This is it, true believers! Make Mine Marvel part 2 the Marvel Productions Saturday morning cartoon edition!



In 1981 I was four years old and the most important thing on television to me was Spider-Man on NBC on Saturday mornings.

SPIDER-MAN cartoon 1981 26 episodes 

With classic Amazing Spider-Man bad guys like Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, the Lizard, the Sandman, Mysterio, the Chameleon, and the Vulture for our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to fight. But also an odd assortment of villains usually reserved for other heroes to battle like Captain America's nemesis the Red Skull, the X-Mens' arch rival Magneto, and Daredevil's main foe the Kingpin. Oddly enough the adversary that fights our web-head buddy the most is the sworn enemy of the Fantastic Four, Dr. Doom. As ever, a constant thorn in Spidey's side is J. Jonah Jameson the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle.

I would sit in my Spider-Man underoos wrapped in a blanket eating Choco Crunch, Pac-Man, Body Buddies, and Donkey Kong cereal watching my favorite web-slinger foil the dastardly plans of the evil villains every Saturday morning.

 

One day I found that Marvel Productions decided to add two new heroes to the mix, adding Iceman from the original X-Men and Firestar, a brand new character that debuted on the show. They still played re-runs of the solo SPIDER-MAN show as well. The new show was called SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS. It used to be that Spidey was the amazing one but now he was sharing the title with his friends.

SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS cartoon 1981-1983

Season 1 1981 had 13 episodes

In season 1 Bobby Drake the Iceman, Angelica Jones the Firestar, and Peter Parker the Spider-Man all live with Aunt May while attending Empire State University. They also had a dog Ms. Lion. While sitting in their pad with an Incredible Hulk poster on the wall if there was trouble in the city they moved a football trophy on the mantle transforming their furniture into a high tech superhero crime fighting lab.

In season 3 we find out that all that high tech equipment was supplied to our heroes by Tony Stark the Invincible Iron Man.



Angelica was shown as a romantic interest mostly for Peter Parker but Bobby also tried a few times to win her over.



J. Jonah Jameson was still out to get Spider-Man and figured his Spider-Friends were as bad as that wall crawling bug menace for helping him.







Again the show had a classic line up of enemies straight from the pages of The Amazing SPIDER-MAN comics with baddies like the Beetle, Kraven the Hunter, and Electro. Again the show featured villains normally associated with other heroes like Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, this time featuring the Blob, Toad, and Mastermind.





Plus there were guest appearances of other heroes as they teamed up to fight bad guys; like joining Thor to fight Loki, one of the first of the new team of Uncanny X-Men Sunfire vs a giant fire monster, and teaming up with the Black Knight to fight Modred.





Multiple heroes make guest appearances: Namor, Shanna the She-Devil, Dr. Strange, Captain America, and even the Incredible Hulk. For some of them it was the first time they appeared on television in any form.

The Incredible Hulk guest star was supposed to be a form of pilot to begin his own animated series. Season 2 of the show changed the title and paired up the Spidey-Friends with the green goliath in a full hour of superhero awesomeness.

Season 2 1982 titled THE INCREDIBLE HULK AND THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

While only 3 new episodes were added the first season was repeated with a brand new opening with the Hulk lifting a huge steel block and Spider-Man swinging in and landing on top. There were sometimes closing narrations from Stan Lee himself.

"This is Stan Lee...with your ticket to the greatest adventure of all!"

"And thanks to you, Spidey fans, for making Spidey and his friends the most popular superheroes of all. This is Stan Lee. Excelsior!"

The three new episodes of season 2 each featured a member of the Spider-Friends and told a brief origin story narrated by the character delving into their past while still fighting a bad guy in the present. Iceman told of his beginning with the original X-Men Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Mimic, and Marvel Girl.

Spider-Man told how Peter Parker became the wall crawler.



Angelica Jones told how she learned of her superpowers and that she was a mutant becoming Firestar and being recruited into the Uncanny X-Men in my favorite episode of all, A Firestar is Born.



Spider-Man gets snubbed wanting to tag along to a X-Men only reunion that Iceman and Firestar are going to and runs into the Juggernaut instead.



I would later discover the Uncanny X-Men in comic books during the height of their newfound popularity in the early eighties having missed their debut in 1975 in GIANT SIZED X-MEN 1, but catching up rapidly with back issues.

This episode featured some original X-MEN team members Angel and Cyclops...



...as well as new team members of the Uncanny X-Men,  Storm, and my future favorite Wolverine.



As a kid I had no idea of the backlash the cartoon caused when they decided to make Wolverine speak with an Australian accent instead of being Canadian like in the comic books.

The first time he meets FIRESTAR at the reunion he offers her a claw-kebab!



Things quickly escalate as the Juggernaut makes his way to the X-Mansion and breaks through a wall interrupting our heroes. Juggernaut is the step-brother with a grudge of Professor Xavier. Wolverine in his classic yellow and blue leaps to meet him.



Cyclops blasts him right back out with an optic blast.



But Juggernaut being unstoppable quickly charges again right into Storm's lightning bolts giving time for Iceman to make a barrier wall of ice while Cyclops creates a chasm with his energy beam vision. Juggernaut smashes the wall only to fall into the chasm. But quickly climbs out of the trench. Wolverine leaps into action slicing and clawing at Juggernaut's armor.



Only to be grabbed and thrown by Juggernaut into a wall where his claws stick momentarily trapping him.



Juggernaut uses his momentum and the lapse in defense to get close to Professor X but Firestar creates a circle of fire around him that he plunges right through to smash the Professor but Spider-Man crashes the party showing up in the nick of time to rescue the Professor, with Juggernaut only smashing his wheelchair. Professor X reminds them that Juggernaut is vulnerable to his psionic attack without his helmet. Iceman freezes Juggernaut long enough for Spider-Man to remove his helmet but Juggernaut keeps coming!



Finally Professor X fells the giant with his telepathic mind control paralyzing him and ending the fight.





Even though not all of the X-Men were present and Wolverine was slightly altered and quickly dispatched, this became my favorite episode ever! It is also the first appearance of Wolverine on television!

“This is Stan Lee saying Excelsior!”

Season 3 1983 the title changes again to THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN AND THE INCREDIBLE HULK for 8 new episodes.

This time the SPIDER-FRIENDS face off against the likes of Dracula, Videoman, and other baddies, plus they team up with S.H.I.E.L.D.!  This season also has the origin of how the Spider-Friends came together.

Videoman is defeated and actually turns good and is passed off to the Uncanny X-Men with first appearances of Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Kitty Pryde as Ariel.

A later episode features more of the Uncanny X-Men with Thunderbird making an appearance even though in the comic books he only lasted two adventures with them in fights against Krakoa, and dying fighting Count Nefaria and the Ani-Men.

Kitty Pryde the future Shadowcat is in a very strange outfit as Sprite. This episode was to serve as a pilot for a Uncanny X-Men animated series that never came to be.



During the second and third seasons my brother and I were overjoyed to get more of one of our favorite heroes the Incredible Hulk in his own animated show. We had already decided he was awesome in the live action show and were now introduced to a slightly different Hulk more in line (but not exactly) with the comic book Hulk. For example he now has red pants instead of the purple of the comics.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK cartoon 1982-1983 13 episodes

I always smile when I hear the dun dun, dun dun, dommmmm, dommm dommm dun dun, dommm dommm da dun da dun, dunna da dommm... beats of the intro to this show with HULK rampaging and stomping along, then showing Bruce Banner trapped in a terrifying spiked wall hydraulic press about to be crushed while Betty helplessly watches.



Knowing that in moments he will turn into the Hulk and smash the press and anything else in his way!



There are only thirteen episodes and a few regulars from THE INCREDIBLE HULK comic book make an appearance like Rick Jones, Betty Ross, and her antagonistic father General Thunderbolt Ross. Hulk faces off against villains such as the the gamma infused Leader, the hordes of Hydra, the Puppet Master, Doctor Octopus, aliens, robots, and even the Hunchback of Notre Dame! He also squares off against his cousin the She-Hulk and eventually teams up with her. I only wish the show lasted longer and had more seasons.




Each episode was also narrated by the one and only Stan Lee!

"Hi, I'm Stan Lee.  We all know the Hulk is the strongest and the strangest creature on Earth. Now, hang on to your hats heroes, cause here's where we learn how he got that way!  This the lonely desert.  The mysterious desert. Where all is silent. Too silent...with a scent of danger in the air."

"Trying to save a teenagers life, Bruce Banner's helpless body absorbs a massive bombardment of  super powerful gamma rays."

"Later, at the base hospital, just a few minutes before the most incredible transformation of all time is about to take place."

"Bruce Banner's rage and his frustration finally trigger the powerful gamma rays in his body causing the world's most fantastic transformation, as the Incredible Hulk is born."

"Once again, Bruce Banner faces a future of torment and sorrow.  But he'll never stop seeking a cure for his horrible malady. He'll never stop hoping he can one day destroy the monster within him."



The Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and The Incredible Hulk show was such a success that it spawned several promotional tie-ins as well as appearing in main stream Marvel comic books.



Firestar began in the cartoon but became a real comic book heroine, she even had her own limited series.



There were even live actor guest appearances of the characters that could be rented out for your events!



A cool retro cat named Brian that I have done some business with and he once featured a photo of mine on his blog, has scans of the brochure with the many Marvel heroes and villains that could show up to your party, toy store, or mall grand opening! Check it out over at his groovy site Plaid Stallions.

http://www.plaidstallions.com/marvel/



Hardee's Promotions

For a limited time you could get a kid's meal at Hardee's restaurants that featured the heroes of SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS and THE INCREDIBLE HULK cartoons. I received mine in 1983.






Each meal featured a 3-D built-in theatre in the box to view the mini 3-D comic strip of each hero as a prize.



My twin brother and I also had our own Hardee's/Marvel tie-in. Our parents being divorced when we were fairly young we became latch-key kids who went to school while mom worked and then rode the bus home to immediately phone her to let her know we arrived safe, then play inside until she got home. Toys and comics became extremely important for us involuntary shut-ins. Sometimes however the lure of playing outside with friends was too much and the hermits would escape. One such episode was to meet the ever present all powerful addiction to feed our growing comic book collection. Now my mom would regularly take us to several comic book stores around town when she could, but our greed knew no bounds. One fateful evening out with mom at a sit-down Godfather's Pizza with table top Pac-Man games and collectible Goonies glasses we spied in the same business complex just a few strip mall doors down a small comic shop and a plan was hatched.





When we got home from school we immediately placed the "We're home and safe" call to mom then we set up our standard alibi, the Monopoly game. Our favorite ruse was to set up a game of Monopoly mid-game then leave and be miles away from home. When we thought it was getting close to the time she would get home we would hustle back and be in the midst of "playing" when she came in. We had a couple of close calls. This time we had a destination: D & D Collectibles comic book store. We would later become regulars with holds on our favorite popular titles and known by name (in infamy but that is another story) by the owner Dick who looked a lot like the TV artist Bob Ross complete with afro hairdo.



After traveling miles on our bikes to get to the comic shop and making our purchases with glee we were on our way home when to our horror we saw my mom's car in Hardee's drive-thru buying us fast food for dinner.



We pedaled our bikes like never before and barely beat her using every short cut though fields and back alleys we knew. We jumped fences teaming up to throw our bikes over as we raced against the clock and the inevitable whuppin' we were about to receive. By some miracle or supreme being who smiles on devious children we beat her home. We immediately jumped into place playing our Monopoly alibi as she came through the door. We were all sweaty from our desperate race home and we instantly improvised flipping the board and pieces into the air yelling, "You cheater!" Then mock wrestling over it as she came in surprised at all the commotion. Quickly setting down the food mom separated us and she never would suspect we were pulling the wool over her eyes and the board wasn't even fully set up. I remember trading sly glances and smiles with my twin as we got the you need to play fair lecture. It seemed like an eternity before we could fetch the illicit comics hastily stashed under the couch to finally read our new acquisitions. Hardee's will forever be tied in with Marvel comics in my memories.

 Later in 1990 Hardee's would again feature Marvel Super Heroes in their Funmeal Packs.





The prizes were hero vehicles featuring the Hulk, Captain America, She-Hulk, and Spider-Man.



At the end of each episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and the Incredible Hulk when the Marvel Productions logo came up there was a slow motion chrome Spider-man that leapt up, did a flip then landed on the logo.



Marvel Productions re-ran the cartoons clear until the late 1980s and they produced and co-produced many other beloved cartoons that were seen on various stations and in the Marvel Action Universe hour. So if you watched and loved Dungeons and Dragons, GI*JOE, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, The Transformers, Jem and the Holograms, Inhumanoids, My Little Pony 'n Friends, Defenders of the Earth, Fraggle Rock, Dino-Riders, Robocop, and many others you have the success of SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS to thank for paving the way for Marvel to own a piece of television animation history.

Special thanks to these awesome websites that I borrowed most of the pictures from:

More about the solo SPIDER-MAN 1981 cartoon can be found at:

http://spider-man.toonzone.net/

Sweet information, sound bytes, multi-media, episode summaries, and much more of SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS 1981-1983 can be found at:

http://www.spider-friends.com/index.html

Join them in their heroic crusade to get the series released on DVD in the United States!

You can learn more about the animated INCREDIBLE HULK 1982 cartoon at:

http://hulk.toonzone.net/index.html

More screen caps from A Firestar is Born can be found at:

http://randomhoohaas.flyingomelette.com/rah/oneoff/firestar/firestar.html

Well for the moment our heroes and the kids who love them are safe. As Stan Lee would say,
'Nuff Said!