Spider-Man (1967) Episode Seventeen: The Terrible Triumph of Dr. Octopus / Magic Malice

The Terrible Triumph of Dr. Octopus

First Aired: December 30th, 1967

Synopsis: Peter Parker is taking photos of a simulation of a new device called the Nullifier. The Nullifier can stop missiles by flying to them mid-air and blowing them up. As the simulation finishes, Doctor Octopus appears in the window and tries to steal the Nullifier. Although Peter changes to Spider-Man and gets into an intense fight with Doctor Octopus, the villain is able to get away with the Nullifier - but not before Spider-Man gets a Spider-Tracer on him.

When Spider-Man follows the Spider-Tracer, he ends up at the waterfront, in a trap Doctor Octopus has set up for him. He manages to avoid being blown up by it and in the debris of Octopus' base, finds a scrap of cloth. As Peter Parker, he invents a device which can track down Octopus using the fabric, and after a whole night of hoping for the device to get a signal, it gets one. After a big fight with Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man manages to defeat him by webbing his tentacles to a wall with an electric current going through it. The electricity travels through the tentacles and to Octopus, stunning him for long enough to be captured by the police.

Webbing Does Not Work That Way:

• Spider-Man creates a webbing slingshot to use to trigger the trap Doctor Octopus sets up for him on the waterfront. I'll admit it's one of the tamer examples, but it stands out a bit since he could have just thrown a webbing ball into the base instead.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• This episode is based on Amazing Spider-Man #53. In that issue, the Nullifier nullified missiles by shooting out rays which shut down anything electronic or mechanical - sort of like an EMP. A few issues later it was used on Spider-Man, with the unexpected effect that it gave him amnesia.
• Early on in this episode, some soldiers guarding the Nullifier throw tear gas at Doctor Octopus. In the aforementioned comic, when this happened Doctor Octopus spun his tentacles like propellors, thus blowing away the gas. In this episode? He simply laughs and says, "You think a little tear gas can stop me?" Man, this version of Octopus is a badass.

Review: This is probably one of the simplest stories of the show we've had so far - breaking it down to the main points, it essentially goes from a fight to Spider-Man tracking down Doctor Octopus to another fight between the two which ends the episode. Notably, I think that this might be the first story wherein J. Jonah Jameson and the Daily Bugle don't affect the plot (unless you count Peter taking photos of the Nullifier's simulation) - while they're there in some scenes, they essentially boil down to Jonah claiming that Spider-Man is behind everything, as per usual.

In spite of how simple this is, the episode manages to make it all work. The fights feel dynamic and fluid - the initial one goes from Octopus fighting soldiers inside the building to fighting Spider-Man to the two of them dangling out the window, far above the street - and there's some genuinely good moments in there. Spider-Man defeating Octopus through the electrical current isn't something I've ever recalled seeing in a comic book, but it feels like something out of one, and it's a nice logical weakness for Octopus.

Ultimately, while this episode does cheat a little by being based on an issue, it goes to show what some of the more action-heavy episodes of this series could have been. While a show that's nothing but fights wouldn't be very enjoyable, this story goes to show that even if a story is mostly fights, it can be pretty entertaining without needing to resort to ridiculous plot twists or uses of Spider-Man's powers.

Magic Malice

Synopsis: At a theatre, Blackwell the magician is performing a magic show. Unbeknownst to him, the Green Goblin is watching, and muses that with magic, he could perform amazing crimes. He heads off to rob Blackwell's house, but passes by a nearby Spider-Man. Although Spider-Man tries to stop him, he's unsuccessful, and the Goblin gets away. He successfully steals some of Blackwell's magical items and goes on a crime spree using them. The next day at the Daily Bugle, Betty Brant mentions that there's a police report from Blackwell saying that he was robbed, letting Peter Parker know where the Goblin was headed.

That night, Spider-Man waits at Blackwell's house, where the Green Goblin shows up once Blackwell has headed off to do another show. Spider-Man tries to stop the Goblin, but after a fight the Goblin is able to trap Spider-Man in a tube with water filling up inside it with his magic. He goes off to perform more crimes, during which time Spider-Man escapes using his webs. The Green Goblin returns to Blackwell's house and fights Spider-Man once again, but after a short while finds that the magical props no longer work. As it turns out, Blackwell has returned, and has stopped them from working. With the Goblin no longer in possession of magic, Spider-Man is easily able to defeat him.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Does the name Blackwell sound familiar to you? It should, because he previously appeared in Episode Thirteen. It's always surprising when a character original to this show returns, but that doesn't mean that it's not appreciated.

Review: Last time the Green Goblin showed up, I mentioned that even though him doing spells and consorting with spirits was completely out of character for the comics version (well, mostly out of character), he managed to remain ridiculously entertaining for the sheer audacity of everything he was doing. Here, we've got him doing magic once more, but a lot of what I enjoyed last time is gone.

The Goblin is certainly opportunistic to do something like steal the magical props, but once he has them, all he uses them for is simple robberies and a few flashy tricks in the fights with Spider-Man. None of this is horrible or anything (the different rhymes Goblin comes up with as he performs spells are certainly fun), but it feels like it should have been a different character doing this, probably one original to the show. Say what you will about the Green Goblin's last appearance, but trying to perform a big magic ritual to consort with spirits is the sort of big, high-risk-high-reward scheme Norman Osborn would try doing in the comics. Robbing banks and parking meters? That's some petty Silver Age shenanigans, and not the sort that he would try and do.

Still, there is some stuff to enjoy here. Spider-Man gets out of the tube full of water using his webbing in a fairly sensible way, and while Blackwell showing up at the end is a little deus ex machina, I was fine with it, and thought that it was a clever way to end the episode and the Green Goblin's new threat. Still, this episode is ultimately flawed enough that I can't say I recommend it over The Witching Hour.