Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is fantastic, a new cartoon that has me thinking about it days later. I went through each episode twice, looked up all of the obscure references, did a little theory-crafting after reading some of the rumors for season 2, and I’m still not tired of it yet. The show has a few small issues. It’s not perfect, but one little thing that’s not an issue for most keeps picking at the back of my mind, bugging me, and it has to do with my favorite character, Lonnie Thompson Lincoln.
For those who aren’t too familiar with that name, most know Lincoln by his villainous moniker, Tombstone, and anyone who doesn’t recognize him at all should be in for a treat. I’m a fan, not just of the version we see in the new cartoon, but of his comics’ counterpart. Spider-Man was one of my favorite comic books as a kid and I always loved reading about him going up against Tombstone. A part of me wanted to see him more, have him elevated as a villain to be a bigger deal, or – stupidly – maybe see him turn for a more heroic arc. Lonnie has been a bully, the heavy, an underworld hitman, a leader of gangs, and a crime lord, but that never felt like his ceiling. I believed he could be more.
Your Friendly Neighborhood expanded on Lonnie’s character, but in a different way than what I wanted in my youth. This version shows us more of Tombstone’s life before his exposure to the Diox-3 gas, lets us in on how his formative years started out, and makes him incredibly sympathetic to the audience. The path he goes down, initially to try and give his younger brother a better life, is a sad and tragic one that enriches the character and raises the potential for his future prospects. In the end, we see Lonnie throw away his former life, represented here by his letterman jacket, just after seemingly lying to his mother and potentially entertaining the idea of joining WEB. No matter what he does, it seems like Lonnie has a new mindset to match the people he now calls family, and anything he does will be about creating advantages for him and the 110th Street Gang. He gave up the football team for them, causing them to lose, and gave up Pearl for his new bond, hurting her – making tough decisions that seem like they should be cut and dry, but are compelling character moments.
Lonnie is voiced by Eugene Byrd, who does a great job bringing an enjoyable and complex character to life. This man is the captain of the football team, dating one of the most beautiful girls in school, and doesn’t seem to do too poorly with his studies. It also seems like everyone likes him, even guys like Peter Parker, who wish they were dating Lonnie’s girlfriend. The guy seems dedicated, easy to get along with, and he’s funny, especially when playing off Peter and Pearl. He also goes into action when he needs to, similar to the heroic qualities we see from Parker, because Lincoln is quick to protect his friends, and when the situation calls for it, he steps up to take charge. Lonnie is charming and feels like a real person dealing with things outside of his control, not sure how to tell anyone what’s really going on, which makes watching his slow descent and knowing what’s potentially in the wings painful and exciting.
I believe in the Lincoln-Parker science dream team, but I also can’t wait to see what type of relationship Tombstone and Spider-Man will have. We saw what Lonnie did in the end, he may not be fully gone yet. I want so badly to save this version of the character, but I know it could be more entertaining if he becomes exactly who we think he is and more.
Before the show came out and during its release, people were discussing the showrunners’ choices of gender and race-swapping classic characters, which seemingly upset some fans. It’s hard to say I even noticed those differences after a couple of episodes, I was more amazed that someone had made a mostly likable version of Harry Osborn and curious about what kind of Lizard this new Dr. Carla Connors was going to be. At the same time, there was a point where I mused out loud, “Why isn’t Lonnie Lincoln an albino in this?”
He had albinism in the comics, which became a big part of his development as a character. Like me, Lonnie was picked on because he looked different, something he couldn’t help. I just didn’t bully others in return. Never intentionally, at least, but we all lash out. This is one of the main reasons I relate to Tombstone, I can’t condone his actions, but part of me truly gets it. Taking away his albinism doesn’t just strip him of a cool visual trait, but a piece of his motivation. I had mentioned to a friend before the show premiered that Norman Osborn being African American in this universe could offer more of a reason as to why he wanted to become rich, to build his empire, and get that respect he’s always talking about, instead of just being born into money or getting lucky with a technological discovery. But on that same hand, weren’t they denying Lonnie a similar undeniable character trait?
I wondered why the writers didn’t want to keep him as a person with albinism. Maybe they were worried he’d suck at football or have more trouble in school, I certainly did. Your Friendly Neighborhood isn’t the first animated show to do him this way either – maybe they think kids don’t get what an albino is – the amazing 1994 Spider-Man cartoon also didn’t bother to saddle Lincoln with his pre-empowered genetic mutation, while 2003’s Spectacular Spider-Man doesn’t mention it, but gives the character a lot of respect. So this shouldn’t be anything new, but why is it sticking out?
Honestly, I believe I simply had to come to terms with the fact that I care because I like this version of Lonnie Lincoln more. I’ve been such a big fan of Tombstone for years, but someone finally made me give a shit about the man he was beforehand. Albinos are almost always used as villains or exotic rarities where their only characterization is the lack of pigmentation, and that sucks, so when we get a character that should have been one, especially when there are so few fleshed-out heroes or villains with albinism to care about, it stands out more. I’m not upset, this article isn’t meant to whine about any sort of albino-erasure, but rather an explanation of why I’m so passionate about this interpretation of one of my favorites. We saw his hands at the end, people who know are well aware of where Lonnie is heading and that he’s on his way to losing a lot more pigment, and I’m not worried because from what we’ve seen so far, Tombstone is in solid hands. I’m ready to see him do great things, good or bad.
