Episodes
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
History
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is an animated series produced by Marvel Productions Ltd. which starred the Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and Iceman whilst also introducing the character Firestar to complete the group. Together, they fought against various villains. Originally broadcast on NBC as a Saturday morning cartoon, the series ran for three seasons, from September 12, 1981 to September 10, 1983.
This animated series was noticeably more popular than the solo Spider-Man animated series that aired around the same time. It has also become more well known in recent years, thanks in part to syndication on the Jetix programming block. As of 2006, as with the majority of the other Disney-acquired Marvel Comics animated series, there are no plans to release the show to DVD. It was released in Region 2 in late 2008.
Storyline[]
Peter Parker (Spider-Man), Bobby Drake (Iceman) and Angelica Jones (Firestar) are all college students at Empire State University. After working together to defeating the Beetle and recovering the "Power Booster" he stole from Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) the trio decide to make the team-up permanent as the "Spider-Friends." They live together in Peter's Aunt May's home with her and a pet dog Ms. Lion. Together, the superheroes battle various supervillains.
The more memorable stories from the series included various team-ups with other characters from the Marvel Universe. These included Captain America, Iron Man, and the "All-New" lineup of the X-Men, the latter of which made their animated debut on this program (the original line-up of X-Men once appeared in a Sub-Mariner episode from the 1960s).
Comics[]
N.B.C. and Marvel Comics released a comic book adaption of the TV show in December, 1981 (Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends #1). Which features the Green Goblin as the main villain.
To take advantage of the anniversary of the show, Marvel released Spider-Man Family: Amazing Friends #1, during August 9, 2006. The comic starts with an all new story, Opposites Attack, which is officially set before Web of Spider-Man #75. After that is a Mini Marvel tale titled Spider-Man And His Amazing Co-Workers, the word Friends in the title is crossed off. Both stories are written by Sean McKeever.
The rest of the one shot reprints Untold Tales of Spider-Man #2 and Spider-Man 2099 Vol 1 2.
The Triumph of the Green Goblin![]
In December, 1981 a comic book was released for the new Saturday Morning Cartoon TV Show named SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS. In the comic Norman was coming back to New York but until his helicopter crashes and made him remember who he really was, the Green Goblin. With his new devilish plans, he sets off and kidnaps his neise Mona Osborn at the Halloween Costume Party at the Empire State Univerity Center. The Green Goblin needs Mona to test his serum, in which he would plant it into the City Reservoir. For in due time the whole city will be covered with Goblin freaks. So Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar teams up to stop the diabolical Green Goblin before it's too late.
Opposites Attack![]
While this story isn't in continuity with the cartoon, it is filled with various injokes to aspects of the show, such as Firestar refering to Wolverine as an Austrailian, due to his voice actor on an episode.
Iceman recently returned, to the X-Men, but is taking a break from the team. He and Spider-Man are saving the arcades from Videoman, and are joined by Firestar shortly. Spider-Man is determined to play matchmaker for them (Mistaking their quarreling for affection). He succeeds for awhile, but they break up after another encounter with Videoman. For trying to interfere, Iceman and Firestar turn their attention towards Spidey. As a result, Peter ends up with a cold at the end of the story.
Spider-Man And His Amazing Co-Workers[]
The story has Jameson assigning Spidey some new partners to help deliver his papers, Bobby/Iceman and Angel/Firestar. Bobby and Angel transform, despite already being in costume. Due to their better capabilities, they deliver the papers at record time. So Spidey decides to slack off, by claiming he is fighting Doc Ock. During which, he plays a video game starring the Hulk. One of the bosses, being Ms. Lions. Bobby and Angel, quit when they decide they want more excitement. Hence they pair up with Hawkeye.
Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends![]
Full Cast
Voice credits[]
- Dan Gilvezan - Peter Parker/Spider-Man
- Frank Welker - Bobby Drake/Iceman, Flash Thompson, Ms. Lion
- Kathy Garver - Angelica Jones/Firestar
- June Foray - Aunt May
- Dick Tufeld - Narrator (Season 1)
- Stan Lee - Narrator (Seasons 2 & 3)
- William Woodson - J. Jonah Jameson
- William Marshall - Tony Stark/Iron Man; Juggernaut
- Chris Latta - Sandman
- Dennis Marks - The Green Goblin
- Michael Bell - Doctor Octopus
Trivia
- The makers of the show had originally intended the stars to be Spider-Man, Iceman and the Human Torch, but legal issues about the rights to the Human Torch character (which had also plagued Marvel once before for the New Fantastic Four cartoon led to the Human Torch being replaced by a new character, Firestar, who had similar powers, but was a mutant like Iceman. In addition, while the Human Torch is male, Firestar is female. She has since become a part of the mainstream Marvel Universe.
- In a flashback episode, it is revealed that Tony Stark (Iron Man) rewarded Spider-Man for saving his life by secretly funding the hidden computer systems which are present in Peter Parker's bedroom.
- Ms. Lion was actually Firestar's dog, as Angelica introduced Peter to the dog before anyone knew who anyone else's secret identity was. However, Aunt May ended up taking care of the dog most the time, with Angelica leading the busy life of a superhero and college student. Ms. Lion actually saved the day in the episode "Seven Little Superheroes" where The Chameleon was the main enemy, since she was able to distinguish the villain from the people she knew. This episode was also notable for including other Marvel heroes, such as Doctor Strange, Namor, and Shanna the She-Devil
- Some of the sound effects used originated from Universal Television's Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers.
- The pilot episode was adapted into a comic book, which was the first (albeit non-canonical) appearance of Firestar in that medium.
- In their civilian identities, Peter Parker resembled the same character in the comics, while Angelica Jones and Bobby Drake both resemble Peter's friends, Mary Jane Watson, and Flash Thompson. Flash Thompson was also featured in the TV series, but had brown hair instead of blonde.
- Kitty Pryde appeared as Sprite in "The X-Men Adventure" episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends which guest-starred the X-Men (one of four, including cameos).
- The show was somewhat adapted in the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book when Spider-Man, Ice-Man and the Human Torch lived with Aunt May and continued to fight crime.
See Also
Links and References
- Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends on IMDB.com
- Ultimate Spider-Man
- Spider-Friends.com (fan site)
- Spider-Man Crawl Space: All Spidey, All The Time
- Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends guide at TV.com