A weekly program focusing on the arts and entertainment

Poor Spiderman. He’s in trouble. Again.

But, Arts and Entertainment Editor Bob Sokolsky notes, this is not his usual trouble. And instead of coping with bad guys, poor Spidey has to fight an old show biz problem. Lack of money.

This involves plans to showcase him in a wild special embracing all sorts of fancy techniques. So far, production costs are immense. The previews are bad. And little seems to be working.

But, Sokolsky says, that often seems the problem when efforts are made to turn comic strip heroes like Spiderman into screen or stage icons. And he cites examples ranging from Superman to Joe Palooka and Little Orphan Annie.

So what can we expect from the current situation? Sokolsky has no immediate answer. Except for one thing: Don’t expect to see Spidey at the Fox or any other large local theater in any near future.