Next on my classic comic book show list in the 1981 Spider-Man! This isn’t the one with his friends, this is the one focused on him. After watching Spider-Woman I thought I would be prepared for this show, but I was not. It felt completely different than Spider-Woman and had a lot of odd phrases and moments that felt like sexual innuendos. Overall, it was a funny show that is good to throw on in the background.
The intro to this show was much better than Spider-Woman because it had a catchy tune and highlighted the villains he would be fighting. The episodes went by fairly fast as well, but I did find myself zoning out from time to time because of the slow-pacing of certain scenes. The plot was clear in each episode, especially if you zoned out for a bit. I did have to skip one episode, “The Web of Nephila,” because the spider-villain is far too creepy for my comfort.
Spider-Man as a character was pretty good because his powers were more comic accurate and realistic (aside from some of the creations he made with his web shooters). He did make a lot of spider-puns but that’s to be expected. His personality aligns with the comics as well because he was constantly making quips in battle and running himself exhausted from school and hero work. Although, it seemed like he never really went to school. He keeps missing his dates with Betty as well, which as far as I know is comic accurate as well.
The majority of the villains were Spider-Man’s actual villains, save a few bigger villains that weren’t his but somehow became his problem. All the costumes were comic accurate for the villains which is always fun to laugh at because this was before all the costumes got revamped and, arguably, better. My only confusion is why didn’t the Avengers appear more? They were canon in the show, Hulk was mentioned several times and we saw Captain America, so why were certain villains Spider-Man’s problem? I know for a fact Dr. Doom isn’t a Spider-Man villain. Also, Dr. Doom isn’t a real Doctor!
J. Jonah Jameson was a recurring and comic accurate character, though he did seem to have a crush on Dr. Doom with how much he fangirled over the tyrant. Betty was Peter’s love interest in this show, but it was frustrating because she kept giving him chances after saying she wasn’t going to give him any more chances. As for Aunt May, I didn’t like her in this show at all. She looked exactly like the comic accurate Agatha Harkness, down to the broach! What was that about? And she kept getting in the way, but not in a fun and sweet way, more like a tedious and frustrating way. She also seemingly had a crush on the Hulk and strongly disliked Spider-Man. She always upset me when she was speaking or doing anything. And there was an entire episode dedicated to her trying to kill Spider-Man! WTF?
The show ended in a fairly pleasing way. Spider-Man kissed Medusa and went home happy after defeating a villain. There wasn’t anything that needed to wrap up, so the show just ending was fine. I think it’s funny that Peter kinda just forgot about Betty though! But Medusa is a much better choice for him than whiney Betty. If you can, you should watch the show!
Here are some reactions as I watched the show: 
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