Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends



""Tonight, I, Electro, master of electricity itself, will let loose upon the world my greatest creation: Video Man, the creature from the game.""

- Electro, preparing to create the most memorable villain from the series, which ran during the '80s videogame craze

This animated series, which ran from 1981-1983, was the second Spider-Man Saturday Morning Kids Show, and in the post-70s, the Marvel creative team decided to add new characters and send Spidey up against more than his own, regular Rogues Gallery.

It aired originally on NBC, and now shows occasionally on Disney XD. (It has also turned up on the Netflix Instant service, despite the lack of a region 1 DVD release.)

Robert "Bobby" Drake (Iceman) and Angelica Jones (Firestar) were college students who lived with their friend Peter Parker (Spider-Man) in his Aunt May's home, which she was using as a boarding house. Thanks to a contribution from Tony Stark (Iron Man), their living space contained a Super Multi-Purpose Room complete with crime lab. They also had a pet dog named Ms. Lion.

"Firestar: He just exudes macho!
 * Abridged Series: SPIDER-MAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!
 * And his Amazing Friends!
 * Disney XD also abridges some episodes as part of their Marvel Mash Up series of interstitials.
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: Angelica developed a crush on Kraven the Hunter, much to Peter and Bobby's displeasure, though she quickly realized he's a creep and defeats him.

Iceman: That's not all he exudes. He smells like a zoo!"

"Angelica (referring to Ms. Lion): Well, somebody's found a friend.
 * Alpha Bitch - Bonnie, the girl who gave Angelica her "Miss Angelica Jinx" nickname in "A Fire-Star is born".
 * Arbitrary Skepticism - The Spider-Friends are okay with believing in mutants. Mind control. Evil potions. Bees from outer space. Shapeshifting. Dracula. But that Thor is actually the Norse god of thunder? No way...
 * It wouldn't be touched in the cartoon, but some people find Thor's existence disquieting because it conflicts with their faith. (Or their atheism, as the case may be.)
 * All Love Is Unrequited - Bobby and Peter both have romantic interest in Angelica. Whether she returns it for either of them is not really explored.
 * Animation Bump - The three-episode second season was animated by Toei, and the animation and character models became more detailed and fuller. Incidentally, all three episodes deal with Iceman's, Firestar's, and Spidey' origins
 * Backstory - The origin for each member of the Power Trio got an episode.
 * And an episode of how they became a team.
 * Bee-Bee Gun - "Swarm"
 * Canon Immigrant
 * Firestar was created for the series but migrated into the comics.
 * As was Ms. Lion, Aunt May's dog, who became a member of the Pet Avengers.
 * Norman Osborn's niece in the first episode.
 * Clear My Name - The "Arachnoid" episode featured Spidey being framed for crimes.
 * Covered in Mud: In the Whole-Episode Flashback detailing Firestar's origin, Firestar takes the Alpha Bitch and drops her in a mud puddle, whereupon she throws a splashy tantrum.
 * Dramatic Unmask - The episode featuring an explanation of how the Spider-Friends formed has Spidey taking off his mask to reveal his true identity to Angelica and Bobby since Peter figured out they were Firestar and Iceman, respectively.
 * Distaff Counterpart - The series creators originally wanted to use the Human Torch but rights issues led them to create Firestar as a Captain Ersatz.
 * Firestar, especially in her everyday identity, was also a Captain Ersatz, or even Composite Character, of Mary-Jane Watson, Spidey's main love interest from the comics.
 * Distracted by the Sexy - When Peter Parker first meets Angelica Jones (whilst walking Ms. Lion).

Peter: You can say that again!

Angelica: Her name is Ms. Lion. I'm Angelica.

Peter: You sure are... I'm Peter Piper... Uh, P-Parker... Uh, Parker Peter-"

"Original Line - Angelica: Hey! There's that jungle bunny who was chasing after Peter!
 * Edited for Syndication - The first episode had a slight edit due to greater awareness of Unfortunate Implications.

Edited Line - Angelica: Hey! There's that jungle rabbit who was chasing after Peter!"


 * Episode Title Card
 * Fiery Redhead: Taken almost as literally as one possibly can with Firestar.
 * Formally-Named Pet: Ms Lion.
 * Freeze Ray
 * Gag Dub: The original (late 80's) Mexican dub inserted tons of jokes (inside ones such as substituting Stan Lee with his 'granddaddy' when that voice actor was unavailable), hamming villain with silly phrases (Magneto has never been funnier) and tons of adlibbed extra lines.
 * Gotta Get Your Head Together - "The Fantastic Frump" and "The X-Men Adventure"
 * Harmless Freezing
 * ~Hey, It's That Voice!~ - Spidey is voiced by the same actor who voiced G1 Bumblebee. Frank Welker voiced Bobby Drake and Flash Thompson. Peter Cullen also provided Bruce Banner/The Hulk's voice.
 * Identity Impersonator - Chameleon
 * Spider-Man also pulls it off with an unwitting Flash Thompson, in the episode where the Sandman tumbles upon Spidey's Secret Identity.
 * Idiosyncratic Wipes - scene changes were heralded by multicolored webs traveling across the screen, and the Leitmotif to accompany them.
 * Jekyll and Hyde - In the comics, the Green Goblin is just a costumed identity that Norman Osborn assumes; in the series opener, Osborn physically transforms into a green-skinned creature. (No, not that one.)
 * Jerk Jock: Flash Thompson, as usual.
 * Jumped At the Call
 * Angelica
 * Bobby
 * Francis (aka Video Man, who did not become a Canon Immigrant, thankfully)
 * Keep Circulating the Tapes: It has yet to be released onto DVD in America.
 * Leitmotif - The music for this show was almost entirely thematic based on what was happening.
 * Bobby had a tune for when he turned into Iceman.
 * Ms. Lion had her own tune.
 * Aunt May had a tune.
 * There was a 'heroic' tune for anytime a guest star from the Marvel Universe at large showed up.
 * Angelica had one for when she turned into Fire-Star.
 * There was a tune for when the villain was starting to do menacing things.
 * There was a variation of the show's Theme Tune for when something sad happened.
 * There was another variation of the show's Theme Tune for when romance was onscreen.
 * There's a tune for when the heroes are struggling against the bad guy.
 * There's a tune for when something silly happens (often used for slapstick, or when Flash Thompson was being upstaged).
 * There is a bit of music specifically for the Idiosyncratic Wipes for scene changes.
 * Don't forget the variation on "Gaudeamus Igitur" whenever the college's Establishing Shot is shown.
 * And the opening bars of "The Sidewalks of New York" used for establishing shots of the city.
 * Living Lie Detector (Ms. Lion, in "Seven Little Superheroes". Her sense of smell allowed her to distinguish the Chameleon from the others when under disguise)
 * Love Triangle - Flavored with I Want My Beloved to Be Happy on Spidey's part.
 * Nakama
 * Never Say "Die" - Subverted. In The Eighties, it hadn't yet become unfashionable. Not only did the word "kill" get used, but a scene implied onscreen that Spider-Man had been killed in battle before pulling a "gotcha!" on the viewer.
 * Original Generation - Firestar.
 * Pokémon-Speak: "Swarm!"
 * Power Glows - Firestar
 * Power Trio (Spider-Man, Iceman, Firestar)
 * Reset Button: Pretty much every episode, but one is almost literally pushed at the end of "The Fantastic Mr. Frump."
 * Secret Identity Identity - All three of the Power Trio.
 * Sir Not Appearing On This Cover: The thumbnail on Netflix has a full-body shot of Spidey, but Firestar and Iceman got cropped out except for a few of their limbs.
 * Snow Means Cold - Spidey and Iceman first met during a Let's You and Him Fight situation. Iceman got Spider-Man's attention by causing a freak blizzard during the summer. Iceman wasn't seen actually throwing snow around to do it, but appeared to be just willing it to happen.
 * Stan Lee - narrated the series. "Excelsior!!" (Though many of his narrations were not on the masters used for the ABC Family showings and the masters were kept for the later Disney XD airings and Netflix release.)
 * Team Pet: Ms. Lion
 * Ten Little Murder Victims- "Seven Little Superheroes"
 * There Was a Door ("Swarm")
 * Three Amigos
 * Transformation Sequence - almost always involving Stock Footage.
 * Bobby would cover himself in a block of ice, then break free of it.
 * Angelica would turn on her powers, envelop herself in a glow, then turn it off, having somehow done an Instant Costume Change in the process.
 * Spidey, naturally, once had to comment on the fact that he had to suit up manually.
 * Two Guys and a Girl
 * Viewers are Morons - The Comic Books Iceman is brunet, but he was rendered blond for the show because it was believed viewers wouldn't be able to tell Bobby from Peter if both were brunet. They also gave Flash a different shade of blonde, since Bobby resembles Flash.
 * Then they probably should have taken into account that Firestar looked strikingly like Mary Jane, something that no doubt baffled children for quite a while trying to watch the series.
 * Not really. Many of the children viewers only knew Spidey from his appearances on The Electric Company and had no idea until some years later that there even was a character named Mary Jane Watson.
 * Villain of the Week - A different supervillain every week.
 * Water Source Tampering - The Green Goblin has a plot to put goblin formula in New York City's water supply, goblinizing the whole population.