Spider-Man (1967-1970) Review

"Does whatever a spider can."

Lets continue our Disney/Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary celebration with the first ever animated series centered on Marvel's most iconic arachnid-based superhero; Spider-Man.

The series revolved around teenager Peter Parker, a high school student who develops extraordinary strength and spider-like powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider.
Parker decides to become a crime-fighting, costumed superhero, but must deal with family tragedies, personal problems and the insecurity of youth.
As Spider-Man, Parker risks his life to fight super-powered criminals such as Doctor Octopus, Mysterio and the Green Goblin.
Peter is also a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle, but editor J. Jonah Jameson considers Spider-Man a criminal and writes front-page headlines critical of his activities.

The writing for this show is pretty good as even though it can be pretty cheesy at times, it does capture the spirit and tone of the early Spider-Man comics by having a pretty fun and lighthearted tone with some decent action as well as some decent humor and drama. Also, while Season 1 was more episodic in the way it presents itself by being a usual villain of the week series, it got a bit of a tonal shift when the series started to get more story focused and character driven with Seasons 2 and 3 courtesy of animation legend Ralph Bakshi, who became a key player in the series from this point on, which i think was executed pretty decently despite a few hiccups.
The series does have a good amount of decently solid episodes that are worth checking out such as "The Power of Dr. Octopus", "Where Crawls the Lizard", "The Menace of Mysterio", "Captured by J. Jonah Jameson", "Never Step On a Scorpion", "Sands of Crime", "Kilowatt Kaper", "Horn of the Rhino", "Farewell Performance", "Blueprint for Crime", "The Vulture's Prey", "To Catch a Spider", "Double Identity", "The Origin of Spider-Man", "King-Pinned", "Pardo Presents", "Home", "Blotto", "To Cage a Spider", and "The Big Brainwasher".
The action scenes are pretty decent as despite the limited animation, the action does still manage to be pretty entertaining and provide the series with the same level of fun and excitement from the comics such as Spider-Man taking on one of his villains, rescuing people, getting out of tight spots, and escaping certain death.
The show does manage to have a pretty decently funny and witty sense of humor which does result in a good amount of decent laughs such as Spidey's witty comebacks and remarks, some of the gags, and some of the more humorous banter between the characters.
The series also delves a little bit into the drama of Spider-Man's double life, which even though it doesn't happen often, we do see a decent amount of decently dramatic moments such as Peter dealing with Uncle Ben's death, and wanting to help Aunt May whenever he can.
The animation is an interesting topic to discuss because when the series started, the animation was pretty decent despite being limited due to the budget, and did help give the series it's identity. The characters all have pretty solid designs despite some limited movements, the backgrounds are pretty decent despite being more on the simple side, and there are some decent effects like all the various web powers, explosions, fire, and water. But with Season 2, the animation got a bit of an overhaul as it started to look a bit more realistic in terms of designs and the backgrounds. However, there is a downside to it as there are moments, mostly in Season 3, where it reuses animation from not just this series, but also from another series, "Rocket Robin Hood", which Bakshi also had a hand in producing and directing.
The characters may be more on the simple side, but they are pretty likable and do have some good chemistry, and even a little development.
Spider-Man himself is a very likable protagonist as even though he can be pretty snarky and witty, he does have a very good heart with his sense of justice and willingness to help people anytime he can, and also a good sense of bravery given the villains he usually has to fight.
The supporting characters are also decently likable, and do have some neat dynamics with not only Peter/Spider-Man, but also with each other like the kindhearted Aunt May, the hot-headed J. Jonah Jameson, the lovely Betty Brant, and some of the one-off characters.
The villains Spidey faces off against are mostly pretty solid as even though some of the villains made exclusively for the show can be easily forgettable, the more iconic ones from the comics are good foils for the web-head as they can be pretty cunning and dangerous such as Doctor Octopus, the Lizard, Electro, Mysterio, the Vulture, Dr. Smythe, the Scorpion, Sandman, the Green Goblin, the Rhino, and the Kingpin. Also, there are a couple of villains in the show that are clearly based on more iconic Spider-Man villains like a hunter named Harley Clivendon who wants to hunt Spider-Man, similar to Kraven, and a villain named Charles Cameo who can impersonate anyone flawlessly, similar to the Chameleon. My question for this is; why not just use Kraven and Chameleon?
The voice acting for this series is pretty decent and does lead to some good performances like Paul Soles as Spider-Man and Vulture, Paul Kligman as Jameson, Peg Dixon as Betty and Aunt May, Carl Banas as Scorpion, Len Carlson as Green Goblin, Vern Chapman as Doc Ock, Gillie Fenwick as Lizard and his turn as Vulture, Tom Harvey as Electro, Kingpin, Sandman, and his turn as Doc Ock, Ed McNamara as Rhino, and more.
The music is pretty solid such as the musical score being well composed and really does capture the show's lighthearted and fun tone, and of course there's the theme song which has since become synonymous with the character.

Overall, for Spider-Man's first TV series, it's a pretty decent series to check out if you're interested in watching the wall-crawler's first venture out of the comics. But this would only be the first of many series featuring the web-head.

Cast:
Paul Soles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Ox, Fakir, Vulture
Bernard Cowan as Narrator, Cowboy, Desperado, Dr. Matto Magneto, Dr. Von Schlick, Plutonian Leader
Paul Kligman as J. Jonah Jameson, Fiddler/Otto, Hippie Poet, Lee Patterson
Peg Dixon as Betty Brant, Mrs. Connors, May Parker, Mary Jane Watson
Carl Banas as Scorpion, Charles Cameo, Dr. Manta, Kotep
Len Carlson as Green Goblin, Captain Ned Stacy, Parafino, Bolton, Stan Patterson
Vern Chapman as Doctor Octopus
Gillie Fenwick as Lizard/Dr. Curtis Conners, Vulture, Doctor Smartyr, Pardo, Plotter
Max Ferguson as Fifth Avenue Phantom, The Executioner of Paris
Tom Harvey as Electro, Doctor Octopus, Farley Stillwell, Kingpin, Sandman, Baron von Rantenraven, Director, Dr. Atlantean, Master Vine, Mugs Riley, Clive
Jack Mather as Jesse James
Ed McNamara as Rhino, Blackbeard, Vulcan
Frank Perry as Captain, James Boothe
Henry Ramer as Henry Smythe, Dr. Noah Boddy, Grandini the Mystic, Lee Patterson, Mr. Flintridge
Claude Ray as Charles Cameo
Billie Mae Richards as Billy Connors
Alfie Scopp as Jewelry Store Clerk, Stan Patterson
Chris Wiggins as Mysterio, Blackwell the Magician, Harley Clivendon, Boomer, Infinata
J. Frank Willis as Cyrus Flintridge III

Crew:
Directed by Grant Simmons, Clyde Geronimi, Sid Marcus, and Ralph Bakshi
Written by Bill Danch, Al Bertino, Phil Babet, Dick Cassarino, and Dick Robbins
Produced by Robert L. Lawrence, Ralph Bakshi, and Ray Patterson
Music by Paul Francis Webster, Bob Harris, and Ray Ellis

Misc.
Spider-Man created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Production companies: Grantray-Lawrence Animation, Krantz Films, Marvel Comics Group
Original Networks: ABC (Seasons 1 and 2), Syndication (Season 3)
Air Date: September 9, 1967 – June 14, 1970