Homem-Aranha

With the hype of the new movie to come out next year, some fans are skeptical about it being faithful to the original (ie: organic web-shooters). However, I like to point out to them that there is a presentation of the Amazing Spider-Man on film or TV that is faithful to the original comic book. That is the 1967-1970 animated series of Spider-Man.

The first season contains the classic villains the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus and the Vulture and the background is a sky-blue motif. I think that it resembles the Steve Ditko Spider-Man comics. And the 2nd and 3rd seasons are more weird and bizarre with villains that consist of space aliens, wizards, cavemen and the background is a more dark, night-time theme. These are my favorite even though the production budget was slashed considerably for them.

Who can forget the 2nd season's "The Origin of Spider-Man"? Or the psychedelic and horrific "Revolt in the Fifth Dimension"? If you prefer more light-hearted shows, you can watch J. Jonah Jameson's comic-induced rantings from the first season as Spider-Man continues to frustrate the newspaper despot. The fact that there are two different sides to this series (1st season VS 2nd & 3rd seasons) is what makes it so fondly remembered today. If all the episodes were like the 1st season, people would easily dismiss it as a typical 1960's animated fluff. If all the episodes were just like the 2nd and 3rd seasons, it would also be discarded as weird psychedelia. The combination of the two styles perfectly portrays the evolution of Spider-Man from early 1960's innocence to the dark and forboding 1970's Spider-Man comics by John Romita and Gerry Conway.

Another strength to this series is the background music which complements the eye-pleasing visuals. Despite the repeated use of the same animation, one never really gets tired of it. The theme song that accompanies the opening and closing segments of the show is very famous and the majority of the non-Spider-Man viewing and reading public will recognize it.

My recommendation: 10 out of 10.

I grew up watching this series in the early 1970s, and I'm happy that someone finally placed them onto DVDs. The set of 6 discs is rather deep, with all the episodes filling the DVDs. It's rather thin on extras. But there are what, 3 hours per disc? And the episodes are in chronological order, from the first to the final episode.

Some of the episodes weren't digitally remastered, as most seem to have been, but heck, when I compare them to the VHS tapes I used to purchase at comic book shows where the tapes were recorded from UHF stations yielding poor reception, I won't complain. I'm just glad they're here. For the price, it's plenty of bang for the buck.

As for the episodes, Ralph Bakshi took over as producer midway through the run of the original episodes (his cartoons can be found about midway through the third DVD). Reading through postings on the net, people have said that Bakshi took over and operations moved from Canada to the US when it was cheaper then to produce the animation in the states... and some staff cutting was done while the episodes were still cranked out at a good pace. Hence, people claim, a good bit of regurgitation of characters and plot lines increased. FYI, the Canadian episodes had Spidey webbing in clear skies, while the Bakshi episodes introduced eerie, watercolored skies.

I'm a visual guy, and love the vibrant tones. Plus, it seems as though the music picked up a lot with the change. I just "dig" the way the music sounded. You can even hear a musician yelp every now and then in some jam sessions. So, I can't go Bakshi bashing. Usually, it's the networks that trim budgets, and Bakshi, I feel, had to make due. He did the best he could, I think, and I bet that if the budget had been fat, Bakshi would have had the animators take time and add depth and detail.

Hell I wasnt even really thought of when this show first came out. I use to watch it on Fox 5 in NYC with my dad when I was 3....that was about 20 years ago. This was definetly the best of the 60s Marvel cartoons. I preferred the first ones, I liked the Bakshi ones, but I liked the shorts because they mostly used the comic villains. The Bakshi ones didnt start using real comic villains towards the end. Fox Family occasionally shows it, but rarely. If you can find videos of this series at comic stores pick them up. This was a great show.

I love superhero films and TV shows and this was a great cartoon.

The animation may not be as great as the mid-1990's cartoon series but the stories were fun. My favourite episodes were "Return of the Flying Dutchman" and "Neptunes Nose Cone."

All of Spidey's main foes were in this-including my favourite Mysterio (the guy with the fishbowl for a helmet). And Peter Parker was so likeable in this show.

One more thing-I just loved the theme tune for this show and it is the best theme tune out of all the Spider-Man cartoon shows.

Will somebody please release EVERY episode onto video sometime?

The animation was not great by present standards, but through the age of 12 or so this series hit the spot. Further, though they leaned heavily on repeating with stock footage, most of it was pretty good and represented the action and strength of the character well. Every once in a while they turned the background sideways or something and achieved a startling effect without using new elements.

I love that Peter Parker sounds like a boy and Spidey sounds like a man. It's the uni, don't you know.

They best part for me is the theme song, one of the best of all time, and all of the incidental music (even the bulk of the special effects). Crime jazzy and dark. All of the episodes had great, swinging musical textures and overtones.

The Bakshi stuff is stellar. Really idiosyncratic and daring. Spidey ends up removed to different dimensions and levels of the earth, battling the supernatural than the super- villainous. The humans are generally pawns caught in a cosmic battle between good and evil and Spidey comes through, natch. The oft-referred to backgrounds (black, dark blue, purples, fiery reds, etc., were awesome, as were the castles and thorny, leafless backdrops (ala Sleeping Beauty). The color schemes were sickening (purple and off greens with splotchy reds and hints of bruisy yellow. Brilliant. The music also took a further leap from poppier crime jazz and soda stand teen rock to psych-out freak rock interludes, darker crime jazz, and even odd sci-fi and kraut-rockish stretches. Watch the first episode on disc 3 or 4, the one with the Mole Men. The music is absolutely incredible.

My two kids, 3 and 5, respectively, love these Spider-Man cartoons. They hold up for me, as well.