Rocket Robin Hood and two of his Merry Men are abducted by robots under the control of a self-styled "King Tut," who tyrannizes the desert asteroid Nilor. Tut wants the trio to become his lieutenants, but after they refuse he tries to kill them.

Tut is a bad villain -- he cackles and screams like a madman, with no subtlety. His skin is green (a traditional color of bad guys in Ralph Bakshi's late 1960s output). Like the other characters, he is hardly animated at all. At least he has good draftsmanship and some strong (though repetitive) poses, courtesy of Bakshi's New York City-based artists. Indeed this was the best-drawn RRH ep presented on Teletoon in 2004 (almost every other ep seen that year was pre-Bakshi). The greatest thing about this ep is the banter between Robin, Will, and Little John. Their understated humor is quite a contrast to Tut's rants. The highlight comes when Robin and Will trade wisecracks about an escape manual ... L.J. isn't bright enough to get their joke, but as a good soldier he's the first to notice oncoming danger.

"The Solar Sphinx" has its flaws, but never fails to show that it was made by capable people. -Tony

Bakshi's first few Spider-Man episodes showed promise despite their low budgets, and "King Pinned" was a good example of what the studio could do on short notice (each Spidey episode under Bakshi's supervision was made in one week). The storytelling was strong, without the bizarre plot elements which Bakshi would later let in. The Kingpin was presented as an evil yet perfectly sane racketeer whose dialogue ("I admire your courage," etc) added depth to his character. His flesh tones were normal and he never cackled, making him one of the least typical villains Bakshi let Spidey face. Nice touches included the Kingpin's regret over a shattered desk and the abstract paintings in his office.

The backgrounds had the streamy psychedelic style common to Bakshi's work, and some wonderful jazz livened the soundtrack. Bakshi's tendency to repeat animation and re-use backgrounds was not as annoying as in most other episodes, although the prolonged shots of the Kingpin's car racing through the city should have been trimmed. Overall, the virtues of "King Pinned" outweighed its vices.


-Tony

In "The Origin of Spider-Man," Ralph Bakshi followed the story of Amazing Fantasy #15 closely while imposing his own style on the art. Seen in black-and-white (which was how I saw this ep in 1968), Bakshi's Spideys had a gritty, smoky atmosphere which was quite different from any other adventure cartoon of the time (except for Rocket Robin Hood, which had also come under Bakshi's control).

The presentation of Peter Parker as a flawed character (selfishly letting the thief escape) was extraordinary for the time, as was Parker's angst over the tragedy that followed. Bakshi didn't have much of an animation budget, but he did recruit some good illustrators who used color and shadow to convey Spidey's anger as he cornered the killer. Bakshi had a few veteran animators like Nick Tafuri who showed what they were capable of once in a while -- as when the killer's lips trembled just before Spidey attacked.

This episode, like Bakshi's other television work of the late 1960s, met the definition of "illustrated radio." But in this case, the illustrations worked well. Bakshi would never do better with Spidey.

"The Golden Rhino" isn't quite as good as its predecessor ("Horn of the Rhino"), but it entertains well enough as Spidey faces the Rhino while trying to retrieve stolen gold. He finds that the Rhino has crafted a golden statue of himself. A chase in the sewers ensues. Ed Macnamara's gruff voice matches the brutish Rhino perfectly.

In "Blueprint for Crime," the Plotter (Gillie Fenwick) sends his henchmen Cowboy (Bernard Cowan) and Ox (Paul Soles) to collect blueprints for a secret device. This episode captures the flavors of the time with some very pleasing art when it visits a Greenwich Village coffee shop.


-Tony

"Pursuit of the Po Ho" is not one of the better-thought JQ episodes. The filmmakers let plenty of animation mistakes pass. They also shied away from subtitles, creating awkwardness as Dr. Quest seemed to need a translator after proving his fluency in Po-Ho. Nevertheless, there are traditional virtues here, including vivid imagery (furious natives in dugout boats, a panther leaping, a crocodile sliding into water) which is seen in the opening and closing credits of every JQ episode. A standout moment comes when Dr. Quest tries to bluff the Po-Ho with the aid of spotlights ... there's quite a surprise for everyone when the lights go on.


-Tony