Spider-Man (1981): After Watching

The 1981 Spider-Man cartoon is often overlooked, appearing as more of a footnote in comparison to its much more popular sibling, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Having watched the entirety of the series, is it fair? Does Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends hold more of the spotlight because it's genuinely better, or is it unfairly taking attention away from this hidden gem?

Well, I can't answer that, because I haven't seen Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends yet. What I can answer, however, is how this show compares with the previous series, which first aired in 1967. For a start, the exclusion of episodes made up of recycled animation - both from the show itself and other shows - feels like a breath of fresh air. I don't want to be too harsh on the 1967 series, but going into this and knowing that I'm not getting weak animation is an absolute blessing. Something else I was a big fan of was that the 1981 series was experimenting more with the wider Marvel Universe, showing off unexpected heroes and villains from other series. On the downside, I would have been keen to see an episode or two of the 1981 series directly adapting a comic book issue, as happened with several of the stronger 1967 series episodes.

So, the show's got quite a bit going for it when comparing to the previous series. How does it stand up when we're not doing a comparison? Unfortunately, a lot of the episodes are forgettable, or mediocre at best. A lot of them fall into that category of, "Well, it got a lot of stuff right, but it also got a lot of stuff wrong," and so there were few that I really strongly enjoyed. To the cartoon's credit, this might be more due to what was expected from the story of a cartoon at the time, and I can see what the creators were aiming for a lot of the time. The attempt at an ongoing story arc involving Doctor Doom, while ultimately not up to my standards, is encouraging, and I'm glad that the creators tried.

I didn't talk about it much in my reviews, but one of the most fascinating things I found about this show was the character of Mortimer, J. Jonah Jameson's nephew, who is introduced as a rival to Peter, and then proceeds to do absolutely nothing. Who is this character, and why was he created? This feels weird to type, but I'd love to see him show up in a future Spider-Man work, with his character more fleshed out and making more appearances overall. There's potential in him, if you ask me.

With all of the above in mind, I'm going to finish off my thoughts on this series with a list of the top five and the worst five episodes, so that you, the intelligent reader, know what to look forwards to and what to avoid if you decide to check out this series.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Twenty-Six: Under the Wizard's Spell

Under the Wizard's Spell

First Aired: March 6th, 1982

Synopsis: Spider-Man is accused by a policeman of being behind some trouble some roller blading youths committed, but is unexpectedly bailed out by Medusa of the Inhumans, who is in New York for an unspecified reason. Spider-Man laments that she doesn't have time for him when she leaves. Medusa meets up with the Wizard, who first asks her to help him commit crimes, and when she refuses, attaches a collar to her neck that lets him control her. Medusa and the Wizard soon steal a rare metal at an exhibition Peter Parker is conveniently attending, and he changes to Spider-Man to stop them. Although Medusa saves Spider-Man when he's nearly crushed to death, she nevertheless gets away with the Wizard. When Spider-Man and Medusa meet up in Central Park later, she's evasive when Spider-Man asks what she was doing with the Wizard, and convinces Spider-Man to meet her at a water tower later, something the Wizard plans to exploit.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Twenty-Five: The Return of Kingpin

The Return of Kingpin

First Aired: February 27th, 1982

Synopsis: Spider-Man saves a man from being mugged, and afterwards is approached by a man named Hal Hunter, who claims to represent a talent agency that wants to hire Spider-Man. Spider-Man is reluctant to do so, but after Aunt May says that Spider-Man is only in it for the money and being unable to afford a holiday to Hawaii for it, he changes his mind and goes to Hunter, not knowing that Kingpin is behind Hunter and that this is all a scheme of his. Spider-Man's first task for Hunter is to take photos of a museum exhibit, but unbeknownst to him his camera records the security systems at the museum, and it's robbed that night.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Twenty-Four: Wrath of the Sub-Mariner

Wrath of the Sub-Mariner

First Aired: February 20th, 1982

Synopsis: Spider-Man tries to do what he can to get Silvermane and Man-Mountain Marko, criminals, arrested, but he can't as they're only wanted for crimes on the West Coast. Meanwhile, the Kingpin's head scientist has invented a formula which melts metal, allowing Kingpin to break into what vaults he wants. The waste produced in creating the formula is dumped into the ocean, leading to Namor's cousin Namorita getting sick and falling into a coma. Namor starts attacking the surface world in revenge, but is soon knocked out by the very pollution he sought to destroy. Spider-Man helps him recover and gives him an encouraging speech, leading to Namor both owing Spider-Man a favour and going to see J. Jonah Jameson to use his newspaper to stop pollution. At the same time, Spider-Man goes after Silvermane, who's meeting with Kingpin, Hammerhead, and Caesar Cicero to discuss a crime alliance on a yacht.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Twenty-Three: The Vulture has Landed

The Vulture has Landed

First Aired: February 13th, 1982

Synopsis: Spider-Man fails to save a scientist from being kidnapped by the Vulture, and shortly afterwards finds from J. Jonah Jameson that Vulture has been kidnapping several scientists. J. Jonah Jameson wants Peter Parker to get in touch with Harry Osborn for a quote about all of this. When Peter goes to see Harry, he's temporarily lost his civilian clothes due to some window cleaners removing the webbing he'd hidden them in, and so he first of all sneaks in and grabs some of Harry's clothes. Vulture appears at this point and, mistaking Peter for Harry, kidnaps him and takes him to his blimp in the sky. The other scientists have been forced to help Vulture, including making him robotic birds, and Vulture forces "Harry" to help him make his blimp invisible. With Peter's only other option being to be dropped out of the blimp, he agrees to.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Twenty-Two: Arsenic and Aunt May

Arsenic and Aunt May

First Aired: February 6th, 1982

Synopsis: Spider-Man helps the police catch a cat burglar, who is taken to prison and placed in the same cell as the Chameleon. The burglar turns out to be the cousin of Uncle Ben's killer, and tells the Chameleon this as well as what he knows of Spider-Man's origin. Between these facts and the Chameleon's knowledge of Peter Parker, it gives him an idea to get rid of Spider-Man. He escapes from prison and then uses disguises to manipulate Aunt May into seeing a spirit medium, the Great Mentarr, who is himself in disguise. Using special effects, he tricks Aunt May into thinking that she's seeing the dead Uncle Ben, who urges her to kill Spider-Man since it's his fault he's dead. Chameleon also gives Aunt May an amulet which he can use to send her more messages from Uncle Ben.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Twenty-One: Countdown to Doom

Countdown to Doom

First Aired: January 30th, 1982

Synopsis: A rocket launch is about to happen which will place Doctor Doom's laser cannon from Canon of Doom into space. Peter Parker is in attendance, and when a hose pumping liquid nitrogen into the rocket comes loose, he changes to Spider-Man and saves the day. Unbeknownst to him, Doctor Doom is watching the launch, and is secretly grateful to Spider-Man for allowing the launch to continue. Once the rocket is launched into space, Doom takes control of it remotely, and launches the laser from space at some volcanoes, causing them to erupt. The impact knocks Earth out of its orbit, and Doom blackmails the world into making him the absolute ruler since only he can save everyone from the new weather patterns caused by the new orbit.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Twenty: The Web of Nephilia

The Web of Nephilia

First Aired: January 23rd, 1982

Synopsis: While Spider-Man saves some people from a fire one day, a woman named Penny nearby takes a sample of his webbing, and tricks him into nicking his finger on a trick pen so that she gets a blood sample. She takes the webbing and the blood to her scientist boyfriend, Doctor Bradley Shaw, and gets him to start researching it. Shortly afterwards, after being goaded by Penny, Shaw uses his research to try and replicate Spider-Man's powers, but unbeknownst to him, Penny sabotages the experiment, turning him into a half-spider, half-human monster. Meanwhile, there's a blood drive at the Daily Bugle, but Peter is making excuses not to donate since his blood is radioactive. J. Jonah Jameson grows angry when he hears this, having donated himself, and tells Peter not to come to the Daily Bugle until he donates. Shortly afterwards, Shaw, now calling himself Nephilia, is goaded into attacking Spider-Man, and after capturing him in webbing, tosses him away, telling him to beware his power.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Nineteen: The Doom Report

The Doom Report

First Aired: January 16th, 1982

Synopsis: The Latverian man Johan, who escaped Latveria in Canon of Doom, manages to make his way to New York, where he meets the Latverian Underground. They recommend that he go to the Daily Bugle to expose the conditions in Latveria, but after he leaves we find out that they're actually spies working for Doctor Doom. While J. Jonah Jameson doesn't listen to Johan's story, Peter Parker nearby does, and he takes Johan to his house to interview him. After the interview, Betty Brant assists in typing up the interview, but is captured by Doom's spies until Peter frees her as Spider-Man. They get out the story to newspapers other than the Bugle, and as a result the UN decide to bring Doom to trial. At the same time, Johan gets on a plane to return home, but Peter suspects something is off, and accompanies him as Spider-Man. He's soon proven to be correct when Doom hijacks their plane.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Eighteen: The Capture of Captain America

The Capture of Captain America

First Aired: January 9th, 1982

Synopsis: Spider-Man sees a billboard about Captain America, and finds out shortly afterwards as Peter Parker that J. Jonah Jameson is a big fan. Jonah makes Peter watch a video recapping Cap's origin, and then declares that he's going to run a celebration called Captain America Day. On the day of the actual event, Jonah is knocked out and replaced with a disguised Red Skull, who gets into a fight with Cap when he arrives. Peter changes to Spider-Man to try and help, but only ends up getting in the way. Although Spider-Man's able to get a spider-tracer on Cap's shield, he's unable to stop the Red Skull from capturing Captain America. The real J. Jonah Jameson claims that Spider-Man did it on purpose, and riles up the crowd into hating Spider-Man.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Seventeen: Canon of Doom

Canon of Doom

First Aired: January 2nd, 1982

Synopsis: In Latveria, Doctor Doom's assistant Boris opposes the way Doom treats his citizens, but Doom doesn't listen. He detonates some explosions around the world, which leads to a fault line being created under New York. Shortly afterwards, Doom heads to New York, where he is staying with J. Jonah Jameson. Peter Parker, meanwhile, wants to send his sick Aunt May to Florida to stay with a cousin and get better, but can't afford to. He reads in the newspaper about the new fault line, but it's mostly a theory at this point and scoffed at by scientists. When Peter hears from Betty Brant and his best friend Robbie Robertson that Jonah is currently hosting Doom, he heads over there almost immediately, certain that Doom is up to something. He's correct, as Doom is using a laser cannon to bore into the earth below Jonah's estate, right into the new fault. Peter tries to stop the laser as Spider-Man, but before he can it triggers an earthquake, and Spider-Man falls into a fissure in the ground.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Sixteen: The Unfathomable Professor Gizmo

The Unfathomable Professor Gizmo

First Aired: December 26th, 1981

Synopsis: The villainous Professor Gizmo has a plan to raise the sunken Spanish ship, El Conquistador, from the ocean, so that he can acquire the gold on it, but will need Spider-Man's help since only Spider-Man can survive pressure at those levels. Shortly afterwards, Professor Gizmo attacks a yacht J. Jonah Jameson is hosting a party on, hoping to draw out Spider-Man. It's unsuccessful since Peter Parker - who is on the yacht - lost his mask in the subway. Professor Gizmo next steals a plane from the Smithsonian, before controlling machinery all over New York to rob several banks. While J. Jonah Jameson of course thinks that Spider-Man is working with Gizmo, Robbie Robertson - Peter's best friend - defends him. Professor Gizmo then announces via blimp that he'll trade all of the loot he's stolen for Spider-Man.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Fifteen: The Incredible Shrinking Spider-Man

The Incredible Shrinking Spider-Man

First Aired: December 19th, 1981

Synopsis: A scientist, Professor Norton, demonstrates a shrinking ray he's invented to assorted press reporters, including members of the Daily Bugle. In the middle of the demonstration, a villain named the Gadgeteer, who was seen earlier as an evil-looking cleaner, shows up and manages to steal the shrinking ray. When Peter Parker changes to Spider-Man and confronts him, he ends up getting shrunken down to tiny size. The Gadgeteer then gets away, while Spider-Man has to deal with a cat in the laboratory that wants to paw at him. He gets away and tries to call Aunt May, but his voice is so quiet that she can't hear him.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Fourteen: The Hunter and the Hunted

The Hunter and the Hunted

First Aired: December 12th, 1981

Synopsis: In spite of the objections of Betty Brant and Robbie Robertson (Peter Parker's best friend),  J. Jonah Jameson has hired Kraven the Hunter to capture Zabu, Ka-Zar's sabretooth tiger, so that he can be a mascot for the Daily Bugle. Kraven is successful in doing so and leaves the Savage Land with Zabu, delivering Zabu to J. Jonah Jameson once he's back in New York. Unbeknownst to him, Ka-Zar saw him leaving the Savage Land, and manages to make his way to New York using a combination of flying a pterodactyl and stowing aboard a plane. Once he's in the streets, he runs around causing chaos in his search for Zabu. He's paranoid enough that when Spider-Man shows up to talk to him, Ka-Zar assumes that Spider-Man is there to stop him, and attacks Spider-Man.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Thirteen: The Sidewinder Strikes!

The Sidewinder Strikes

First Aired: December 5th, 1981

Synopsis: Spider-Man stops a herd of rampaging bulls in the streets of New York, which he finds out are there due to an upcoming rodeo in Madison Square Garden. Shortly afterwards, some solid gold spurs belonging to Wild Willy Wilkins, a collector of all things Western and the owner of the rodeo, are transported via the subway. Peter Parker is there as part of a human interest story when the villain Sidewinder attacks the subway with his gang on flying robotic horses. Sidewinder temporary gets away with the solid gold spurs, but Spider-Man manages to get them back and deliver them to Wilkins, who declares that Spider-Man will be a guest of honour at the rodeo.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Twelve: The A-B-C's of D-O-O-M

The A-B-C's of D-O-O-M

First Aired: November 28th, 1981

Synopsis: Doctor Doom is in a mountain fighting a bald man named Goron, who can shoot lasers from his eyes and teleport small objects. Doom stops the fight by proposing that he give Goron control over half of the world, which Goron agrees to. Shortly afterwards, world leaders are invited to Latveria to see Doctor Doom's latest invention - gigantic fruit and vegetables which can help solve world hunger. Although the American ambassador is suspicious of Doom, Goron shoots some sort of laser from his eyes at him which gets him on Doom's side. Later, Goron gives a public demonstration of the giant food which wows the audience - with the exception of Spider-Man, who is in attendance. When Spider-Man sneaks backstage, Goron has Spider-Man attacked by giant mushrooms, which he claims eat insects.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Eleven: Triangle of Evil

Triangle of Evil

First Aired: November 21st, 1981

Synopsis: Peter Parker finds out that he and Aunt May are running low on money to pay their bills, but while he's trying to work out what to do about it, sees an announcement on TV that a diamond and urn are going to be stolen. While stopping the robberies, he ends up causing a lot of collateral damage that he's billed for. He sees a reality show which he can go on which would get him the money to pay the bills - both personal and as Spider-Man - but unbeknownst to him, the villainous Stuntman, who was behind the robberies, has arranged with the reality show that he and Spider-Man will compete against each other. Stuntman used to be a stuntman who was robbing the studio he was working for until he was caught by Spider-Man. When he was running away, a bolt of lightning struck him, fusing the costume he was wearing at the time to his body, so now he wants revenge on Spider-Man.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Ten: Revenge of the Green Goblin

Revenge of the Green Goblin

First Aired: November 14th, 1981

Synopsis: Norman Osborn is in a devastating train crash, but after emerging from the wreck, has a grin on his face. A bit later, Peter Parker and Betty Brant are at a university Halloween party, when Peter's spider-sense tingles. He goes to the science lab, where he finds the Green Goblin, who activates a freeze ray which prevents him from moving. The Goblin reveals that he's here since he had a hidden costume here, and then uses a device to project his thoughts and show his origin and some previous fights Spider-Man and he had, including their final one, where he lost his memory. He reveals that the train crash from the start of the episode restored his memory, including that of Spider-Man's real identity: Peter Parker.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Nine: Carnival of Crime

Carnival of Crime

First Aired: November 7th, 1981

Synopsis: Spider-Man has committed several robberies recently, although Peter Parker notes that in spite of what the news thinks, he didn't do so, and that he'll have to clear his name soon. While Peter leaves for the carnival with Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson assigns his nephew Mortimer to cover a gold shipment which is coming in, warning him that Spider-Man might rob it. While Peter, Aunt May, and Betty Brant are all at the carnival, Peter's spider-sense tingles, and he sneaks off to investigate as Spider-Man. He finds that the Circus of Crime are present at the carnival, and are apparently responsible for the robberies he's supposedly been committing, using the Ringmaster's hypno-gas to convince people that Spider-Man was behind their robberies.

Spider-Man (1981) Episode Eight: The Doctor Prescribes Doom

The Doctor Prescribes Doom

First Aired: October 31st, 1981

Synopsis: Doctor Doom has a new plan to take over the world - he's created robot duplicates of the members of the United Nations and will use them to vote himself in as the ruler. When it's announced that he'll be coming to New York, J. Jonah Jameson insists that he and Peter Parker go along to the UN to see him. Whilst Peter sneaks off to take photos as Spider-Man, Jonah is, unbeknownst to Peter, also replaced with a robot. To Peter's shock, Doom is voted in as ruler of the world by the UN. Peter is perplexed by this, even more so the following day when the Jonah robot acts uncharacteristically kind to him, but manages to work out what's happened when a lecturer of his at uni mentions robots.