Welcome to Adventure(s) Time’s 154th installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me hear them. Just contact me on Twitter. This week, the long-awaited acknowledgment of a cult favorite Marvel animated series. “Long-awaited,” as in twenty-five years!
Debuting as a part of NBC’s Saturday morning programming on September 12, 1981, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends was pretty much the best a Marvel fan could expect from a television adaptation in this era. The show was an early attempt to translate Marvel superheroes into animation. While the characters’ abilities and visual designs were largely faithful to the comics, the show’s tone and continuity bore little resemblance to the official canon.
A Marvel Answer to the Super Friends
The original plan was for Amazing Friends to star Spider-Man, Iceman, and the Human Torch, pairing Marvel’s corporate mascot with two heroes of the same age that happen to have opposing superpowers. An existing deal for the Human Torch to star in his own series, reportedly a live-action drama that had him as a hotshot race car driver, prevented his appearance on the show, however.
Replacing him would be an original creation, one who happened to resemble Spider-Man’s established love interest Mary Jane Watson so closely that rumors persisted for years that MJ was once intended to be her secret identity. This new hero would be named either Heatwave or Firefly, names that possibly didn’t end up sticking because they also belong to DC villains. Instead, Marvel settled on naming their new heroine Firestar.
The trio would form a group called the Spider-Friends, living together in the home of Spider-Man’s aunt with another new creation, Aunt May’s beloved pet dog Ms. Lion. The show’s entire premise was an attempt to mimic ABC’s success with the popular Super Friends franchise, with Marvel characters shoved into the appropriate slots and new creations developed when necessary. (No adorable pet sidekicks in the Marvel pantheon? Then make up a fluffy pet dog! Something has to show up Wonder Dog and that adorable, buck-toothed monkey Gleek!)
Years would pass before even remotely faithful Marvel adaptations would appear on television, but Amazing Friends did feature some true comics fans on its staff. Animator Larry Houston’s habit of dropping in stealth Marvel cameos on the 1990s X-Men cartoon is foreshadowed here, as Houston worked in characters like Nova and Elektra as background extras. And even if the stories are pure cheese, everyone from Captain America to Sub-Mariner to the X-Men appears as guest stars. Wolverine’s infamous 1980s Australian accent debuts with Amazing Friends.
Marvel’s Indifferent Reaction to Its TV Hit
Given that the show was aimed at a target demographic too young for the average Marvel comic, and the show’s loose connection to established continuity, it’s not surprising Marvel didn’t seem overly concerned with a tie-in book. December 1981’s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends one-shot adapted the show’s pilot, courtesy of an uncredited writer and artist Dan Spiegel (with a nice cover by John Romita, Jr.), and this pretty much marked the extent of the comics company’s interest in the show.
A text piece affirms that this is a “delightfully different” take on the characters and assures fans this comic doesn’t represent Marvel’s official continuity. Firestar, however, would make her official “canon” debut in May 1985’s Uncanny X-Men #193 and soon star in her own miniseries. She would later become a founding member of the New Warriors and eventually join the Avengers during a fan-favorite relaunch of that title.
With both Firestar and Iceman officially Marvel Universe heroes, someone had to have the brilliant thought to team them up with Spider-Man, right? Well, technically, this did occur, but the event happened years after the show’s cancellation. And not only was the team-up not treated as some significant event, but it’s also entirely possible the creators didn’t even realize they were reuniting television’s “Spider-Friends.”
April 1991’s Web of Spider-Man #75 is not a double-sized celebration of the title’s anniversary issue. It’s instead the middle chapter of a fill-in arc, courtesy of writer Tony Isabella and regular penciler Alex Saviuk. Iceman and Firestar are merely two of the heroes joining Spider-Man as they aid the citizens of New York during a sudden blizzard. A mutant named Bora is revealed as the source of the snowstorm, but this doesn’t lead to a dramatic battle with the united Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar. And there are no cute meta-references to the heroes’ time together as TV stars, either.
The Long-Delayed Tribute
Even if Amazing Friends was a silly show with no interest in fidelity to the official lore, it did feature attractive character designs and animation superior to most other Saturday morning programs. A certain amount of nostalgia for the series grew over the years, and some form of tribute seemed inevitable.
October 2006’s Spider-Man Family: Amazing Friends one-shot finally gave Amazing Friends a proper homage, arriving on the show’s twenty-fifth anniversary. Set shortly before Web of Spider-Man #75, “Opposites Attack!” has writer Sean McKeever and pencilers Pat Olliffe, Casey Jones, Kano, and Nick Dragotta presenting a canonical first meeting for Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar. The story’s filled with nods to the animated series, opening with Spider-Man and Iceman teaming up against a recurring Amazing Friends villain, Videoman. In 1981, Videoman was an accurate representation of state-of-the-art video game graphics. By the 2000s, he’s somewhat ridiculous and a fun way to get the plot rolling.
After the battle, Spider-Man and Iceman, who first met back in December 1966’s X-Men #27, are enjoying fast food and catching up. We’re in the days of Spider-Man’s marriage to MJ and Iceman’s recent return to the X-Men, which occurred shortly after his relationship with Opal Tanaka fizzled. (And Marvel’s attitude towards this continuity today can be summed up with the Simpsons quote: “let us never speak of it again…”)
Firestar, who at this time had recently joined the New Warriors, spots them and tries to engage the veteran heroes. She’s immediately irritated by Iceman’s obnoxiousness but does give Spidey a friendly peck on the cheek before leaving. The moment’s caught by an amateur cameraman and broadcast across New York. MJ, who may or not be as jealous as she lets on, demands Peter sleep on the couch.
Continuity hawks will likely notice that MJ’s hair doesn’t match the tall, wavy look she sported in the 1990s and instead is back to her pre-Todd McFarlane bangs. However, the gag that MJ so closely resembles Firestar in her civilian look is lost if she doesn’t have the sleek hair with bangs.
Young Heroes in Love
When Firestar again locates Spidey and intimates she’d like to be his crime-fighting partner and maybe something more, he devises a brilliant plan to get out of the situation. Well, MJ doesn’t think it’s so clever, but Spidey ignores her advice. He reasons that Iceman and Firestar bicker incessantly because they actually have crushes on one another, and he’s going to play matchmaker.
A playful fight on the roof leads to some smooching, and we’re given a montage set throughout their three-week relationship. If you’re concerned about this romance conflicting with Firestar’s relationship with Marvel Boy in New Warriors, it’s conceivable for the story to occur before New Warriors #14, which is where they began dating.
As for how exactly the long-dead Kraven the Hunter ended up in their superhero love montage… that’s a tougher one. The assorted Kraven Kids hadn’t debuted yet, so we’ll have to assume this is a robotic duplicate or displaced alternate reality variant or obsessed Kraven fan. Perhaps he’s also the hairdresser who convinced MJ to return to her old look.
Spidey’s quite proud of his work, but after the trio team up against the recently revived Videoman, tensions in the Iceman/Firestar romance are exposed. His egotism drives her up the wall, and Iceman’s increasingly agitated by her little quirks. The duo break up, then turn their ire on the man who set them up. The story closes with MJ nursing Peter Parker, sick with a cold thanks to exposure to rapid temperature changes. (Something mothers still warned their kids about back in the ’80s.)
The story’s light and enjoyable, reading as a genuine tribute to the show and not an excuse to take cheap shots at something created in a different time. The use of the official Marvel lore is pretty clever, and it’s a nice example of the Peter/MJ marriage not getting in the way of anything fun, regardless of what Marvel so adamantly claims. The Spider-Man Family weren’t exactly treated as major events during their release, so many aren’t aware of the issue, but diehard Spidey fans should find a lot to enjoy with the comic.