Spider-Man (1967) Episode Twelve: Spider-Man Meets Dr. Noah Boddy / The Fantastic Fakir

Spider-Man Meets Dr. Noah Boddy

First Aired: November 25th, 1967

Synopsis: Spider-Man enters the Daily Bugle when his spider sense tells him that something wrong is going on there, which briefly leads to him seeing strange happenings such as doors slamming shut and objects flying through the air. A note left in J. Jonah Jameson's office invites Jonah to an art gallery for the biggest scoop of the year, and is signed by Dr. Noah Boddy. Jonah goes to the gallery, but the police are called by Boddy. Jonah is framed to look as though he was trying to steal a valuable painting by Boddy, as revenge for Jonah not taking his theories about invisibility seriously enough.


After being bailed out of jail by Peter Parker, Jonah is again lured somewhere (in this instance, a jewellery store) and framed for a robbery by Boddy. After being bailed out again, Jonah is lured to the Daily Bugle's printing room and attacked by Boddy. Spider-Man intervenes and throws some ink on the floor, making Boddy leave footprints leading to a warehouse at the docks. While Boddy tries to activate his invisibility machine so he can refresh his invisibility, Spider-Man shoots webbing at him, capturing him for the police.

Review: A bit of a mixed bag, this one, although I'd say that it leans slightly more towards being on the good side of things. This episode's strongest point is by far that it feels less like a Spider-Man adventure and more like a J. Jonah Jameson adventure where the viewpoint is from Spider-Man's perspective. For once it's not Spider-Man being framed for crimes but Jonah, and unlike Spider-Man, he can't just web swing away from the police. It's a decent set-up, and helping it is that Dr. Noah  Boddy feels more like a nuisance than an actual serious villain - Jonah gets out of jail easily enough, and other than that it never really feels like anyone's in any serious danger from him. Whenever Spidey encounters Boddy, it feels like Boddy gets away more because Spidey isn't trying than because he's actually skilled - in the shot above, Spidey breaks out almost immediately after being tied up rather than having to use his webbing in some elaborate way.

Of course, this episode does have its flaws. Boddy declares that he wants Jonah to renounce his dismissal of Boddy's theories, and he apparently decides that the best way to do that is to frame Jonah for crimes and get him sent to jail, before simply physically attacking him. I suppose we can extrapolate that he wants to humiliate Jonah beforehand as revenge, but I don't feel that that makes for an entirely solid explanation. The second time Jonah is framed in particular feels like padding to stretch out the story, and it doesn't offer much in terms of shaking up the plot thus far, confirming this feeling.

Still, there was something about the low-key stakes of this that made it a bit more solid than it would first appear. Sure, we've had Jonah as a victim before, but with a villain whose power is almost mundane, it changes the tone a bit. I think that Dr. Noah Boddy definitely has potential to become either a more menacing villain or a more comical one, and while I doubt we'll get it in this series of Spider-Man, I'd love to see an episode entirely from Jonah's point of view. As it is for now, though, this is a bit meh overall.

The Fantastic Fakir

Synopsis: Spider-Man shows up at a jeweler's convention where the Jihn Jamir Ruby is being displayed, which has been donated by the Maharajah of Jhin Jamir. Spider-Man encounters a fakir trying to steal the ruby, who manages to do so after distracting Spider-Man with the illusion of an elephant. Meeting with J. Jonah Jameson later as Peter Parker, Peter finds out that the Maharajah is angry that the ruby was stolen and refuses to leave his boat until it's found. Jonah sends Peter to get photos of the Maharajah, and he heads to the boat as Spider-Man. While sneaking around, he spots the Maharajah with the Jihn Jamir ruby on his head, right before being captured by the Maharajah's men.

Spider-Man manages to escape, but before swimming away, overhears the fakir saying that they'll steal the Star Sapphire and then leave. Switching to Peter Parker, Peter visits the owner of the Star Sapphire and manages to slip a Spider-Tracer in its case. When it's later stolen, he follows the signal back to the boat, where he discovers that the Maharajah on board is actually a dummy. The fakir appears and explains that the real Maharajah has been delayed until the next day, by which point this boat will have left. Spider-Man gets into a fight with the fakir and manages to defeat him for the police.

Webbing Does Not Work That Way

• When Spider-Man shoots out webbing at the fakir at the start of the episode, the fakir plays his flute, turning the web into a snake shape which is then charmed by the music before dropping limp. In the sake of fairness, I'll give the demerits to the fakir rather than Spidey.
• Spider-Man manages to escape from some ropes he's tied up in on the boat by pressing his web shooter, and having a small, knife-shaped web retract from it. Either that, or he built hidden blades into his web shooters, which is actually pretty badass.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• When Jonah says that he wants Peter to get to the Maharajah's boat to take photos, Betty points out that it won't be possible, as "No one can board a ship without the captain's permission!" I guess she's technically right, but that's surely more an etiquette issue than an actual law.
• Upon Spider-Man swimming away from the boat, the fakir sends some crocodiles after him. Putting aside the question of why they were allowed to be in the water in the first place, wouldn't it be far too cold for them to survive?
• Twice in this episode, Spider-Man doesn't look where he's going and ends up stepping onto, respectively, a floor of coals and a bed of nails. Remember that next time someone claims this Parker guy is smart.
• It's not outright said, but I'm assuming that the reason the fakir wants both the Ruby and Sapphire is so that he can trade between them without having to rely on his friends. 
  Sorry.

Review: As with The One-Eyed Idol, this episode is not exactly what you'd call the best at portraying another culture or race of people. I'm not going to dwell on it too much here, and for what it's worth I think that this episode does a better job of it than The One-Eyed Idol did, but ideally this sort of thing won't crop up in future episodes.

Anyway, much like the story before this one, this one overall amounts to a general, "Eh, it's fine." The Maharajah we first see, who appears to be behind the fakir, turning out to be a fake is a decent twist, and explains why he's supposedly stealing back gems which he himself gave away. Spider-Man switching to Peter Parker so that he can plant a Spider-Tracer on the Star Sapphire is a pretty clever move, and I think that it's one of the few times in the series so far that he's used his Daily Bugle credentials to get something he's needed.

Beyond that though, what else is there to say? The fights are all competent, but it's nothing we haven't seen before, and like the first story of this episode, the villain is defeated when Spider-Man simply shoots webbing over him. The plot itself is fine, but it also feels a bit formulaic. Other than the above two points, the next best thing I can probably say about it is that I'm grateful that we don't have Spider-Man framed for a crime again. Other than that, nothing much to recommend here.