This is it True Believers! Our favorite Web-Slinger is back for his final three adventures in Spectacular Spider-Man – Volume 8. Everything has been building to this as our hero has his final encounter with the villainous Green Goblin! Questions will be answered, relationships will change, and the life of Peter Parker will never be the same.

Episodes:

"Subtext": Enter the Molten Man! Mark Allan has been having severe gambling problems and has fallen back onto his bad habits. When he gets himself in too deep, he is offered a chance to clear his debts once and for all, but must be the subject of an experimental procedure. Mark is injected with a set of nanites which grant him body armor and new heat based powers. When it seems that things are finally going his way, Mark loses control of the armor and goes on a rampage as the Molten Man, drawing the attention of a certain web-covered hero. Now Spidey must stop the Molten Man and find a way to return him to his normal state. Throughout this episode we also see how Mark's actions have affected his sister, Liz Allan, who also happens to be Peter's girlfriend. We also get some nice moments from Mary Jane Watson, who comes to Liz's aid when Mark goes missing.

"Opening Night": The Vault, a high-tech prison designed to keep Spidey's rogue gallery from escaping, is about to officially go online. In order to get an accurate assessment of its abilities, Spidey has volunteered to test this escape proof system. Things, of course, aren't as easy as anyone would think, as both the Black Cat and the Green Goblin become involved! The Black Cat uses Spider-Man's escape attempt as a distraction to break her father free from jail, but ends up coming to his aid when the Goblin releases the other prisoners from their cells. We also learn of a surprising connection between the Black Cat's father and the origin of Spider-Man! This episode is a great setup for the final confrontation with the Goblin, and again raises the question of the identity of the Goblin.

"Final Curtain": The final episode of the Spectacular Spider-Man is here, bringing fans the much awaited confrontation between Spidey and the Goblin. While the Goblin sets his master plan into effect, Gwen and Peter realize how much they want to be together and take actions that will bring them a step closer to a real relationship. I really don't want to give away the details of this amazing episode, but I can say that it is definitely one of the best of the series. It features great moments between Peter and his entire cast of characters, and focuses on a lot of the Spider-Man history. If I spoil it, it would be like spoiling the last episode of LOST, which as we all know, is something you just don't do. "The Final Curtain" is truly a testament to the hard work done by Greg Weisman and Victor Cook. You can clearly see all of the plot lines set in motion through the season come to a stunning conclusion that will leave all fans wanting more.

Special Features:
There are no special features on this release.

Overall:
This release marks the end of an era as it brings the tale of the Spectacular Spider-Man to a close. Following the production of Season 2, Sony Entertainment has returned the television rights of the Spider-Man franchise to Marvel. Fans had hoped that Marvel would do the right thing and continue on with the series, but recently it was announced they would be doing a new Ultimate Spider-Man animated series in 2011, thus ending all hope for more Spectacular adventures.

ComicsOnline has had the privilege and honor of working closely with the team on Spectacular since they first debuted their series at WonderCon 2008. From the very beginning, it was quite obvious that this would be a different kind of Spider-Man than fans had seen animated in the past. In the first episode alone, we are introduced to over 20 characters from the Spidey Universe that would play significant roles in his life. Each and every character in this series was introduced with passion and grace. The viewers had the opportunity to get to know all of the supporting cast in amazing detail, all because of the level of depth and care shared by everyone involved in the production of this show.

Spidey and his cast of characters proved to be in great hands as Greg and Vic took us on a wild ride over the course of two seasons. The serialized storytelling allowed more of the mythos of Spider-Man to be fleshed out and set up different points along the intricate web of Peter's life. Instead of focusing mainly on the heroics of Spider-Man, the story revolved around the life of Peter Parker, who was just trying to find his place in the world.

The Spectacular Spider-Man series has surpassed all expectations and has left its mark on the world of animation. I consider this disc not just a conclusion, but the equivalent to the final brush strokes of a masterpiece. The bar has been set extremely high and we can only hope that whatever comes next will do justice to Spider-Man in the way that this series did.

ComicsOnline gives Spectacular Spider-Man Volume 8 – 5 out of 5 ways to leave fans wanting more!


Special thanks again to everyone from the Spectacular Spider-Man team who have taken the time to work with us during their two Spectacular seasons!

We also have several copies of Spectacular Spider-Man – Volume 8 to give away! To qualify for a free copy please email "Spectacular Spider-Man" to [email protected]. As always, this giveaway is subject to our Giveaway Rules! This giveaway ends 18 May 2010. Randomly selected winners will be notified within 30 days.

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