Spidey Super Stories
Encyclopedia
"Spidey Super Stories" was a live-action, recurring skit
on the PBS
children's television series The Electric Company
. Episodes featured the Marvel Comics
character Spider-Man
, provided to the Children's Television Workshop
free of charge, and was played (always in costume) by puppeteer Danny Seagren. It premiered during the season premiere of The Electric Company's fourth (1974–1975) season, show 391.
Stories involved the masked superhero foiling mischievous characters who were involved in petty criminal activities (such as burglary or assault). The cast of The Electric Company played the roles of the various characters in each story, with another serving as narrator. In many of these sketches, viewers were addressed as "true believers."
Unlike other live-action and cartoon productions of Spider-Man
, this version of the web-slinging hero did not speak out loud, instead communicating only with word balloons
(having a similar role to Clarabell the Clown
of Howdy Doody
), in order to encourage young viewers to practice their reading skills because he was drawn without a mouth. He also never appeared out of his costume as Peter Parker and, given the series' budget limitations, used his web-shooters sparingly. (Many times, the scene cut to a pre-drawn panel of Spidey using his web-shooters, with the caption "Take that!")
The theme song that plays at the beginning and end of the shorts was written by Gary William Friedman
. The lyrics are as follows:
A 4-DVD boxed set was released by Shout! Factory
and Sony BMG Music Entertainment
on February 7, 2006, named The Best of Electric Company. It featured 20 episodes from 1971–1977 (D4D 34121), three of which contained Spidey segments.
A second 4-DVD boxed set with 20 shows from 1971–1976 was released on November 14, 2006 (82666-31014). Two of the episodes in this boxed set featured Spidey segments; however, in several of the other episodes, the Spider-Man segments were edited out to minimize the appearance of the character because of rights issues. Episode 60A, from season five, which featured a Spider-Man sketch as the sketch of the day, was altered drastically from the version that originally aired on television.
On March 7, 2006, another DVD named The Best of the Best of Electric Company, a truncated version of the volume-one boxed set, was released (DD 31006).
published a comic book called Spidey Super Stories, which was aimed at children ages 6–10. A total of 57 issues were produced, written by Jim Salicrup
. During the early years, a comic book version of one of The Electric Company Spidey skits was included. A truncated version also appeared in The Electric Company Magazine. In contrast to the live-action segments on The Electric Company, Spidey often appeared out of costume as Peter Parker.
Every issue of Spidey Super Stories featured at least one story where Spidey would team up with an established Marvel Comics superhero to fight an established Marvel villain. This served to introduce other Marvel characters to new readers who were unfamiliar with the company's characters prior to seeing Spider-Man on The Electric Company. Most of these stories would feature quick origins, usually taking up a single page or less, of both the featured hero and villain. Guest heroes included Iron Man
(on several occasions), Captain America
, Doctor Strange
, Spider-Woman
, Nova
, and Ms Marvel. Guest villains included the Green Goblin
, the Blizzard
, Jack O'Lantern
, and even Thanos
.
Other stories in the issue would feature regular characters from The Electric Company, such as Easy Reader and detective Fargo North, with Spidey as a supporting character; conversely, The Electric Company characters would sometimes appear as supporting characters in the Spidey-centric stories. Supporting characters from other Spider-Man comics made regular appearances as well, such as Peter Parker's girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson
, and the staff of Parker's workplace, the Daily Bugle
, most notably editor J. Jonah Jameson
.
All issues were declared easy-to-read by Easy Reader in a stylized drawing on the comic's cover. To aid comprehension by young readers, the stories featured larger print and less complex stories than most comic books; in particular, Spidey Super Stories as a rule featured no more than four evenly divided panels per story page.
Marvel themselves parodied Spidey Super Stories in a humorous issue of What If...?
For two pages, an alternate universe is shown where Marvel had instead teamed up with the National Endowment of the Arts to produce Spidey Intellectual Stories, where Spider-Man defeats the Mad Thinker
by debating philosophy. The Watcher
notes that it "is for a [yawn] select audience, to be sure."
. Included on the record are two stories from The Electric Company: "Spidey Versus Mr. Measles" and "The Queen Bee." Other stories include Spidey versus an evil toy-wielding criminal called the Jester in "The Last Laugh," The Purple Pirates and Evil MacWeevil in "The Leader of the Pack" (which includes a cameo of Fargo North, Decoder), and Spidey's origin story. Three other stories feature Spidey with members of the Short Circus, and Pedro and his plant Maurice fighting the Mole Man in "20,000 Feet Under the Ground"; and the group tackling more traditional Marvel Comics villains in "Deadly is the Doctor Called Doom" and "Spidey Versus the Sandman." On the records, Spidey/Peter Parker was given a voice, but a picture of Spider-Man on the back utilized the traditional Spidey-talking technique of having his words in word balloons. Elements such as Spidey's spider-sense and the spider-tracer are used in these stories as well.
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
on the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
children's television series The Electric Company
The Electric Company
The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...
. Episodes featured the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
character Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, provided to the Children's Television Workshop
Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children's Television Workshop , is a Worldwide American non-profit organization behind the production of several educational children's programs that have run on public broadcasting around the world...
free of charge, and was played (always in costume) by puppeteer Danny Seagren. It premiered during the season premiere of The Electric Company's fourth (1974–1975) season, show 391.
Stories involved the masked superhero foiling mischievous characters who were involved in petty criminal activities (such as burglary or assault). The cast of The Electric Company played the roles of the various characters in each story, with another serving as narrator. In many of these sketches, viewers were addressed as "true believers."
Unlike other live-action and cartoon productions of Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, this version of the web-slinging hero did not speak out loud, instead communicating only with word balloons
Speech balloon
Speech balloons are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comic strips and cartoons to allow words to be understood as representing the speech or thoughts of a given character in the comic...
(having a similar role to Clarabell the Clown
Clarabell the Clown
Clarabell the Clown was the mute partner of Howdy Doody.Three actors played Clarabell. The first was Bob Keeshan, who later became Captain Kangaroo. Keeshan was succeeded by Robert "Nick" Nicholson, who also played the character of J. Cornelius Cobb on The Howdy Doody Show. Lew Anderson was the...
of Howdy Doody
Howdy Doody
Howdy Doody is an American children's television program that was created and produced by E. Roger Muir and telecast on NBC in the United States from 1947 until 1960. It was a pioneer in children's television programming and set the pattern for many similar shows...
), in order to encourage young viewers to practice their reading skills because he was drawn without a mouth. He also never appeared out of his costume as Peter Parker and, given the series' budget limitations, used his web-shooters sparingly. (Many times, the scene cut to a pre-drawn panel of Spidey using his web-shooters, with the caption "Take that!")
The theme song that plays at the beginning and end of the shorts was written by Gary William Friedman
Gary William Friedman
Gary William Friedman is an American musician and composer. He completed his undergraduate work at Brooklyn College, and did advanced training in electronic music at Columbia University....
. The lyrics are as follows:
- Spider-Man, where are you coming from?
- Spider-Man, nobody knows who you are!
- Spider-Man, you've got that Spidey touch
- Spider-Man, you are a web-slinging star!
Episodes
Approximately one dozen "Spidey Super Stories" segments were produced during The Electric Company's 1974–1975 season, with another twelve or so during the 1975–1976 season, and an undetermined number during the series' final season.A 4-DVD boxed set was released by Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
and Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was a recorded music company, which was a 50–50 joint venture between the Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann AG...
on February 7, 2006, named The Best of Electric Company. It featured 20 episodes from 1971–1977 (D4D 34121), three of which contained Spidey segments.
A second 4-DVD boxed set with 20 shows from 1971–1976 was released on November 14, 2006 (82666-31014). Two of the episodes in this boxed set featured Spidey segments; however, in several of the other episodes, the Spider-Man segments were edited out to minimize the appearance of the character because of rights issues. Episode 60A, from season five, which featured a Spider-Man sketch as the sketch of the day, was altered drastically from the version that originally aired on television.
On March 7, 2006, another DVD named The Best of the Best of Electric Company, a truncated version of the volume-one boxed set, was released (DD 31006).
1974–1975
| Title | Narrator | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| "Spidey Meets the Spoiler" | Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won... |
The first "Spidey Super Stories" segment. Spidey links clues to the Spoiler (Skip Hinnant), a mischievous villain who aims to spoil people's fun. Spidey defeats him, but the victory is bittersweet: A wall got spoiled when Spidey knocks the Spoiler through it. Spider-Man also appeared in the opening sequence of the actual episode (Season 4 premiere). In the scene, J. Arthur Crank (Jim Boyd) looks around for Spider-Man, but only comes upon Easy Reader (Morgan Freeman). Crank never finds him and walks off, frustrated. |
| "A Night at the Movies" | Skip Hinnant Skip Hinnant - Career :Hinnant's first major role was as Cathy's boyfriend Ted on The Patty Duke Show from 1963 to 1965, and Schroeder in the original cast of Clark Gesner's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown during its original off-Broadway run in 1967, where his brother, Bill Hinnant, played Snoopy.He is best... |
Count Dracula Count Dracula Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler... (Morgan Freeman) plans to bite the neck of an unsuspecting movie-goer (Judy Graubart). Spidey is able to foil Dracula's plans. Count Dracula (based on the Bram Stoker Bram Stoker Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula... character) was a regular character on The Electric Company, appearing in skits with the Werewolf (Jim Boyd) and Frankenstein's monster (Skip Hinnant). It was episode 9B’s sketch of the day. |
| "Dr. Fly" | Morgan Freeman | Dr. Fly (Luis Avalos), a mutated half-fly, half-human plans to turn the world's inhabitants into the same type of mutant. He disguises himself as a vendor to distribute hot dog Hot dog A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:... s laced with a formula of fleas and flies. Spidey saves a customer (Jim Boyd) from eating a tainted hot dog and traps Dr. Fly in his web, but gets a ticket from a police officer (Morgan Freeman) for operating (Dr. Fly's) pushcart without a license. |
| "Spidey Up Against the Wall" | June Angela June Angela June Angela is an actress, singer, and dancer best known as Julie, the mainstay member of the Short Circus in the PBS children's television series The Electric Company during its entire six-year run.-The Short Circus:... |
At a New York Mets New York Mets The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League... baseball game, a mutated wall-human creature (Jim Boyd) sneaks up behind outfielder "Gumbo" Grace Ivy (Skip Hinnant) and causes him to miss a routine fly ball. The umpire (Morgan Freeman) is also knocked down. Spidey catches The Wall, but is ejected from the ballpark because spectators are not allowed on the field. This also aired as part of the last episode of The Electric Company (episode 130B). |
| "Spider-Man Meets the Can Crusher" | Morgan Freeman | Long ago, young boy visited a soup factory but loses his pet frog in a kettle of tomato soup. As an adult, the Can Crusher (Jim Boyd, sporting a Don King-type hairdo, a large red nose and wearing a black jumpsuit) visits supermarkets to find the can where his beloved frog may be, causing a disturbance and a food shortage whenever he destroys cans in his vain efforts. Spidey is called on to help but is defeated. The best villain taunt goes to the Can Crusher, whilst slipping out of his disguise as the supermarket manager: "Have you figured it out yet, wall crawler? Web Slinger? (preparing for the kill) CHANDELIER STOMPER!!!!! |
| "Spidey Meets the Funny Bunny" | Morgan Freeman | Once an ordinary girl until a bully sat on her Easter basket, a woman dressed in an Easter Bunny Easter Bunny The Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit is a character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted with clothes... costume (Judy Graubart) sets out to steal other children's Easter baskets. She plans to disrupt the annual Easter Egg roll at the White House. Spidey is tipped off and sets a trap that catches her. The role of the president is played by Melanie Henderson, who is believed to be one of the first African-American actresses to play the role of a U.S. president on television. See List of fictional United States Presidents. |
| "Meet Dr. Fright" | Hattie Winston Hattie Winston Hattie Mae Winston is an American television, film and Broadway actress best known for her role as Margaret on Becker and as a prominent cast member of the PBS children's series The Electric Company.-Early career:... |
Dr. Fright (Skip Hinnant) is a monster who has a face so frighteningly ugly that he conceals it beneath an oversized stovepipe hat. He uses this to terrify victims, robbing them when they become frozen in fright. He plans to freeze Spidey but Spidey instead freezes Dr. Fright by holding up a mirror. |
| "Meet Mr. Measles" | Jim Boyd Jim Boyd (actor) Jim Boyd is an American actor, born in Philadelphia.Boyd spent four years in the Air Force and studied at the American Academy for Dramatic Arts.... |
Mr. Measles (Skip Hinnant), armed with a large bag of measles Measles Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses... -causing spots, plans to spread a worldwide epidemic. He infects several people but Spidey catches him before a large-scale outbreak happens. However, Spidey becomes ill with the measles. |
| "Spidey Jumps the Thumper" | Judy Graubart Judy Graubart Esther Judith "Judy" Graubart is an American actress and comedienne. She is best remembered for being a regular cast member of The Electric Company, the revolutionary children's show from the 1970s produced by the Children's Television Workshop... |
The Thumper (Hattie Winston) was a spoiled little rich girl who didn't get a yellow pony for her birthday. Turning to a life of crime after the cake and ice cream, the Thumper fancies herself as Napoleon Bonaparte. She assaults two citizens (Luis Avalos and Skip Hinnant) with an oversized boxing glove hidden inside her coat a la Napoleon's famous pose. Spidey catches her but he too is thumped. He regains his senses and traps her in his web. |
| "Spidey and the Queen Bee" | Morgan Freeman | A half-human, half-bee mutant named The Queen Bee (Hattie Winston) plots to rule the world. Her underlings are also mutated bee-human creatures (played by Skip Hinnant and Judy Graubart). Spidey tracks her down to her giant hive and foils her plans by webbing her minion, The Beekeeper (Luis Avalos), but the other mutated bee-humans sting Spidey repeatedly while she escapes. |
| "Little Miss Muffett" | Based on the nursery rhyme Nursery rhyme The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:... . Spidey comes to the rescue of the title character (Hattie Winston) after a large spider terrorizes her. However, Spidey recognizes the spider (a large prop) as an uncle of his, and as they become friends, as Miss Muffett leaves in disgust. |
|
| "The Bookworm" | Skip Hinnant | Easy Reader (Morgan Freeman) is helping his friend, Valerie (Hattie Winston) sort books at the library, when they notice large holes in the books. They try to beat back a large bookworm (a purple and green striped sock-puppet Puppet A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre.... ) by throwing books at it. Spidey arrives in time but the Bookworm escapes his web. |
1975–1976
| Title | Narrator | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| "The Birthday Bandit" | Luis Avalos Luis Avalos Luis Avalos is a Cuban character actor. He has made numerous film and television appearances, most notably in the 1970s children's television show, The Electric Company... |
The Birthday Bandit (Jim Boyd), dressed in a multi-colored suit, steals birthday party items, saying what he is doing in Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone.... -style rhyme. He concludes that an oversized cake is a trap set by Spidey. |
| "Spidey Meets the Prankster" | Skip Hinnant | Spidey is visiting the Short Circus when several practical joke Practical joke A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, indignity, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or... s occur. Spidey eventually links them to Principal Prescott (Jim Boyd), who after being captured admits he was frustrated by a series of recent pranks by the Short Circus and only wanted to get even. This was also episode 60A's sketch of the day. |
| "Spidey Meets the Blowhard" | Janina Matthews | A man in a tuxedo and cape (Luis Avalos), who fancies himself as the Big Bad Wolf, plots revenge on Fargo North Decoder (Skip Hinnant) after the detective foiled his plans to blow down Trenton, New Jersey Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913... . Meanwhile, Fargo's friends plan a surprise birthday party for him. Later, when Fargo is asked to blow out the candles, The Blowhard crashes the party. Spidey is quickly able to capture the villain, thanks to Paul the Gorilla smashing a pie into Blowhard's face as he prepares to blow. |
| "Who Stole the Show?" | Todd Graff | A former child star named Winky Goodyshoes (Hattie Winston) bemoans her inability to find suitable work. Later, she steals the props and costumes from an auditorium where a dress rehearsal is in progress. Spidey catches Winky before she can literally move the show too far off-Broadway. However, the cast remembers the former child star and they offer her a chance to star in the show as the villain. This sketch features a flashback scene of the villain's childhood, with Short Circus member Réjane Magloire Réjane Magloire Réjane "Reggie" Magloire is a singer, model, and actress.Magloire was born in Zaire but grew up in New York. She studied Western classical music with heavy emphasis on opera singing... making a cameo appearance as the young Winky. |
| "Spidey Meets the Yeti" | Todd Graff | An abominable snowman (Jim Boyd) becomes homesick after wandering away from his home in the Frozen North North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface... , and sits on various cold items to help him cope. Spidey sets a trap to catch the Yeti, after which a policeman (Morgan Freeman) wants to take him into custody. Spidey persuades the policeman to let him take the Yeti back home. |
| "Spidey Meets the Mouse" | Janina Mathews | A college student (Skip Hinnant) dons a giant mouse costume and steals cheese. Spider-Man eventually snares him in a trap. |
| "Spidey Meets the Sitter" | A young man (Luis Avalos) decides it would be fun to don an old lady's wig and dress, in order to take jobs as a baby-sitter as an opportunity to steal things. Spidey shows up to foil the faux-granny and sticks around to help with the baby-sitting. | |
| "Spidey Fixes the Hum" | June Angela | An aspiring rock star named David Dinger (Luis Avalos) from rock 'n' roll Rock and roll Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music... 's earliest days would hum his songs because he could not remember the words: critics dub him the Hum Dinger. By 1960, the hits stop coming and he works as an electronics repairman. He defrauds Confidence trick A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,... his customers by revealing phony hums in their equipment. Spidey investigates and tracks Hum down at the home of a customer (Judy Graubart) and her son (Todd Graff), foiling him by leaving a radio turned on until Hum could no longer maintain his hum. |
| "Spidey Nabs the Sandman" | A burglar named The Sandman (Luis Avalos) dresses as sleepwalker Sleepwalking Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism, is a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. Sleepwalkers arise from the slow wave sleep stage in a state of low consciousness and perform activities that are usually performed during a state of full consciousness... Wee Willie Winkie Wee Willie Winkie "Wee Willie Winkie" is a Scottish nursery rhyme, whose titular figure has become popular the world over as a personification of sleep. The poem, written by William Miller and titled "Willie Winkie", was first published in Whistle-binkie: Stories for the Fireside in 1841... . He sedates and robs his victims by sprinkling magic sand on them. The Sandman happens upon a grand gala with nearly the entire cast. He sprinkles sand on everyone. Spidey arrives and investigates a pile of sand and falls asleep. He awakens and tracks down The Sandman, nabbing him using The Sandman's sand against him. This is not the Sandman Sandman (Marvel Comics) Sandman is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. A shapeshifter endowed through an accident with the ability to turn himself into sand, he eventually reformed, and became an ally of Spider-Man... from the original Spider-Man comics. |
|
| "Spidey Meets the Tickler" | Hattie Winston | The Tickler (Luis Avalos) is a bitter failed comedian. He dresses as legendary William Tell William Tell William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland. His legend is recorded in a late 15th century Swiss chronicle.... and pesters pedestrians with his bad jokes and tickling them with feathers, robbing his helpless victims when they don't laugh. Spidey corners the Tickler but he runs out of web. The Tickler tells Spidey jokes, and Spidey pretends to laugh. He tells more jokes until he finds himself arrested. Best joke of the Tickler's: Q - Why does a duck have webbed feet? A - Because if he had a webbed head, he'd be Spider-Man! |
| "Spidey Gets the Old One-Two" | June Angela | Conk (Jim Boyd) and Bonk (Luis Avalos) were ordinary third graders until a bully stole their lunches. The duo dress in black suits and derbies and assault their victims: Conk with a large mallet to the head, Bonk with a boxing glove to the stomach, grabbing their victims' lunches before they can recuperate. Spidey uses a peanut butter and banana sandwich to set a trap. Note: Conk and Bonk were a parody of the Alka-Seltzer Alka-Seltzer Alka-Seltzer is an effervescent antacid and pain reliever first marketed by the Dr. Miles Medicine Company. It was developed by Treneer in Elkhart Indiana. Alka-Seltzer is marketed for relief of minor aches, pains, inflammation, fever, headache, heartburn, sour stomach, indigestion, and hangovers,... commercial running at the time: the personifications of headache Headache A headache or cephalalgia is pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. It can be a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and neck. The brain tissue itself is not sensitive to pain because it lacks pain receptors. Rather, the pain is caused by disturbance of the... (Conk) and upset stomach (Bonk) would assault people who hadn't been eating right, only to be defeated when the victims would take Alka-Seltzer. |
| "Spidey Meets Eye Patch" | Eye Patch (Skip Hinnant) is a pirate with an evil eye, concealed by a patch. Anyone who is exposed to Eye Patch's powers are prompted to do the last thing they would ever want to do. He causes trouble in town. He flashes his eye at Spidey who dances foolishly, allowing Eye Patch to escape. Eye Patch then flashes his eye at a peace-loving flower child Flower child Flower child originated as a synonym for hippie, especially the idealistic young people who gathered in San Francisco and environs during the 1967 Summer of Love. It was the custom of "flower children" to wear and distribute flowers or floral-themed decorations to symbolize altruistic ideals of... (Judy Graubart) who punches him in the cursed eye (the last thing she ever wanted to do was hurt someone), taking away Eye Patches power and giving him a whole new outlook on life (no pun intended) as he, Spidey, and the flower child walk off together. |
|
| "Spidey Meets Silly Willy" | Todd Graff | Similar to The Tickler, a failed clown named Silly Willy (Jim Boyd) takes out his frustrations with inane antics such as bobbing himself over the head with a rubber chicken Rubber chicken A rubber chicken is a prop used in comedy. The phrase is also used as a description for food served at speeches, conventions, and other large meetings, and as a metaphor for speechmaking.-Comedy:... . As he causes passers-by (including Hattie Winston and Morgan Freeman) to respond with laughter, he robs them. Spidey captures the evil clown when he attempts his silly antics at a posh dinner party. |
| "The Uninvited" | As a youngster, The Uninvited (Luis Avalos) is the only child in his class to not be invited to a birthday party. He gets his revenge by inviting himself to parties to rob the guests. One of The Uninvited's victims is J. Arthur Crank (Jim Boyd, cameoing his signature role on The Electric Company), when the Uninvited invites himself to Crank's bath night, stealing his last dry towel and his rubber duckie: the one his friend Ernie gave him! Just as the Uninvited invites himself to steal a construction worker's (Judy Graubart) salary, Spidey extends a special invitation to The Uninvited: to jail, courtesy of a webbing. | |
| "Spidey After the Fox" | The Fox (Hattie Winston) is a villain in a fox costume who prowls the streets to rip people off, including their clothes. Spidey sets a trap, standing on the street in a trenchcoat, hat, and dark glasses. The Fox sneaks up, strips Spidey's trenchcoat off and sees that it is actually Spidey. Spidey launches his web and captures her. |
1976–1977
| Title | Narrator | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| "The Beastly Banana" | Luis Avalos | Jennifer of the Jungle (Judy Graubart) is worried about Paul the Gorilla's recent weird behavior, which she links to tainted bananas—the work of Morgan Freeman's signature Mad Scientist character, who plans to capture Paul and abuse him in a series of experiments. Spidey follows a trail of banana peels and catches up with Paul in the nick of time. Just as Paul is about to eat it, Spidey grabs the tainted fruit. The Mad Scientist tries to flee but Spidey nails him in his web. |
Comics
From 1974 to 1982, Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
published a comic book called Spidey Super Stories, which was aimed at children ages 6–10. A total of 57 issues were produced, written by Jim Salicrup
Jim Salicrup
Jim Salicrup is an American comic book editor, known for his tenures at Marvel Comics and Topps Comics. At Marvel, where he worked for twenty years, he edited books such as The Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avengers and various Spider-Man titles...
. During the early years, a comic book version of one of The Electric Company Spidey skits was included. A truncated version also appeared in The Electric Company Magazine. In contrast to the live-action segments on The Electric Company, Spidey often appeared out of costume as Peter Parker.
Every issue of Spidey Super Stories featured at least one story where Spidey would team up with an established Marvel Comics superhero to fight an established Marvel villain. This served to introduce other Marvel characters to new readers who were unfamiliar with the company's characters prior to seeing Spider-Man on The Electric Company. Most of these stories would feature quick origins, usually taking up a single page or less, of both the featured hero and villain. Guest heroes included Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
(on several occasions), Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange
Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Strange Tales #110 ....
, Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman is the codename of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:Marvel Comics' then-publisher Stan Lee, said in 1978, shortly after Spider-Woman's debut in Marvel Spotlight #32 Spider-Woman is the codename of several fictional characters...
, Nova
Nova (comics)
Nova is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Upon becoming a member of the galaxy's Nova Corps , the youth gained enhanced strength, flight, injury resistance, and a specialized uniform with life support.In May 2011, Nova placed 98th on IGN's Top 100 Comic...
, and Ms Marvel. Guest villains included the Green Goblin
Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
, the Blizzard
Blizzard (comics)
The Blizzard is the name of three fictional characters that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics.The original version first appears in Tales of Suspense #45 as a supervillain and is currently deceased. The second version first appears in Iron Man #223 The Blizzard is the name of three...
, Jack O'Lantern
Jack O'Lantern (Marvel Comics)
Jack O'Lantern is the name of four fictional supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe. Later incarnations of the character were also referred to as Mad Jack.-Jason Macendale:...
, and even Thanos
Thanos
Thanos is a fictional character that appears in comic books and other media published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Iron Man #55 and was created by writer-artist Jim Starlin....
.
Other stories in the issue would feature regular characters from The Electric Company, such as Easy Reader and detective Fargo North, with Spidey as a supporting character; conversely, The Electric Company characters would sometimes appear as supporting characters in the Spidey-centric stories. Supporting characters from other Spider-Man comics made regular appearances as well, such as Peter Parker's girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane Watson, often shortened to MJ, is a fictional supporting character appearing, originally, in Marvel comic books and, later, in multiple spin-offs and dramatizations of the Spider-Man titles as the best friend, love interest, and one-time wife of Peter Parker, the alter ego of Spider-Man...
, and the staff of Parker's workplace, the Daily Bugle
Daily Bugle
The Daily Bugle is a fictional New York City newspaper that is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, most prominently in Spider-Man comic titles and their derivative media...
, most notably editor J. Jonah Jameson
J. Jonah Jameson
John Jonah Jameson Junior is a supporting character of Spider-Man in the .Jameson is usually the publisher or editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, a fictional New York newspaper and now serves as the mayor of New York City...
.
All issues were declared easy-to-read by Easy Reader in a stylized drawing on the comic's cover. To aid comprehension by young readers, the stories featured larger print and less complex stories than most comic books; in particular, Spidey Super Stories as a rule featured no more than four evenly divided panels per story page.
Marvel themselves parodied Spidey Super Stories in a humorous issue of What If...?
What If (comics)
What If, sometimes rendered as What If...?, is the title of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, exploring "the road not traveled" by its various characters...
For two pages, an alternate universe is shown where Marvel had instead teamed up with the National Endowment of the Arts to produce Spidey Intellectual Stories, where Spider-Man defeats the Mad Thinker
Mad Thinker
The Mad Thinker is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . He is a genius specializing in evil robotics and usually comes up with very elaborate infallible devious plans that unfold like clockwork....
by debating philosophy. The Watcher
Uatu
Uatu, often simply known as The Watcher, is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and designed by artist Jack Kirby, he first appeared in The Fantastic Four #13 ....
notes that it "is for a [yawn] select audience, to be sure."
Record
"Spidey Super Stories" also appeared as a special vinyl record in the 1970s licensed by Children's Television Workshop to Peter Pan RecordsPeter Pan Records
Peter Pan Records is a record label specializing in children's music. It was created in the late 1940s. The label was owned by the Synthetic Plastics Company of Newark, New Jersey until the 1970s....
. Included on the record are two stories from The Electric Company: "Spidey Versus Mr. Measles" and "The Queen Bee." Other stories include Spidey versus an evil toy-wielding criminal called the Jester in "The Last Laugh," The Purple Pirates and Evil MacWeevil in "The Leader of the Pack" (which includes a cameo of Fargo North, Decoder), and Spidey's origin story. Three other stories feature Spidey with members of the Short Circus, and Pedro and his plant Maurice fighting the Mole Man in "20,000 Feet Under the Ground"; and the group tackling more traditional Marvel Comics villains in "Deadly is the Doctor Called Doom" and "Spidey Versus the Sandman." On the records, Spidey/Peter Parker was given a voice, but a picture of Spider-Man on the back utilized the traditional Spidey-talking technique of having his words in word balloons. Elements such as Spidey's spider-sense and the spider-tracer are used in these stories as well.