First Steps, the first episode in the Volume 6, is primarily a Spider-Man (Josh Keaton) versus Sandman (John Di Maggio) episode, with Hammerhead (John Di Maggio) pulling Sandy's strings. Sandman's looking for a "big score" that he'll actually get a decent sized take from, but "commissioned jobs" have large overhead, leaving him needing to do more jobs to try to make more money. At one point, Spidey tries his "Great responsibility" speech on Sandy who at first seems to take it to heart, then uses it as a chance to sucker punch Spidey, completing the famous line as "With great power comes great gullibility." However, later in the episode, Sandman uses his powers to defend a little girl from bullies and to save people who would have been hurt as a result of his battle with Spider-Man. Is Sandy going soft, or is he just (still) soft in the head?
The second episode on the disc, Growing Pains, was a nice touch. I remember this story from back in the day. J. Jonah Jameson's son, John Jameson (Daran Norris), the astronaut, is infected by some sort of space spores that hitched a ride on his spacecraft (at the same time the symbiont did) and as a result, he doubles in size and becomes immeasurably stronger. Until he can find a cure, Dr. Conners (Dee Bradley Baker) fits him with a special suit designed to weight him down and prevent him from accidentally using his newly obtained super-strength to stumble through walls or crush doorknobs. When Venom (Ben Diskin) tries to frame Spidey by doing irreputable acts and letting the general populace thing it's Spider-Man, J. J. Jameson (Daran Norris) decides that his son should bring the web-head to justice and comes up with the name "Colonel Jupiter" as his son's alter ego. At first, John Jameson thinks it's a bad idea, but he comes to the conclusion that with great power comes great responsibility - well, in a simpler form, "I should call for help... I am help." After helping Spidey rescue people (and animals) from a burning building, someone who saw Venom cause the fire accused Spider-Man of the crime. When Colonel Jupiter (Daran Norris) attempts to take Spidey to the police to sort it out, Spidey loses him, so that his secret identity isn't revealed. This snub (along with the effects of the space spores, which are beginning to affect John's mind) lead to an epic battle between Spidey and Colonel Jupiter. Spidey manages to restore John's body to its original form, but the space spores proved to be addictive, leaving John Jameson with a serious case of withdrawal and leaving J. J. Jameson blaming the ruin of his son on Spider-Man.
The final episode in The Spectacular Spider-Man: Volume 6 is the culmination of the Venom story arch that was started in First Steps, when Peter Parker spots Eddie Brock (Ben Diskin) a few times, only for him to disappear, leaving Peter wondering if he's seeing things. This leads to Parker unwittingly showing Brock exactly where he hid the symbiont (black goo). In Identity Crisis, having turned the city against Spider-Man by assuming his identity and wreaking havoc, Venom tells the world that Spider-Man is, in fact, Puny Peter Parker and attempts to remove his mask and reveal his face. Peter Parker fights desperately to keep his identity a secret and manages - just barely - to keep his face from being revealed to the world. In the meantime, however, J. J. Jameson has a reporter questioning everyone who knows Peter Parker as to whether they think that he could be Spider-Man. Most laugh it off, but for some, it would answer some questions, so it remains to be seen whether these suspicions will carry over into further episodes. As for the investigation at hand, however, the Daily Bugle runs a story clearing Peter Parker of suspicion of being Spider-Man when their investigation fails to find any proof.
The episodes in Volume 6 aren't bad, but the first one seems to start a little slowly and there are only three in the volume. If you're a serious Spidey fan, I would suggest getting the season, instead of buying volumes. If you're picking and choosing, this isn't the strongest volume they've put out yet, so you might want to catch these episodes on TV or rent it first.
