1978: THE SMALL-SCREEN SUPERHERO BOOM

From 1978: Back to the first superhero screen boom: the explosion of superpowered TV shows that filled the airwaves - with various degrees of commercial and creative success - back in the late 1970s.

This STARLOG MAGAZINE article is a fun upsum of what was shooting at the time... And also demonstrates the lack of attention to detail by studio publicity people who sem to be quite happy for pictures of the Green Goliath to circulate... in slippers!  It is possible to see them by attentive viewing of the DVD's (and probably more so on the HD releases) but they have a picture quality above-and-beyond how anyone watched the show when it first aired.  But a still in a national (international!) magazine is something else.  But it is fun.  The picture is - incidentally - from the TERROR IN TIME SQUARE location shoot.

1979: SPIDER-MAN STRIKES BACK and THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD Double-bill

From April 1979: a UK print ad for the theatrical double-bill of SPIDER-MAN STRIKES BACK (compiled from episodes of the brief CBS series) paired with THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD.

This was presumably concocted to give the kids something to do during the Easter holidays. The fact that they were released a week apart depending on which side of the Thames you lived suggests that the finite number of prints were hauled off the projectors after a week, chucked in the back of an Odeon van and sent south to new (temporary) homes. 

From September 1981: the New Season issue of LOOK-IN... and also the end of an era...

Proof positive that the CBS live-action SPIDER-MAN TV show took its sweet time (delayed by the feature film versions) to cross the Atlantic... the announcement of its impending arrival on ITV from LOOK-IN.  

It was usual practice for LOOK-IN to publish strip adaptations of any pre-watershed (ruling out THE PROFESSIONALS) shows deemed of sufficient interest to its readership and not already licensed to another title (which didn't seem to stop them doing their own versions of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and THE A-TEAM) which would have made Spidey a shoe-in.  Except, of course, Marvel UK had those rights all stitched up.  The long-running weekly changed its name (SUPER SPIDER-MAN TV COMIC) and format (glossy front-and-centre spreads) to make the most of the marketing moment.  

Other highlights of the new ITV season (LOOK-IN was, of course, published by ITV Publications... owned by the regional ITV companies principally to publish their listings in TV TIMES magazine) included METAL MICKEY (another show that, for different reasons, never secured a comic strip slot herein... although the editors were confident enough to announce its impending debut.  It went to TV TOPS instead) and John Inman in TAKE A LETTER MR JONES.  Sadly LI readers were deprived of the chance to read a weekly dose of comic strip campery as well.  

This was also the last issue to feature the often stunning artwork covers (notable for some very odd combinations of cover stars depending on who was featured on any particular week) that served it so well throughout most of the Seventies.  The following issue switched to the photo-covers that continued for the rest of the mag's long run. 

1978: THE SPIDER-MAN FILM IN THE UK (Marvel UK)

From 1978: Coverage from the SPIDER-MAN weekly of a special suspiciously sexist cinema screening of the first (of three) Spidey faux feature films.  

I'm loving the Spider-Mobile!

This appeared in issue 272, 26 April 1978. 

1994: SPIDER-MAN TV VHS COMPETITION (Marvel UK)

From 1994: a blast back, courtesy of MARVEL UK's THE EXPLOITS OF SPIDER-MAN, to the Seventies... and a chance to win a VHS re-release of the SPIDER-MAN movie (AKA the TV pilot). 

Even before the Sony movie series, these TV outings looked a little - ahem - under-resourced so I doubt many fans in 1994 were swept away by the show's sophistication.

These were a mainstay of the VHS era with several re-releases for all three films before the format died.  They would be relied upon to surface in most Woolworth's Home Entertainment departments.  With no DVD release, charity shops are now your best bet...

This appeared in issue 26, 21 September 1994. 

1979: SPIDER-MAN STRIKES BACK and SPIDER-MAN: THE DRAGON'S CHALLENGE VHS COVERS

From the tail-end of the VHS era: the sleeves for the two original SPIDER-MAN sequels: SPIDER-MAN STRIKES BACK and SPIDER-MAN: THE DRAGON'S CHALLENGE.  

These were re-released to capitalize on the first 'proper' SPIDER-MAN movie, presumably (like almost every move The Asylum makes) in the hopes that an unwitting punter would think these bargain-priced releases were the new movie.  I don't think they would be so impressed when they got home and saw the Seventies TV Spidey in all his low-fi glory.

These were double-length episodes of the CBS series (The Deadly Dust and The Chinese Web respectively) retitled and released in overseas markets, including the UK, as full theatrical films in the late Seventies (delaying the UK premiere of the actual series until 1981, four years after the Pilot first aired in the States).  THE DRAGON'S CHALLENGE, the finale of the TV series, was almost certainly shot with a theatrical release in mind as it benefits greatly from extensive location filming in Hong Kong.  Highly unusual for a US series.  

Exact release dates are hard to come by but the first film had two runs in UK cinemas (March and October or thereabouts) in 1978 so I imagine that these two followed in 1979 and (possibly) 1980. 

None of the three movies have ever been officially released in the DVD era.  Columbia, the rights holders, are part of Sony and (presumably) they don't want old product competing with their new series of feature films.  It's also possible that their rights don't extend to digital media.  It's a shame as these were ubiquitous during the tape era... and hard-to-find today.  

1978: STAR WARS WEEKLY House Ad/ SPIDER-MAN MOVIE (Marvel UK)

From 15 March 1978: A MARVEL UK House Ad for the sixth issue of STAR WARS WEEKLY (with art from the third US issue) as well as a plug for the impending British cinema release of the SPIDER-MAN TV pilot.  

If you've ever seen the premiere episode, you'll know that (in addition to being generally underwhelming) it also suffers from some remarkably bad effects work (notably some crappy CSO/ Blue Screen work) which must have looked incredibly poor magnified on the big screen. 

The show didn't reach British TV until late 1981.

1982: SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL (Marvel UK)

Another early Eighties (possibly 1982*) MARVEL UK annual: SPIDER-MAN.

I got this as a birthday gift from our local Martin's the newsagent way-back-when... and I loved it.  I was a big fan of the live-action TV show (which ITV had finally got around to airing from September 1981) and this contained stills and an episode guide to the show.  This was - quite possibly - the first episode guide I was ever exposed to.

Strip-wise, this contained the double-length 'Vengeance is mine... Sayeth the sword!' reprinted from the second (1980) PETER PARKER THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL.  

It also contained one of those 'Secrets of Spider-man' pieces which pop up every so often.  

* M-UK/ Grandreams, annoyingly, didn't put dates anywhere on their annuals around this period. 

1978: SPIDER-MAN MOVIE FEATURE (Marvel UK)

SPIDER-MAN's small-screen adventures… go big!

Here is a double-page spread from MARVEL UK's SPIDER-MAN weekly pegged to the March 1978 British theatrical release of the original September 1977 CBS tele-film/ back-door pilot.

This appeared in issue 269, cover-dated 6 April 1978.

Even on the small-screen, the tele-flick looks underwhelming (hampered by LA locations, the limits of technology, a TV budget and some terrible video effects) so it's easy to imagine how dire this looked passed-off as a full movie.

It must have done reasonable business as it was re-released, as part of a double bill, later the same year and two more cut-and-shunt sequels followed.

The TV show itself eventually arrived on British screens, courtesy of ITV, in the autumn of 1981.  The British Bullpen were prepared for the moment by relaunching the weekly as SUPER SPIDER-MAN TV COMIC with glossy covers and centre-spreads to showcase stills from the show.

1978: THE SPIDER-MAN (FAUX) FEATURE FILM REVIEWED BY MARVEL UK

Here's a double-page spread reviewing (or summarising in detail) the first SPIDER-MAN (faux) feature film, published in Marvel UK's SPIDER-MAN weekly in March 1978, to coincide with its first release (it resurfaced again, as part of a double-bill, later the same year... presumably some indication of its initial success).

I think the review is probably over generous in its (muted) praise.  I never saw the movie on the big screen but - even on TV - the pilot episode looks a little ropey 'round the edges with some notably bad attempts at blue screen work which would have shamed (or, at least, mildly embarrassed) THE TOMORROW PEOPLE effects team and were - as far as I can recall - abandoned for the (brief) weekly series.  

That said, I do remember watching the TV show when it hit ITV in 1981 (one episode frustratingly coincided - as I recall - with my primary school disco) and not being remotely critical, other than noting the unconvincing wall-crawling.

1979: SPIDER-MAN STRIKES BACK VHS COVER

Here's a VHS sleeve from the middle entry in the first SPIDER-MAN "movie trilogy". Released in 1979, SPIDER-MAN STRIKES BACK had originally aired stateside the previous year as the two-part TV adventure The Deadly Dust.

The three movies were staples of the VHS era (this particular release was probably intended to trick unsuspecting punters into thinking they were buying the first of the new films, hence the 'Spider-man the movie' logo) but neither they nor the series that spawned them have been released on DVD although bootlegs are widely available.

SPIDER-MAN: THE (ORIGINAL) MOVIES - PART TWO

Here's a few more British rarities related to the UK releases of the late seventies SPIDER-MAN fake feature films.

First up is a Marvel UK house ad, from March 1978, plugging the release of the first movie.  They've seen it, apparently its rather good.  I'm not sure confessing its TV origins was a great marketing move but...

22 March 1978

This is a surprisingly honest assessment of the movies from the 1979 SPIDER-MAN SUMMER SPECIAL (actually the first published by Marvel UK).

SPIDER-MAN SUMMER SPECIAL

1979

SPIDER-MAN: THE (ORIGINAL) MOVIES - PART 1

To get everyone in the mood for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, he's an action-packed (so much action they had to cram three scenes on the screen at once) trail for the late seventies live-action SPIDER-MAN TV show.  Here in the UK, it formed the basis of Spidey's first faux theatrical trilogy before getting a belated TV outing.

The British Spider-man comic changed its name to SUPER SPIDER-MAN TV COMIC (and brought back glossy covers) to coincide with the TV show's UK premiere on ITV from October 1981.

SUPER SPIDER-MAN TV COMIC

ISSUE 450

21 October 1981