Marvelous Animation Tour - Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981)

Perhaps the best remembered Marvel animated series of the 1980's was Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends which ran from 1981 until 1983.


Over 24 episodes, the series provided a showcase not only for Spider-Man and his villains, but for heroes and villains of the Marvel universe alike, in particular the X-Men.

Feeling a need to counter DC's Super Friends, Marvel banded together a trio of heroes dubbed the "Spider-Friends" including the Web-Head, ice sliding X-Man Iceman, and original creation Angelica Jones AKA Firestar (also a former X-Man). Creators had initially wanted to use the Human Torch, but due to licensing issues, the fire powered heroine and Mary Jane look-a-like was conceived.

* The Marvel Super Heroes (1966) * Spider-Man (1967) * Fantastic Four (1967) * The Fantastic Four (1978) * Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (1979) * Spider-Woman (1979) * Spider-Man (1981) * Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981) *

Spotlight on Starro

Starro "the Conqueror," given the distinction of being the first foe faced by The Justice League, appeared in 1960's Brave and the Bold #28.

Starro made his first semi-official appearance on the Superman Aquaman show serving more as a vehicle for Captain Cuda than an outright villain.

Starro would not appear on screen for another 30 years when he cameoed as just another exotic creature in Superman's Fortress of Solitude in Superman: The Animated Series' The Main Man.

Fittingly, Starro would return in Batman Beyond's The Call, becoming the animated Justice League's first depicted adversary.

Turns out, the creature shown only briefly in the Superman animated series was hatching a plan for domination and eventually got out of his cage taking control of Superman. He then asexually replicated, as all starfish do, and tried to take over the world. Batman stopped him.

Starro made his next cameo appearance in the epilogue of 2008's Justice League: The New Frontier in a clear homage to the original comic cover.

Starro made yet another homage in a flashback sequence in 2010's Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.

Most recently, Starro has made another bid for world domination as the big bad in Batman: The Brave and the Bold's second season. Teasers in Revenge of the Reach!, Clash of the Metal Men!, and The Power of Shazam! each depicted phases of the Starro invasion which will culminate in an all out battle in The Seige of Starro! set to debut on September 17th.

Starro looks to start of small and plentiful as in Batman Beyond before become a massive conqueror only to be presumably defeated at the hands of Batman's allies after offering up one more homage to the classic comic cover.

Marvelous Animation Tour - Spider-Man (1981)

In 1981, Marvel simultaneously launched Spider-Man's second and third animated series, one being a solo series and the other starring some "amazing friends." The solo series proved the less popular of the pair and ran just 26 episodes during 1981 and 1982.

The series featured a slew of classic Spidey villains including the Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Sandman, and Black Cat, as well as staple Marvel villains Magneto and Dr. Doom. The short series run even made room for guest stars such as Captain America and Namor who would also be seen in the more successful sister series.

* The Marvel Super Heroes (1966) * Spider-Man (1967) * Fantastic Four (1967) * The Fantastic Four (1978) * Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (1979) * Spider-Woman (1979) * Spider-Man (1981) *

Smallville Welcomes Linda Lee

According to TVGuide.com, when Kara Zor-El makes her return to Smallville in the October 8 episode Supergirl, we may actually get a glimpse of the modern Supergirl costume as well as Kara's alter ego Linda Lee Danvers. I am not sure how fans will react to the idea of a costumed Supergirl appearing to the public before a costumed Superman, but at least we know tights and flights for the Man of Steel will be appearing very soon.

Marvelous Animation Tour - Spider-Woman (1979)

The Spider-Woman animated series made its debut in 1979, partly as a response to Filmation's creation of a character named Web Woman whose series debuted the year prior.

In the show, Jessica Drew was bitten by a poisonous spider but when her father saved her life by injecting her with an experimental "spider serum", she gained superhuman powers. The onscreen version of Spider-Woman lacked super strength, but had enough other powers to make up for it. She could fly, fire bursts of energy from her hands called "venom blasts," she possessed a "spider-sense" warning her of danger, she could sling webs organically ala movie Spider-Man, and she could change into costume by spinning (though that may not be an actual power per se), she could talk to spiders like Aquaman does with fish, she possessed a spider-shriek, and she could make a spider-bubble to breathe underwater.

The series featured frequent a couple of guest appearances by Spider-Man who apparently wanted to make sure his "brand" was being well represented. Any other relationship between the two spider-heroes was not made clear.

Like previous Marvel series, this one was short lived lasting just 16 episodes.

* The Marvel Super Heroes (1966) * Spider-Man (1967) * Fantastic Four (1967) * The Fantastic Four (1978) * Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (1979) * Spider-Woman (1979) *

Spotlight on Darkseid

Darkseid, one of DC comics most powerful and dangerous big bads first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 arriving in 1970. This upcoming year looks to be a big one for the Lord of Apokolips who will be featured in an upcoming animated movie and will also be the main villain of Smallville's final season.

Darkseid made his onscreen debut in 1984 on the Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show series. Of course, like any other great villain, Darkseid's ultimate aim was to enter into holy matrimony with the heroic female, in this case Wonder Woman. He was foiled in this and in every other diabolical scheme that followed.

Darkseid was slowly revealed as the ultimate villain of the 1996 Superman: The Animated Series. Not only was he the culprit behind the murder of a main character if the series, but he ended up nearly forever tarnishing Superman legacy on Earth.

After the Superman series, Darkseid would return to plague Superman in the Justice League series where he teamed up with Brainiac. Superman had finally had enough and it appeared as though Darkseid met his end in the episode Twilight.

Darkseid's legacy continued in the Justice League Unlimited series, but the man himself would eventually be resurrected in Alive! leading to one of the most epic Superman battles of all time.

Darkseid next appeared as a floating head in 2008's Justice League: The New Frontier.

Hopefully no punches will be pulled when old Darkseid plays a much more significant role in Superman Batman: Apocalypse based upon the Supergirl story arc of the Superman Batman comic.

Marvelous Animation Tour - Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (1979)

In 1979, Fred and Barney from The Flintsones "met" The Thing, well they didn't actually meet but they shared a cartoon block. This Thing did not have three fantastic friends. Instead, transformed into the rock-skinned hero by touching together magic rings and reciting the words "Thing ring, do your thing!" after which he was pummeled by rocks.



The next year, Fred and Barney continued to air with The Thing on Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo.

* The Marvel Super Heroes (1966) * Spider-Man (1967) * Fantastic Four (1967) * The Fantastic Four (1978) * Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (1979) *