So in the first of my comparing articles, I turn to the obvious character first, Spider-Man himself. So here goes:
Movie
I quite like the movie Spider-Man. His look is certainly the best part, which his costume is one of the best incarnations available. All his web abilities are pretty good in the film, but his fighting skills are a little limited. Mainly because, he usually just punches his foe, which the other two incarnations don't do very much, or even at all.
The one exclusion, which I found quite odd, after watching the Amazing Spider-Man cartoon, is the Spider sense. You get the sense (pardon the pun!) in the films that he doesn’t have his Spider sense. (with the notable exception of when he first gets his power at high school)
Another good point that I think works well in the films, is his organic webbing, coming from his arm, rather than web shooters. Works well here, and makes Spider-Man more Spider-Man, but I still think it works well with the web shooters in the other incarnations.
However, as a character, I think it doesn’t work too well. One of the reasons why I like the other two incarnations of the character is the wisecracks, the joking side, something that is very rarely done in the movies. To me, that is what makes Spider-Man different as a superhero, than say Batman. He isnt very serious during battles.
So overall, not too bad, but not as strong as the other two incarnations below.
Amazing
Whereas with the movie, he hasn't got wisecracks or Spider sense, in the Amazing Spider-Man cartoon of the 1990's, these are some of the most used features. Spider-Man only punches his foes a couple of times during the course of the whole series, which brings out his clever ways to fight (usually much stronger or quicker than himself) and bring his foes, something that I think plays extremely well.
Another aspect of the character I really like is he is very brainy. He uses his vast knowledge of sciences to help bring down even the most powerful of foe. You often see him use the various machines to help Doctor Conner's, and also he conducts his own formulas to his webbing and various other things.
Overall, Spider-Man in this cartoon is Amazing!
Spectacular
If you thought that the Amazing Spider-Man had wisecracks, then think again! Playing on the fact that he is younger in this incarnation, he is very funny.
His web abilities and his other amazing talents are all here, and like Amazing (although not because there were forced to) he rarely uses his fists to fight.
Although his Spider sense, isn’t as much as the Amazing Spider-Man, and his costume is around the same as the Amazing, I still like the portrayal of the character.
Verdict
So, which do I think is the best? Well, this round will have to go the Amazing Spider-Man. After reading the original comics, and seeing all three incarnations recently, Amazing is still my favorite. He has wisecracks left, right and center during battles, something which makes him different to his foes. His Spider sense plays very well, and his clever use of fighting skills and his knowledge plays very well.
Round 1: Amazing
So what do you think? I acknowledge that people are fans of all three incarnations of the character, I'm just stating what I think :)