Spider-Man (1967)

This page is dedicated to Stan Lee (December 28, 1922-November 12, 2018), Steve Ditko (November 2, 1927-June 29, 2018) and Paul Soles (Spider-Man's voice actor, 1931-2021). May these legends rest in peace.

Spider-Man is an animated series created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, which first time premiered in 1967. It's based on the homonym superhero's comics and it's the first Spider-Man series ever made.

Spider-Man (1967)
"Look out! Here comes Spider-Man!"'
Running Time: 25 Minutes (Each episode has 15 minutes stories for Season 1 and 3, while Season 2 was only 25 minutes) Release Date: September 9, 1967-June 14, 1970 Network(s): ABC Syndication Created by: Stan Lee Steve Ditko Distributed by: Krantz Films, Inc. Seasons: 3 Episodes: 52

Why It Does Whatever a Spider Can

1. It launched Stan Lee's career to the animation sector for the first time ever, and the impact left contributed so much to the Spider-Man universe and the superheroes series above all.
2. Incredible and timeless theme song which may you'll remember after having heard it at least one time.
3. Though not perfect, the animation is decent and can have some fluid movements here and there. Furthermore, it's a big step than previous shows which had low frame-rate animation.
4. Spidey here is a fascinating and brave superhero who tries every time to sacrifice his life and he does a wonderful job saving people's life, and his normal alter ego, Peter Parker, is clever and friendly.
5. Many Spider-Man's comic villains are featured here, like Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, Chameleon, Lizard, Vulture, Electro and Rhino, and both are awesome.
6. Good soundtrack that fairly adapts to the scenes in which is played.
7. Great episodes like:
   • "The Power of Dr. Octopus" (a good way to start the series.)
   • "The Menace of Mysterio"
   • "Horn of the Rhino"
   • "Fifth Avenue Phantom"
   • "Night of the Villains"
   • "The Spider and the Fly"
   • "The Terrible Triumph of Dr. Octopus'"
   • "Double Identity" (gave us the double Spider-Man meme and it's also the highest rated episode on IMDb.)
   • "Trick or Treachery" (ends season 1 with a high note.)
   • "The Origin of Spiderman" (an incredible way to start season 2 and probably the best episode of the show.)
   • "Swing City"
   • "Criminals in the Clouds"
   • "The Evil Sorcerer"
   • "Cold Storage"
   • "To Cage a Spider" (oncludes season 2 decently.)
   • "The Winged Thing" (starts season 3 decently.)
8. Several funny scenes that became excellent memes such like Spider-Man encounters and points to his clone in "Double Identity", which ended to be parodied in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse both, as well as "To Catch a Spider" gave us the "Me and the Boys" one.
9. Funny lines like "Wallopin' websnappers!" and "Uh, what did you say?"

Qualities That Don't Do What a Spider Can

1. The animation, while decent for the time it came, aged very, very poorly. Furthermore, there appear many animation errors.
2. The voice acting can be unstable enough.
3. While is far to appear ugly, the third season is far considered the weakest among the three ones, due to having more bad episodes and a worsen writing.
4. Have been aired some dismal episodes, especially in season 3, like:
   • "Sky Harbor"
   • "The Big Brainwasher"
   • "Up from Nowhere"
   • "Rollarama" (being the worst.)
   • "Trip to Tomorrow" (which wasn't a good way to end the series, since it's just a bottle episode.)

Reception

This first Spider-Man series got mixed-positive reviews among critics and general audience. However many fans critically acclaimed it for being one the milestones of the franchise. Has a 7,3 on IMDb and a user score of 7.4 on Metacritic.

Trivia

1. The end credits of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse appears a sequence that mocks this show.
2. It has memorable moments, like "the two Spider-Men meeting" and "me and the boys".