“Ouch, something bit me!”

To me, the most interesting episodes of the classic Spider-Man cartoon are the later ones produced by Ralph Bakshi, so that’s where I’ll be starting my reviews. I have to admit, when I watched this series as a kid, I thought these later episodes actually came first, especially since the first Bakshi episode dealt with Spidey’s origin. I thought the reason the actual first season episodes were of better quality was that they were just getting better as they went along. It didn’t even enter my mind that they were actually getting worse.

This first episode is titled “The Origin Of Spiderman” ( No hyphen ). For some reason, Ralph Bakshi decided to start Season 2 with Spider-Man’s origin, even though we’ve already had a whole season’s worth of adventures. He obviously knew something about the character, and I think he probably preferred tackling the different personal problems of Peter Parker ( Try saying THAT three times fast ), which was barely touched upon in the first season.

This is probably the most-watched episode of this series. It was featured on a mass-produced video tape released by Prism Video in the 80s, it was an extra on the original DVD release of the first Spider-Man film, and also the “Ultimate Villain Showdown” release of episodes from the 90s Spider-Man cartoon. 

The background of Peter’s high school is re-used numerous times throughout the series.

Just as in the comic story, a couple of Peter Parker’s classmates are trying to convince him to join them and three other girls, but Pete is more interested in attending a science exhibit. Couldn’t they have used characters from the comics, like “Flash” and “Harry”, instead of “Sal” and “Moose"? Anyway, it seems that Peter would rather watch a demonstration in radioactivity. 

Nice reflection of P.P. in the car's rear view mirror.

If you’ve already watched the first season’s worth of episodes, you’ve probably noticed the second season has a different look to it. The backgrounds are a lot fuller, and have a richer color pallate. Also, the animation isn’t as smooth as the first season, which wasn’t all that smooth to begin with.

Unbeknownst to the onlookers, a small spider has entered the picture, taking on mass doses of radiation ( There doesn't appear to be much in the way of shielding in this lab, it's a miracle the entire school didn't get super powers! ). Falling to its death, the eight legged creature makes one small pit stop on the way, on the back of Mr. Parker's hand, sinking its teeth in for a final meal.

The “radioactivity” looks more like electricity.

Feeling queezy, Pete steps out for some fresh air, wondering what has come over him. We then see him zoom along on his scooter, stopping to look out over the river and reflect on the days events. Continuing to walk ( He must have left his set of wheels on the pier! ), he almost runs into a couple of would-be biker types. "Watch where you're walkin', ya' four eyed foul-up!" they spout off to the daydreaming teen, even though he's not wearing glasses. Peter's reflexes act instinctively, and he smashes a steel lamp post, snapping it in two. The bikers freak out and run away in a goofy manner, where their feet seem to be doing an awful lot of moving, but they don't seem to be getting away any faster. "This cat's a tiger!" 

“Four eyed? But I’m not even wearing glasses!”

For some reason the DVD subtitles say "four-eyed prowler".

This episode is thought to be a pretty faithful adaptation of Amazing Fantasy #15, but it’s actually almost taken word for word from Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1 ( July, 1968 ), including the “Four-eyed foul-up” line. It’s a straightforward re-telling of the origin, only it omits Peter’s attempt at a wrestling career. In fact we don’t get to see him “audition” at all.

Remember Pete’s motorbike, kids. It’s the last time we’ll ever see it.

More confused than ever, Peter continues walking ( Boy, all these streets look alike, don’t they? ) right out into traffic. He’s so caught up in his own thoughts that he almost doesn’t notice that an oncoming car is headed right for him, "The driver doesn't see me!". Though the driver is clearly surprised by something that he sees. Pete jumps out of the way to safety, and then realizes he's clinging to the side of the freakin’ building! He has, in effect, become a human sized spider, leaping from rooftop to rooftop ( It's a wonder nobody spotted him ). He surmises that it must be from the spider bite, that it has somehow changed him.

In a demonstration of total overkill, Pete manages to jump about 10 stories straight up to avoid an oncoming car.

Love the first season music in this episode. Throughout the season 2-3 episodes, a lot of the music cues are Ray Ellis material used in the first season. In this episode, we get to hear most of the music unedited, like the instrumental version of the theme song when Pete discovers his spider powers.

Pete wonders aloud if there's some way he can cash in on his newfound spider powers to maybe make a buck or two to help out his Aunt May and ( Unusually frail here ) Uncle Ben. Unlike the comic, here we don't get a sense of the closeness that Pete shared with his Aunt and Uncle before the inevitable tragedy befalls them. So, no wheatcakes.

Peter puts his know-how to good use and designs a pair of web-shooters, rationalizing that a spider must have a web. And he also figures he'll need a costume and name, calling himself ( what else ) Spider-Man! "Okay world, better hang onto your hats!" 

One of the most glaring animation errors of the entire series- the red and blue on Spidey's costume are inexplicably reversed.

The animators weren't the only ones to ever make that mistake!

The voice actors are giving us a depth that we haven’t heard in this series so far, especially Paul Soles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man. He does a great job of making the change between the softer voiced Parker and the deeper Spidey voice throughout the entire series. Soles doesn't over-campify the far out nature of the stories, and puts a slight more serious edge in his voice to accentuate the slightly more serious tone of the episodes of season two compared to those of season one. His voice has a slight Adam West quality to it, which isn't a bad thing. Here it really works. It’s his voice that was always the voice of Spider-Man in my head as I read my comic books as a kid.

Spidey figures he’s got to be the answer to Ed Sullivan’s prayers, and as it turns out, his audition is a big success. A gangly, off model Spider-Man strolls down a very badly animated hallway, when a thief, making his getaway, comes barreling past the Wall Crawler, who fails to stop the criminal. His reason: From now on he only looks after number one, "And that means me!" 

"I didn't do it! Ya' never saw me, man!"

These Bakshi-produced episodes were thrown together in a very short time frame, usually about a week! Since this first episode was put together from scratch ( almost ), I’m guessing his crew had a little more time to make it shine. Most of the backgrounds are fairly detailed, even though a great many of them are repeated throughout this episode ( And the entire series, come to think of it! ).

Peter Parker arrives home to a house surrounded by police cars. It seems Uncle Ben has been murdered. The police have the culprit holed up in an old warehouse, where he has sufficiently held them off, but he won't hold off Spider-Man!

Light beams don’t match up to headlights on car.

Cue the Spider-Man theme as our hero makes his way to the old Acme warehouse. He comments that the warehouse is on the other side of town, which I guess is a good reason to stretch out the episode a little more by showing more stock scenes of him swinging.

He finally gets to the murderer's hideout, where outside, police cars crisscross the building with searchlights. Inside, Spider-Man confronts the man who killed his uncle, freaking out the criminal, "A guy who walks on walls and shoots webs like a spider!". 

“You can’t hide from me!”

I just love the image of Spider-Man entering the warehouse through the doorway, shrouded in shadow ( possibly the best single image of animation of the character in the entire series ), and the impact of the punch, flooring the killer with one mighty blow that still makes my teeth rattle every time I see it. “This is for the man you killed!”. Not your typical Saturday morning fare, courtesy of Ralph Bakshi.

“This is for the man you killed!”

Spider-Man gets a good look at the unconscious crook for the first time and sees the thief he'd let escape earlier. The one he could have stopped, if he only had bothered. 

He rationalizes "Uncle Ben is dead, and in a sense it is really I who killed him!", learning the lesson that with great power, there must also be great responsibility. From that day forward, Spider-Man vows to never again shirk his duty, thus, a legend is born. As Spidey jumps off into the sunset, leaping from building to building, landing in midair, not once, but twice. Ahh, someone didn't match up the over-used stock animation with the correct over-used background painting!

With great power, there must also ALWAYS be GREAT ANIMATION ERRORS

What a dramatic change from the light hearted stories of the first season! We went from Spider-Man fighting magical musicians to people being murdered! That had to be a shocker for the kids watching this show when it first aired on Saturday mornings. Even though the animation runs hot and cold in this episode, it works really well for the most part, thanks to the moodier look this season has taken.

Spidey swings past the same pier where he left his motorbike earlier, only somebody must’ve snagged it, because  now it’s gone.  See? This is why he can’t have nice things.

“Robbers, killers: Beware! Spider-Man is here!”

NEXT: Fat Slob

“Okay, let’s get this show on the road, gang! “ ( A little bit of History )

Their slogan should’ve been “Hey, we’re no Hanna Barbera!”

In 1966, Steve Krantz contracted Grantray-Lawrence Productions to produce a syndicated television series consisting of 5 minute cartoons featuring five of Marvel Comics’ most popular characters, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Sub-Mariner. The animation was extremely limited, with artwork mostly lifted directly from the comics themselves. However, the voice work was top notch, coming across like a radio drama at times, with Stan Lee’s scripts being brought to life with great flair.

That same company followed this series the next year with “Spider-Man”, airing on ABC Saturday mornings. This series lasted three seasons ( Two on ABC and a third in syndication ), and is beloved by Spidey fans around the world. For a lot of people, myself included, this was their introduction to the character. The most memorable thing about the series being its theme song. Probably the second thing most people remember about the show is the look of it, with its “psychedelic” backgrounds and repeated animation of Spider-Man swinging from building to building. This comes from only the second and third seasons though, because they were produced by a different company. See, Grantray-Lawrence went bankrupt, so Krantz hired renowned animator Ralph Bakshi and his crew to finish out the episode order. Bakshi, who had just started his own studio, had previously taken over the reigns on another series for Krantz, “Rocket Robin-Hood”. There is a drastic difference between the two production styles, with first season episodes featuring more of Spidey’s rogues gallery from the comics, and the musical cues of Ray Ellis. While later episodes feature a ton more repeating animation, and stock music cues from the KPM music library, among others.

Of "Fritz The Cat", "Cool World", and "Mighty Mouse" fame.

As you watch the first several episodes from Season 2, it becomes apparent that these shows were made on a much lower budget. There are several “sequels” to episodes, which are basically the same episode, using much of the same footage. There are also a couple that are essentially just Rocket Robin Hood episodes with Spidey substituted in for Robin.

This is supposed to be Spider-Man, kids.

When the "Spider-Man" animated series first aired, Spider-Man the comic book had only existed for five years. By then, most of Spidey's classic rogues gallery had been introduced in the book, and Peter Parker and his supporting cast were in place, thanks to the fine writing of Stan Lee, and the brilliant artistry of Steve Ditko and John Romita. 

The cartoon did a fairly decent job of remaining faithful to the core of what made Spider-Man so beloved by comic book fans. Obviously geared towards a younger audience, the animated version lacked most of the angst, and the plots weren't very detailed, but Spidey was Spidey, through and through. Peter Parker could hardly catch a break, and was quite often shown using his scientific know-how to catch the villain du jour. 

The supporting cast was stripped down to just a few players from the comics, including Peter Parker's boss, J. Jonah Jameson, Aunt May, and Jameson's secretary Betty Brant. Granted, the stories weren't too sophisticated, but were more or less typical of Saturday morning entertainment for the time.

Most of the classic Spider-Man villains were present. Electro, Dr. Octopus, the Green Goblin and plenty of others engaged the web-head each week, and there were even some original foes unique to the cartoon series to boot. A couple of episodes took stories almost straight out of the comics and adapted them for the small screen. If you were already a Spidey fan, it must have been cool getting to see animated versions of some of the web slingers adventures for the first time. And, as the opening of the show reminded us each week, in color too!

Visually, the series is impressive overall, with a style all its own. The title character's appearance has been tweaked slightly for TV animation. Spider-Man's costume only features the web pattern on the mask, gloves and boots. To make the mask more expressive, the animators have the white part of Spidey's eyes get narrower and wider, and on the occasion when he gets knocked unconscious, they go completely black ( This is a detail some artists have even worked into the comic book throughout the years ). True, some minor liberties were taken, but television animation was much simpler back then, and it would have been much too complicated and time consuming for the animators to draw all those webs. 

I’m sure the animators shaved a couple grand off the budget by leaving two legs off of the spider on Spidey’s costume.

Story-wise, the series delivers a mixed bag that runs hot and cold, depending on many factors. The first season's plots were basic and kid-friendly. The villains' motives were never much more than financial gain, or just causing mayhem. The characterizations were never too complex for kids to understand, while remaining very faithful to the comic book versions. 

The second and third seasons are a completely different ball o’ wax. While certain episodes like “Kingpinned” and “To Cage A Spider” feature realistic, more dramatic stories, other stories like “Phantom From The Depths Of Time” and “Menace From The Bottom Of The World” are far out tales of science fiction that seem better suited for another character other than Spider-Man. In the case of “Phantom” anyway, the reason for this was because they took a story written for a different series entirely and inserted Spider-Man into it. I guess they thought nobody would notice. Other episodes from seasons two and three were even slapped together from episodes from season one, only adding to the confusion.

Again, supposed to be Spidey. In a rocket. Right.

There is definately a significant change in tone from the first season of “Spider-Man” to the second and third. Because Ralph Bakshi’s production team was brought in to finish out the series, even as a kid I could tell the creative reigns had been passed on to someone different. Beginning with the episode "The Origin Of Spiderman", the series' look changed quite a bit. Gone were the bright backgrounds, and simple artwork. Instead Spidey swung through the concrete jungle of New York against a sky that often looked like a lava lamp threw up all over it! And swing he did! And swing, and swing, and swing...While the first season's half-hour episodes often contained two shorter story segments, the episodes from the second season seemed to be centered around about fifteen minutes of story ( Sometimes even less! ), and the rest of the episode was padded out with recycled animation of Spider-Man web swinging from building to building! It was as if we were along with Spidey in real-time as he swung from one end of Manhattan to the other.

It looks like somebody threw up green paint all over the sky.

There were some high points during the second and third season however, but the proof is on the screen, most of the episodes just weren't that good. The animation errors and repetitiveness would never fly today, and the show seems quite primitive by modern standards. But the fact remains that this series is loved by fans of all ages, and is still as entertaining today as it was years ago, in spite of its many flaws.

NEXT: “Okay world, better hang on to your hats! Here comes the original web-swinging wonder!”

"Action Is His Reward!"

Like a lot of kids today ( By "kids" I mean forty-somethings ), my first exposure to Spider-Man was the classic 1967-1970 cartoon. You know the one I mean, with the catchy theme song that goes "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can!" I remember watching this show religiously after school on cable channel WSNS Channel 44, out of Chicago. Even during the summertime, I made a special point to come in from playing outside, just to catch the animated adventures of my favorite super hero, though I had probably already seen them a zillion times each.

Eventually the series disappeared from our local cable television line-up, and it wasn't until a few years later that I would be reunited with Spidey's cartoon counterpart. Marvel, along with Prism Video started releasing television episodes of animated versions of their characters on tape. Then, thanks to some lucky bastard with a video recorder and the foresight to hit the record button at just the right time, bootleg cassettes of the series began showing up at comic and sci-fi conventions. That's where I managed to snag a couple of tapes containing a handful of episodes, which I have worn out from repeat viewing.

Thanks to the internet, I’ve come across several web-sites over the years that touched on this marvelous animated classic, but none really gave me the detail I was looking for, just brief plot descriptions and minor details. What I was really interested in knowing was some behind-the-scenes info, such as why did they re-use animation of Spider-Man swinging through the city to pad out certain episodes? And why did Peter Parker sound like the little elf that wanted to be a dentist from "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer"?

The series was released on DVD back in the early 2000’s ( Now out of print ), and in just the last couple of years, the episodes have been available to view for free at Marvel.com, as well as streaming on Netflix. Plus, the show has pretty much remained in syndication in the U.S. and other countries non-stop, since the early 1970’s, still airing in Canada, where the show’s voice actors originated from. Thanks to these all of these options, this show continues to delight the fans who have re-discovered it, as well as entertain a whole new generation.

This blog is dedicated to these classic Spider-Man cartoons. I plan on posting reviews of episodes, interesting screen shots, and generally picking apart the series. Don’t get me wrong, my tone may seem snarky at times, but I LOVE this show. I must, otherwise I wouldn’t be dedicating a whole blog to it. As a kid watching, it was just cool to see Spidey on TV, quipping and thwipping. But as an adult, part of the charm of this show is its low-budget, the results of which are quite apparent on screen. So yes, I still think this series is one of the best representations of the character outside of the comics, but I’m also aware of its flaws. Trust me, I’m aware.

Note the spelling error. One of those “flaws” I mentioned.

Anyway, I hope that other fans of the Classic Spider-Man cartoon enjoy reading this blog as much as I do creating it. Just like Spidey, when it comes to wealth and fame, I’m ignored. Your positive feedback is my reward!

NEXT: What the hell happened between Season One and Two?