today.
Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who would probably make a good theme song for a yet to be made Spider-Man cartoon.
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