Renowned TV & comics writer and part-time independent filmmaker Don Glut, who spent some time in the 70's writing for Marvel, penned "Along Came Spidey", which to some observers is considered a definitive take on the web-spinner's origin. This comes from season 2 of Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends, but strangely, narrator Stan Lee is not heard, at least at the beginning, though they cleverly advertised a feature piece Lee was supposedly writing for the fictional Daily Bugle.
As some of you might be aware, Angelica Jones, aka Firestar, was created for the show, and was integrated into the Marvel Universe proper a couple of years later. If the resemblance to Peter Parker's long-time squeeze, Mary Jane Watson, creates any confusion, well, the original plan, from what I understand, was for MJ to be part of the show in the first place!
Rating: A-.
3 comments:
I'd heard that MJ's likeness was used for Firestar; that's probably why I'd always hoped Peter and Angelica would have gotten together since MJ presumably didn't exist in this universe.
I'd always related to Angelica, being teased as a kid and trying to make use of one's unique gifts. I couldn't help but root for her more than her "amazing friends".
I also appreciated how this series was able to dedicate episodes to the origins of each friend and how they teamed up in the first place.
Addendum:
This is one of my favorite versions of Spiderman, if only because he got the most snark value here. Pete/Spidey got the best lines and I think that's where his character went wrong in the current show, "Ultimate Spiderman". There, he comes off as a bit of a mouthy twerp.
That the series gave equal attention to Firestar & Iceman spoke volumes about the approach Marvel was taking, which at the time was light years ahead of DC. Hanna-Barbera didn't get the message, really, until a few years later, but by then, the Super Friends franchise was closing down. Had Super Powers Team been renewed, I think we would've gotten similar stories for Wonder Woman, Superman, et al......
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