Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
For a history of Spider-Man, check out the post here.
Spidey swings through the city. Repeatedly.
The first
incarnation of Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man on TV took its initial cues directly from the
comic on which it was based. Produced by Grantray-Lawrence
Animation for the first season, the series
primarily focused on Peter Parker’s (Paul Soles) life as a freelance
photographer for The Daily Buglenewspaper. In
between clashes with his gruff boss, publisher J. Jonah Jameson (Paul Kligman),
and shyly flirting with Jonah’s secretary, Betty Brant (Peg Dixon), Peter would
swing into action as Spider-Man to battle many nemeses from his comic. These
threats included a decent selection of Spidey’s rogues from standards such as
the Green Goblin (Len
Carlson), Dr.
Octopus (Vernon Chapman & Tom Harvey) and the Vulture (Gillie Fenwick & Soles) to new creations such as the Fifth
Avenue Phantom (Max Ferguson), Dr. Magneto (Cowan)
and Ms. Trubble (Dixon). Character
co-creator Stan Lee served as story consultant for the first season of the
show, while then-current series artist John Romita served as art consultant, bringing a mixture of his
and predecessor Steve
Ditko’s styles to life.
Vulture, Electro and Green Goblin were amongst the comics' rogues.
The series was a joint Canadian/American production, with
animation being handled in America while the voice talent were all located and
recorded in Canada. The budget for the show was extremely limited, putting a
heavy reliance on stock footage. The animation utilized as little actual
movement as possible, although it was still a marked improvement over their
earlier animated effort, The Marvel Superheroes, which animated
mouths over scanned comic images. The series worked under extremely
tight deadlines, as evidenced by the fact that newspaper articles appeared in
an episode that aired just three months after they were published. A result of
this was that the web design was left off of Spidey’s torso area in order to
make animating him quicker and easier. Most of the episodes that season
featured two separate story segments, with some single stories to fill the
entire timeslot.
Spider-Man without Spider-Man as focus shifts to Peter Parker.
After the
first season, Grantray-Lawrence went bankrupt and production was moved to Krantz Films under the supervision of Bakshi. With an even smaller budget to work with, further
cost-cutting measures were taken for the next two seasons. Footage from
previous episodes were cannibalized and re-edited together with minimal changes
to create new stories. Footage from two episodes of another Krantz
production, Rocket
Robin Hood, was used almost in their entirety with Robin Hood replaced
by Spidey. The classic stable of villains was also eliminated in favor of more
generic villains that could be reused over and over.
Taking on Doctor Octopus with a web sling-shot.
The second and third seasons took a darker tone
than the first with the use of dark coloring, psychedelic images and
atmospheric music. An attempt was also made to focus on Peter’s life away from
work and heroics, including time at school and troubles with women. The second
season presented the first time Spidey’s origin was seen on film, although it
was based on and used liberal amounts of dialogue from the updated retelling
from the deluxe-sized magazine Spectacular
Spider-Man #1 from 1968, published
just a few months prior to the episode. The second season was comprised of
single-story episodes while the third returned to the original first season format.
After spending two seasons on ABC, the show moved off of the network into
syndication and was primarily seen on Sunday mornings.
Who knew a web-sword would actually...work?
Probably the most famous element of the show is
its theme song. Written by Paul
Francis Webster with music composed by Bob Harris, the opening lines “Spider-Man, Spider-Man/Does whatever a
spider can” became almost as recognizable as the character itself. Besides
being referenced or parodied in movies, TV shows and various comics by numerous
publishers (including Spidey’s own), it has been covered by many recording
artists over the years including Aerosmith, The Ramones and even Michael Buble.
The song appeared in all three Spidey movies directed by Sam Raimi in some form--notably the Aerosmith version in the first one (with slightly altered lyrics)--and was
played as part of the Marvel Studios logo for their Spidey film series. The Activision video game, Spider-Man, used a re-recorded version of the theme utilizing the instrumentation from the
game’s soundtrack in 2000.
DVD packaging.
Throughout the next three decades, various
episodes would be released to VHS along with other Marvel shows. The first time
the show was released to DVD was as part of compilation
collections of episodes from Spider-Man:
The Animated Seriesby Walt
Disney Studios Home Entertainment starting
in 2002. In 2004, Disney released the complete series in Spider-Man:
The ’67 Collection, which also featured an introduction from Stan Lee. In 2008, Liberation
Entertainment released the first season in
Region 2 before the rights eventually went to ClearVision,
while Morningstar Entertainment released
some episodes in Canada from VHS and Betamax copies of the Prism Video
Marvel Video Library. The entire series
eventually made its way to virtual streaming on both Netflix and Marvel’s website. In 1967, Marvel published a package comic, America’s Best TV Comics, to promote the network’s Saturday
morning line-up which featured a truncated reprint of The
Amazing Spider-Man #42 (1966).
Spider-Man '67 meets Ultimate Spider-Man and Miles Morales in Spider-Verse Team-Up #2.
In 2014, the world of the series was presented
as an alternate universe in the story arc “Spider-Verse” running through The Amazing Spider-Manand related
titles. The story depicts Spider-Men from various dimensions banding together
to stop a threat that seeks to eliminate them all. Amazing vol.
3 #11 sees two Ultimate Spider-Men (Miles Morales from the comics and the animated version airing on Disney XD at
the time) traveling to the ’67 Universe (designated Earth-6799) to recruit that
world’s Peter Parker. While the visiting Spideys retained their distinctive
style, that Peter and his world were rendered in an art style made to resemble
that from the show. Many in-jokes to both the dated look of the show and the
limited production budget were made by the two visiting Spideys. Along with
Spidey, appearances were made by Jameson and Brant in the first part, and
villains Green Goblin, Scorpion, Vulture, Electro and Dr. Noah Boddy in the
second part in Spider-Verse
Team-Up #2. In 2018, the Spider-Verse
concept was adapted into the film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verseand the
’67 series was referenced and shown a few times. Additionally, stills and GIFs
of several scenes had become viral internet memes on social media.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“The Power of Dr. Octopus / Sub-Zero For Spidey” (9/9/67) – Assigned
to investigate mysterious lights, Spidey stumbles upon Dr. Octopus’ plans to
disrupt all the city’s utilities. / Visiting Professor Smartyr bring Spidey in
contact with an alien ice creature.
“Where Crawls the Lizard / Electro the Human Lightning Bolt” (9/16/67)
– Spidey travels to the Florida Everglades where he encounters The Lizard. /
Spidey battles Electro, who has framed Spidey for his robberies.
“The Menace of Mysterio” (9/23/67) – Mysterio frames Spidey for a bank
robbery in a plot to use Jonah to issue a challenge to defeat Spidey for a huge
cash payout.
“The Sky Is Falling / Captured by J. Jonah Jameson” (9/30/67) – Spidey
battles the Vulture and the flock of birds under his control. / Professor Henry
Smythe invents a Spider-Slayer, which Jonah uses to try and capture Spidey.
“Never Step on a Scorpion / Sands of Crime” (10/7/67) – Jonah funds
the creation of the Scorpion in order to defeat Spidey. / Sandman is on a crime
spree and Spidey is blamed for them.
“Diet of Destruction / The Witching Hour” (10/14/67) – Spidey battles
a giant car-eating robot. / Green Goblin seeks to use Jonah as a conduit to the
spirit world to gain supernatural powers.
“Kilowatt Kaper / The Peril of Parafino” (10/21/67) – Electro escapes
from prison. / Spidey chases an escaped prisoner into Parafino’s Wax Museum.
“Horn of the Rhino” (10/28/67) – Rhino is on a crime spree and Spidey
must stop him—while impaired by a cold.
“The One-Eyed Idol / Fifth Avenue Phantom” (11/4/67) – Jonah receives
an idol that hypnotizes him into depositing money inside of it to be collected
by R.E. Cliventon. / Spidey tries to trap the Fifth Avenue Phantom but ends up
encountering his female robot slaves.
“The Revenge of Dr. Magneto / The Sinister Prime Minister” (11/11/67)
– Shunned by the Science Hall of Fame, Dr. Magneto uses his mastery of
magnetism for revenge. / Spidey sneaks a visit with the Prime Minister of
Rutania for a scoop only to discover an impostor.
“The Night of the Villains / Here Comes Trubble” (11/18/67) – Historic
villains are robbing the city, leading Spidey back to Parafino’s Wax Museum. /
Miss Trubble uses a magical chest to summon mythological figures to commit
robberies of ancient artifacts.
“Spider-Man Meets Dr. Noah Boddy / The Fantastic Fakir” (11/25/67) –
Dr. Noah Boddy makes himself invisible to get revenge on Jonah for a negative
editorial. / A Fakir uses a magical flute to control animals against Spidey as
he attempts to stop the fakir’s jewel thefts.
“Return of the Flying Dutchman / Farewell Performance” (12/2/67) –
Spidey investigates reports of the ghost ship the Flying Dutchman and discovers
Mysterio behind it. / Blackwell the Magician brings a Jekyll & Hyde poster
to life in order to save his theater from demolition.
“The Golden Rhino / Blueprint For Crime” (12/9/67) – Rhino steals gold
bullion to make a statue of himself. / The Plotter hires Cowboy and Ox to steal
the blueprints for a missile.
“The Spider and the Fly / The Slippery Doctor von Schlick” (12/16/67)
– A jewel thief in a human fly costume gives Spidey a merry chase. / Chemist
Dr. Von Schlick steals large quantities of oil.
“The Vulture’s Prey / The Dark Terrors” (12/23/67) – Vulture kidnaps
Jonah and presses him for information on potential heist targets. / The Phantom
uses shadow-scope glasses to create shadow beasts to terrorize the populace and
cover his crimes.
“The Terrible Triumph of Doctor Octopus / Magic Malice” (12/30/67) –
Dr. Octopus steals Dr. Smartyr’s destructor missile to make all nations bow to
him. / The Green Goblin invades Blackwell’s theater and steals some of his
props and spells from his magic book.
“Fountain of Terror / Fiddler on the Loose” (1/6/68) – Dr. Curt
Connors goes missing looking for the Fountain of Youth, and Spidey discovers
the fountain has a protector in 15th Century conquistador Ponce de
Leon. / A fiddler lashes out at rock and roll music with a sonic violin.
“To Catch a Spider / Double Identity” (1/13/68) – Noah Boddy unites
Green Goblin, Electro and Vulture to go after Spidey. / Disguise master Charles
Cameo goes on an art theft spree.
“Sting of the Scorpion / Trick or Treachery” (1/20/68) – Scorpion
escapes from prison and returns to the lab of his birth, drinking a potion that
increases his size. / Paroled Human Fly Twins steal diamonds with one of them
disguises as Spidey in order to frame him.
Season 2:
“The Origin of Spider-Man” (9/14/68) – Indirectly causing his Uncle
Ben’s murder leads Peter Parker to use his new powers to fight crime as
Spider-Man.
“King Pinned” (9/21/68) – Peter overhears how the Kingpin is stocking
drug stores with phony drugs at gunpoint.
“Swing City” (9/28/68) – The Master Technician takes over a nuclear
reactor and uses it to lift Manhattan to the sky in ransom for money, his own
reactor, and amnesty for his crimes.
“Criminals in the Clouds” (10/5/68) – Peter decides to use his powers
to show up the star football player Roy Robinson while Sky Master plans to
kidnap Roy for ransom.
“Menace From the Bottom of the World” (10/12/68) – Escaped criminal
Muggs Reily uses a population of mole men to steal entire banks in sinkholes.
“Diamond Dust” (10/19/68) – Peter tries to win a spot as a relief
pitcher for the school team, which leads him to discover Shakespeare’s plot to
rob the college museum.
“Spider-Man Battles the Molemen” (10/26/68) – The mole men seek to
eliminate Spidey in order to invade the surface.
“Phantom from the Depths of Time” (11/2/68) – Dr. Manta uses a special
organ to enslave inhabitants of an island to mine a valuable ore.
“The Evil Sorcerer” (11/9/68) – Kotep, the Scarlet Sorcerer, is frozen
in time by a rival until revived by a dismissed college professor in the
present who seeks to use Kotep for revenge.
“Vine” (11/16/68) – Spidey inadvertently releases a giant plant on the
city and must travel back in time to find the scientist who created it for a
way to stop it.
“Pardo Presents” (11/23/68) – While on a date Peter becomes entangled
in a mind-control robbery scheme by the evil Pardo.
“Cloud City of Gold” (11/30/68) – While as an exchange student in
South America, Peter’s plane crashes in the jungle and it’s up to Spidey to
return its crew to civilization.
“Neptune’s Nose Cone” (12/7/68) – While tracking a fallen nose cone
for the Bugle, Peter and his pilot Penny Jones crash on an island of
superstitious natives.
“Home” (12/14/68) – Peter meets Carol and discovers they have a lot in
common, including similar powers which she uses to steal.
“Blotto” (12/21/68) – Unbalanced movie producer Clive is determined to
prove to critics and audiences alike that the darkest human emotions can be
filmed.
“Thunder Rumble” (12/28/68) – A lightning-throwing giant Martian
warrior comes to Earth to steal all its gold.
“Spider-Man Meets Skyboy” (1/4/69) – Dr. Irving Caldwell creates a levitating
helmet, which leads him to be kidnapped by Dr. Zap and causes his son Jan to
become Skyboy to save him.
“Cold Storage” (1/11/69) – Dr. Cool and his henchmen take their
diamond heist to an ice factory to hide them amongst the ice to fool customs while
smuggling the diamonds.
“To Cage a Spider” (1/18/69) – Spidey is laid low by two criminals and
rescued by Captain Stacy, to whom he returns the favor when Stacy is held
hostage by escaping criminals.
Season 3:
“The Winged Thing / Conner’s Reptiles” (3/22/70) – Spidey is unable to
stop the Vulture’s latest crime spree, at least not without the help of some
winged friends. / Dr. Connors’ experiments result in a super-intelligent
alligator that Spidey must travel to Florida to stop.
“Trouble With Snow / Spider-Man vs. Desperado” (3/29/70) – A snowman is brought to life through an
electro-chemical accident. / Cowboy-themed Desperado uses his electronic flying
horse to commit a series of robberies.
“Sky Harbor / The Big Brainwasher” (4/5/70) – The mayor asks Spidey to
save the city from Baron Von Rantenraven and his sky pirates. / Mary Jane
Watson gets a job that unwittingly puts her in the middle of Kingpin’s plot to
use mind control on various city officials.
“The Vanishing Doctor Vespasian / Scourge of the Scarf” (4/12/70) – Dr.
Vespasian creates an invisibility serum that he decides to use to destroy
Spidey and prove his power to the city’s criminals. / The Scarf uses illusions
to rob from the city’s rich.
“Super Swami / The Birth of Microman” (4/19/70) – A Swami uses
illusions to cause chaos in the city. / Peter unknowingly gives a ride to the
escaped Dr. Pretorius and must stop his latest scheme while clearing his name
after being pegged as Pretorius’ accomplice.
“Knight Must Fall / The Devious Dr. Dumpty” (4/26/70) – Sir Galahad, a
motorcycle-riding knight, goes on a crime spree while Jonah continues his
attacks on Spidey in the press. / Dr. Humperdink Dumpty uses balloon-themed
devices to knock out victims and steal their valuables.
“Up From Nowhere” (5/3/70) – Dr. Atlantean covers Manhattan in a
bubble dome and sinks it beneath the ocean to allow the Atlanteans to invade
easily.
“Rollarama” (5/10/70) – Rolling seed pods from another dimension
threaten the city, forcing Spidey to journey to their dimension to find a way
to stop them.
“Rhino / The Madness of Mysterio” (5/17/70) – Rhino once again tries
to make a golden statue of himself. / Mysterio traps Spidey in an abandoned
amusement park and tricks him into thinking he’s six inches tall.
“Revolt in the Fifth Dimension” (5/24/70) – Spidey becomes embroiled
in an intergalactic struggle when a dying alien scientist gives Spidey a tiny
data library sought after by alien foes.
“Specialists and Slaves” (5/31/70) – Master Technician, now the
Radiation Specialist, returns and levitates the city while taking control of
most of the populace’s minds.
“Down to Earth” (6/7/70) – Sent to locate a fallen meteor in the North
Pole, Peter and pilot Osa Olsen crash in a wasteland populated by savages who
possess the meteor.
“Trip to Tomorrow” (6/14/70) – Spidey meets a boy who wants to become
a superhero and tries to talk him out of it with tales of Spidey’s exploits.
Spider-Man across the decades by Humberto Ramos for Amazing Spider-Man #692.
In the world of
superhero comic books, one thing was true: adults were the heroes, and
teenagers were plucky sidekicks. That convention was turned on its head in 1962
when Marvel Comics presented Spider-Man to the world.
Retelling of Spidey's origin from Amazing Spider-Man #94.
Shy bookworm high
school student Peter Parker was attending a science exhibition where a spider
became accidentally irradiated and bit him. The result bestowed Peter with all
of the spider’s abilities, giving him super strength, agility, the ability to
cling to any surface, and an early warning spider-sense. Deciding to test his
new abilities, Peter entered a wrestling exhibition match and won, gaining him
the attention of an agent and ending up on TV. Designing a costume and using
his scientific prowess to create wrist-mounted web-shooters, Spider-Man was
born.
Remember, kids: letting burglars go will end up costing you a relative.
Unfortunately, fame
went to young Parker’s head. He allowed a burglar to escape after robbing the
TV station. That same burglar went to the home of his Aunt May and Uncle Ben,
who had taken him in when his parents died, and shot Ben while attempting to
rob the house. The police cornered the burglar in a warehouse and Spider-Man
took matters into his own hands, capturing him and discovering it was the same
burglar he let escape. Learning with great power came great responsibility,
Spider-Man became a hero from that day forward.
Stan Lee hangs out with his creation.
Marvel editor and head writer Stan Lee was riding
high from the recent Marvel renaissance ushered in by the Fantastic Fourcomic that he co-created with artist Jack Kirby, but
he was looking for the next big idea. Factual accounts on how that idea came
about have varied from creator to creator and lost through the annuls of time.
One account has Lee inspired by the pulp hero The Spider and a spider on the
wall, as well as a desire to tap into their teenage market with a character
they could relate to. The character’s name Spider-Man was inspired by Lee’s
fascination with rival publisher DC Comics’ Hawkman.
The original Jack Kirby/Joe Simon version of Spider-Man.
Another account was Spider-Man was originally created
by Kirby with Joe Simon in the 1950s before renamed him The Silver Spider. The
character was intended to appear in Crestwood Publications’ Black Magic, but was never used. The
character was an orphaned boy who lived with an elderly couple and discovered a
magic ring that gave him powers. They later reworked their concept into TheFly for Archie Comics.
Peter develops his equipment and costume.
In both accounts, Kirby had shown Lee his original
concept and Lee asked Kirby to work on the new version. Ultimately, Lee
disliked Kirby’s version, finding it far more heroic than he envisioned for the
character. Lee turned to the story’s intended inker Steve Ditko to give the
concept a reworking off of a synopsis by Lee, jettisoning the mystical elements
of the character and reducing his age. Ditko crafted the well-known costume for
the character, his wiry appearance, the idea of a full-face mask to hide his
youth and make him more mysterious, and giving him hidden mechanical
web-shooters on his wrists.
Amazing Fantasy #15, the published cover and the unused Ditko cover.
Initially unsure about the new hero, publisher Martin Goodman gave permission to publish it in the final issue of a cancelled series to minimize the risk of it failing. Spider-Man appeared in the 15th issue of Amazing Adult Fantasy, renamed Amazing Fantasy.Although the interiors were drawn by Ditko, Lee wasn’t happy with his original cover and had Kirby redraw it with Ditko inking over him. Ditko’s cover, however, did end up making the rounds as a pin-up in several publications.
Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 #1, 1963.
A few months later, Goodman reviewed the sales
figures for the issue and was surprised to learn it was their best-selling
comic yet. Unable to argue with success, Goodman commissioned the first ongoing
series The Amazing Spider-Manin
1963. As sales and the character’s popularity continued to grow, Spidey
eventually became he flagship character for Marvel, adorning most of their
advertisements, merchandise, letterhead and even envelopes.
Spidey has undergone some changes over the last 5 decades. Left to right from top: Amazing Bag-Man, black costume, Spider-Lizard, Hornet, Spider-Hulk, six-armed, Ben Reilly, wrestler, Unlimited, 2099, Negative Zone, Spider-Ham, Prodigy, Scarlet Spider, 2211, Cosmic, Ricochet, Spider-Man, Dusk, Spider-Armor (with an appearance by Aunt May).
Over the years, Spider-Man has starred in numerous comic titles,
guest-starred in even more books, been the subject of many toys, and,
inevitably, several TV series--including on Saturday morning.
