Martinex1: Back in 1981, NBC aired a Saturday morning cartoon that would have caught any Bronze Age comic book lover's attention...Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends!
The original concept was for Spidey to team up with fire and ice powered heroes, Iceman and the Human Torch. But much like what kept the Torch out of the revamped Fantastic Four show a few years earlier, Johnny Storm was also unavailable for Amazing Friends. To resolve the issue on the FF show, the cartoon introduced Herbie the robot. For Amazing Friends, Firestar was created.
Do you think Angelica Jones looks like Mary Jane Watson? There are rumors that that was intentional but there has never been official confirmation.
Firestar appeared on the television show first; her introduction in comic books was two-fold. She of course appeared in the one-shot adaptation of the first episode of the series.
The main cast consisted of the heroes, Aunt May and her dog named Ms. Lion.
Although, the series did create new and less memorable characters, some of Marvel's elite villains showed up as well.
The series was not as memorable as the early Marvel cartoons; it had its flaws. One of my favorite gaffes is from the episode that explores Iceman's past. As the story focuses on the original X-Men, take note of the below scene... there are two Cyclops in the picture!
So what do you think? Did you watch the show? Did you enjoy the characters, plots, and guest stars? Or was it just typical early 80's fodder? Did you watch or were you too old for cartoons in 1981? And how about Firestar; did her entry into comics do her justice, or was her limited exposure in the New Warriors just enough? We'd like to get your impression of this Spidey cartoon from back in the Bronze Age. Cheers!
9 comments:
Really enjoy the post.
I never saw the cartoon as far as I know.
But, I really dig the pix above of the Beetle (what a blast from the Marvel past!) and Sun Fire.
I don't know if you plan a blog on the Spidey cartoon from the mid-90s? I did manage to see a bunch of those and I thought they were superb and true to the source material.
I echo CH’s thoughts about other Marvel Cartoons.
But there was a season of 90s Fantastic Four that was just about a perfect adaptation of the classic Lee/Kirby run that should also be put into a post or two.
It was a fun cartoon, which I especially enjoyed when the guest stars from the MU appeared. One collectible that showed up from the fast-food chain Hardee's was a set of 3D Theatre kid's meal boxes that featured Spidey and His Amazing Friends, with 3D glasses.
Check out this link: https://www.retroist.com/2013/09/03/1983-hardees-marvel-theater-commercial/
I've still got all of mine.
As to Anonymous' mention of the 1994/95 FF cartoon ... the first season was embarrassingly atrocious, but the second season was lots of fun, with not just Lee/Kirby, but John Byrne storylines. Definitely made up for the bad of the first season. Wish it would've made it to a 3rd.
Fond memories of this series, loved seeing heroes and villains that had never been seen in cartoon form before. "7 Little Superheroes" was a good episode, with guest stars galore!
The series kind of straddled my growing up years where in the first season I was full-on excited by the new cartoon, whereas by the mid-80s I was enjoying it on a pretty ironic, cheesy level. I still loved the variety of characters, but it was funny to look at some of the odd choices in their depictions, especially my favourite heroes, the X-Men (who can forget Wolverine's bizarre pseudo-Australian accent...and then there's Thunderbird turning into a bear).
But yes, any Marvel on TV was cool by me!
-david p.
I don't remember this show, but I always thought Firestar was cool in the comics, first with the New Warriors and later when she and Vance joined the Avengers (though I think they ended up sidelining her because her powers were sterilizing her and she (eventually) wanted to have a baby--or something like that).
Nice remembrance of the show, Marti! I always made an effort to catch it, as seeing Marvel on tv (and especially the webslinger) was a big treat then. Admittedly I much preferred the 1967 Spider-Man series (more action- the powers-that-be drastically limited the fighting on 70's and 80's cartoons). Nonetheless "Amazing Friends" was a fun show, and the array of guest stars was a plus...
I hesitate in my typing since my main point is not germane to the topic at hand, but then again, when have I ever been "on point"?
I will say this, though: "The Pawns of Kingpin", the pawns are on a checker board, black and red, and not a chess board, black and white.
Now to what got me off my track...
I watched the Spider-Man cartoon from the 90s. I liked it, really I did. However, it was in this cartoon that MJ and her family lived next to Peter, his Uncle Ben and his Aunt May. MJ's aunt was totally written out, totally. MJ saw Peter dressed as Spider-Man crawl back in his window. She was his first girlfriend, and THE CLONE!!! I know, deep breath, calm down... but parts of that I couldn't stand. Then when the first Spider-Man movies came out, it was MJ as the first girlfriend and so on and so forth...
(Have you seen her?
So fine and pretty. Fooled me with her style and ease.
And I feel her from across the room.
Yes, it's love in the third degree.
Ooh, baby, baby.
Won'tcha turn your head my way?
Ooh, baby, baby.
Come on, take a chance.
You're old enough to dance the night away.
Oh, come on, baby, dance the night away.
A live wire.
Barely a beginner, but just watch that lady go.
She's on fire, 'cause dancing gets her higher than anything else she knows.
Ooh, baby, baby.
Won'tcha turn your head my way?
Ooh, baby, baby.
Well, don't skip romance, 'cause you're old enough to dance the night away.
Oh, come on, baby, dance the night away.
Dance the night away.
Dance, dance, dance the night away).
This show was ahead of its time in a way. After all, Spidey and his friends received a high tech, crime fighting upgrade from none other than Tony Stark himself. Who would have thought that nearly 40 years later, the same concept would be developed into a feature length movie.
I LOVED this show as a kid, but when I tried to re-watch some of it on Netflix a couple of years back I was severely disappointed.
Some fun facts I remember:
- Tony Stark built the Amazing Friends their secret computer room (how he did that without Aunt May noticing is a real feat!).
- The X-Men episode featured Juggernaut attacking as the X-Men reminisced, which was a common narrative device in the comics with those characters.
- Ms. Lion, despite his name, is a male dog, and was part of the Pet Avengers in the comics (not Bronze Age, but we should have a post on them - or on super-pets in general).
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