Across the Spider-Verse and the wacky old Spider-Man cartoon share a soul

The 1967 Spider-Man cartoon for two reasons: the “Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can!” theme song and the “Spider-Man pointing” meme, an all-purpose image from the 19th episode that’s been used for everything from criticizing politicians to poking fun at professional athletes. It’s become so popular that a version of it appears in the ending of Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse, and in a “break the internet” bit of shameless PR, Marvel recreated it with live-action Spidey performers Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland to plug Spider-Man: The No Way Back.

Aside from that, the show is typically remembered for… being bad. There are certainly better Spider-Man animations: the low-budget 1967 cartoon can look clunky and the characters often appear warped. Every voice was also played with Extreme Cartoon Energy. There is more to Spider-Man than memes and earworms, and there are newer episodes that have a lot of energy. Into the Spider-Verse sequel, Across the Spider-VerseThe reminder is 1967. As with the two Spidey mega-blockbusters from 1967 Spider-Man’s Three seasons of Spider-Man show that a good story and the right artists can bring a legendary character like Spider-Man into a world of comic fantasy.

Much of the first season of the show is deeply indebted to the work of Spider-Man’s original co-creator team, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Early-episode stories like “Where Crawls the Lizard,” “Never Step on a Scorpion,” and “Captured by J. Jonah Jameson” are almost direct retellings of Amazing Spider-ManIssues 6, 20 and 25 respectively. Even when they stray from it, the first season is always keen to capture Lee’s bombastic plot beats and penchant for big emotional turns. When it comes to that specific era of Spider-Man, it’s likely the most comic-book-accurate show that we’ve ever gotten.

Image: Walt Disney Video

Spider-ManIt was only five years since Peter Parker first appeared in Marvel Comics that the film adaptations were released, and this probably contributed to the continuity of story. Films like Across the Spider-Verse suggest there’s more to the character than arriving at certain points of creative predestination. It’s how the incarnations of Spider-Man are played with and molded that lend them their staying power, and when the 1967 Spider-Man truly diverges from Lee and Ditko’s work is when it becomes special.

Marvel’s paperbacks weren’t sacrosanct to the creative team at Grantray-Lawrence Animation and ABC, which originally aired the show. The cartoon scripts excise a bit of the misery that Lee imbued Spider-Man with (Peter Parker’s life is outrageously shitty in the early comics), but the show also helps us realize how a character like Spider-Man was so immediately ripe to become Marvel’s pseudo-mascot and eventually dominate Hollywood. The process of reducing the villains to their maniacal broadstrokes and tightening up the structure is simple, since most of the work here comes down to trimming moments of pathos.

While it would certainly leave most characters feeling a bit more hollow (there’s no argument that the tortured Norman Osborn of the comics is a more compelling character than the one-note cackling Green Goblin of this show), they’re immediately recognizable in their consistent grandstanding. This was a show aimed at younger viewers, and successful in that way — even today, it would be a great gateway for kids to discover who Spider-Man is, and why he was tailor-made to one day have a Spider-Verse.

The multiverse can feel like a cash grab when so many blockbuster-franchise engineers have latched onto it. The concept of an infinite number of worlds with distinct aesthetics and logic, but that are linked by a common theme, such as the presence of Spider-Persons, has endless possibilities. Multiverses can show how characters are explored and the creative freedom that creators have to express themselves. Ralph Bakshi, the animation iconoclast who guided the 1967 Spider-Man animated film to its final outcome, was responsible for the success of the movie.

Before Bakshi directed cult films likeFritz the Cat, Wizards and 1978’s The Lord of the RingsHe worked as an animator on Cartoons Like The Deputy DawgThe following are some examples of how to get started: Rocket Robin Hood. ABC has handed Bakshi over the reins Spider-Man for the show’s second and third seasons, along with a decreased budget. He responded with moody, surreal storytelling. His first outing of the second season adapts Spider-Man’s origin story with beautiful atmosphere, mining the depths of Peter Parker’s tragedy in a way that is never present in the first season. Bakshi, who grew up poor in Brooklyn, latches on to the young man’s eternal angst.

From there, Bakshi dug deeper into Peter Parker’s troubled personal life even while tossing him into surreal fantasy landscapes. The Rhino and Doctor Octopus were gone. Spider-Man faced evil sorcerers and molemen as well ancient conquerors and aliens. In 3,000,000 B.C., he travels back through time. And he globe-trots from South America to Antarctica.

Bakshi’s team was able to create more elaborate adventures thanks to the expanded running time. The first season consisted of two episodes per story, but the second used only one. The first season’s format is mostly “Villain shows up and does stuff and Spider-Man tries a few times to stop them,” but here, there’s room to breathe and develop things like plot twists and supporting characters. Peter has even tried to date several times. Peter tries to date several times, but he is unsuccessful. One girlfriend turned out to be a disguised alien.

Image: Walt Disney Video

Bakshi’s edge makes for a pretty fun season, one that tests the limits of Spider-Man’s world and abstains from any sense of revolving-door villainy that can occur when you have a collection of recurring rogues. While the final and third seasons would suffer a greater drop in quality, as most of the episodes were constructed using previous footage due to the budget collapsed. Spider-Man’s shaggier moments still work as an homage to the era of comics that made the character a superstar You can also find out more about the following:A ridiculous expansion of his abilities.

Across the Spider-VerseThe film breaks the rules in exactly the same manner, but on a larger scale. The 1967 Spider-Man series is as outrageous as it gets. But when compared to the latest movie, the experience feels as if the 1967 version was the definitive Spider-Man. As Spider-Verse shows us, all adaptations and the creative choices involved are valid, including one that in 1967 promised “does whatever a spider can” and tried to deliver.