Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is a 1981–1983 American superhero animated television series produced by Marvel Productions, and a crossover with the 1981 Spider-Man series. In addition to the established Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and Iceman, the show introduced the principal character Fire-Star. As a trio called the Spider-Friends, they defeat various villains of the Marvel Universe.
Production
The series was an attempt by NBC to replicate some of the success ABC enjoyed with the Super Friends franchise. The makers of the show intended the stars to be Spider-Man, Iceman, and the Human Torch. However, legal issues about the rights to the Human Torch character led to the Human Torch being replaced by the new character Fire-Star, who had similar powers, but was a mutant like Iceman. The Fire-Star character's name changed frequently during pre-production, including Firefly, Starblaze, and Heatwave. Due to the character's popularity, Firestar was subsequently added to the mainstream Marvel Universe.Marvel Comics maintained a high level of creative control over the series, with Stan Lee working with the screenwriters and involving himself in the casting and animation.
Some of the sound effects used in the series originated from Universal Television's Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Adding Ms. Lion, a pet, as a character was another attempt to emulate the Super Friends.
Fire-Star actress Kathy Garver recalled that though the storyboards for each episode were completed before the voices were recorded for it, "... we really just worked from script. We'd do a roundtable to get the feeling of how the show was going, and then we would record".
Broadcast schedule
Originally broadcast on NBC as a Saturday morning cartoon, the series ran first-run original episodes for three seasons, from 1981 to 1983, then aired repeats for an additional two years. Alongside the 1981 Spider-Man animated series, Amazing Friends was later re-aired in the late 1980s as part of the 90-minute Marvel Action Universe, a syndicated series that was used as a platform for old and new Marvel-produced animated fare. Mihahn and Toei Animation contributed some of the animation for this series.Season changes
During the first season, each episode contained a cold open, which was and remains unusual for a children's cartoon. When the same episodes were re-aired later in the series' run, these teaser sequences were edited to fit after the titles and episode card. Still, the original sequence infrequently showed up on NBC's re-airings. Stan Lee did not originally narrate the episodes from this season.In the second season, the show aired along with a newly produced Hulk animated series as The Incredible Hulk and the Amazing Spider-Man. The two shows shared one intro which showcased the new title. In place of the cold opens from the first season, Marvel Productions created 12-second previews aired immediately preceding the episodes. Stan Lee began narrating the episodes in the second season. Marvel Productions also added narrations by Lee to the first-season episodes at this time to give the series cohesion. Neither first nor second season narrations appear on the current masters, and they have not aired since the NBC airings.
For the third season, the characters' billing was reversed and the show was called, The Amazing Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk. It remained that way for most of the remaining years. NBC did air the show individually in mid-season after it was not initially announced for their fall schedule. Only some of the Stan Lee narrations for the third season are on the current masters. The missing narrations have not aired since the NBC airings.
Storyline
Peter Parker, Bobby Drake, and Angelica Jones are all college students at Empire State University. After working together to defeat the Beetle and recovering the "Power Booster" he stole from Tony Stark the trio decide to team-up permanently as the "Spider-Friends". They live together at Aunt May's home with her pet dog named Ms. Lion, a Lhasa Apso who was adopted by Fire-Star. Together, the superheroes battle various supervillains.Some stories featured team-ups with other superheroes including but not limited to Captain America, Doctor Strange, Thor, Sunfire, and the mid-1970s X-Men.
Original characters
A number of characters were original to the series, with no comic appearance prior to the series premiere.Fire-Star
One of the principal characters, Fire-Star was created specifically for this series when the Human Torch was unavailable. The original plan was for Spider-Man to have fire and ice based teammates, so Angelica Jones/Fire-Star was created. Her pre-production names included Heatwave, Firefly,, and Starblaze.Firestar did not appear in Marvel's mainstream comic book universe until Uncanny X-Men #193. She appears as a member of the Hellions, a group of teenage mutants who functioned as rivals to the New Mutants. After leaving the Hellions, Firestar becomes a founding member of the New Warriors and later serves as a distinguished member of the Avengers along with her fellow New Warrior, Justice. She is currently a member of the X-Men.
Hiawatha Smith
Hiawatha Smith is a college professor at the Spider-Friends' university. He is the son of a heroic Native American chief who fought against the Axis during World War II.Hiawatha Smith's home is adorned with decorations from various cultures including Hindu and native African tribes. Producer and story editor Dennis Marks created the character and admits to basing him on Indiana Jones.
Smith's father passed down to his son the mystic knowledge of their people and a map leading to a vast Nazi treasure of wealth and advanced technology sought by the Red Skull. Smith often employs a boomerang in battle. He possesses a supernatural ability to communicate with animals.
Lightwave
Lightwave's real name is Aurora Dante. Like her older half-brother Bobby Drake, Lightwave is a mutant. She can manipulate and control light. Her other light-based powers include laser blasts, photonic force fields and solid light pressor beams. She can also transform herself into light; in such a form, she is able to exist in the vacuum of outer space.Lightwave's only appearance was in "Save the Guardstar", the final episode of the 1980s cartoon. She is voiced by Annie Lockhart. Bobby Drake explains that they share the same mother.
An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Lightwave is considered a traitor, due to mind control by rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Buzz Mason. Mason induces Lightwave to steal assorted devices to create a "quantum enhancer" which would increase her powers 1,000 times. With such power, Lightwave would be able to control the Guardstar satellite which orbits the Earth and controls all defense systems and communications systems for the United States. Mason expects world conquest since he controls Lightwave.
Iceman, Fire-Star, and Spider-Man attempt to stop Lightwave. However, she is powerful enough to defeat them. Aboard a space vessel, Buzz Mason forces Iceman into outer space, dooming Iceman if he remains there for long. Spider-Man convinces Lightwave to realize that the half-brother she loves is in mortal danger. Her reaction breaks Mason's control over her, and she saves Iceman and disables Mason long enough for Spider-Man to subdue him.
Presumably, with Mason's role realized, S.H.I.E.L.D. restores Lightwave's good standing. As this is Lightwave's only appearance, her fate is unknown.
Videoman
Videoman is an intangible two-dimensional being with lightning bolt-shaped horns that is mostly composed of electronic data gleaned from a video arcade. Videoman makes three appearances in the series where there are two versions of him.As a villain
In Season 1, Videoman first appeared as an angular humanoid energy construct created by Electro. Its abilities include moving through and manipulating electronic circuits and projecting rectangular pulses of energy. Videoman is used by Electro to suck in and entrap Spider-Man, Flash Thompson, Fire-Star, and Iceman into a video game display where Electro attempts to destroy the four. However, Flash is able to save himself and the others by escaping through the monitor and into Electro's electronic components to save the others.This first villainous version of Videoman makes one other appearance in Season 2's "Origin of Ice-Man", with the additional abilities of bringing video game characters to life and draining the unique bio-energy of mutants, temporarily suppressing Iceman's powers and weakening Fire-Star, as well as being able to emulate their powers for its own use. This time, Videoman is defeated when the Spider-Friends trick it and its video game minions into attacking one another.
As a superhero
In the Season 3 episode "The Education of a Superhero", nerdy Francis Byte is an avid video game player who is especially engrossed into gaining the high score on a game called Zellman Comman at the local arcade. The villain Gamesman sends a hypnotic signal that entrances over 300,000 people in the city. This does not affect Francis' girlfriend Louise, Spider-Man, and Fire-Star, nor does the signal affect Francis' mind, which is distracted from entrancement by Louise and the game. Louise walks away from Francis, then also gets affected and hypnotized after having her pleas disregarded by Francis. He plays the arcade machine so rigorously that it and other arcade machines explode. The explosion transforms Francis into Videoman.Francis discovers that he can become his new blue and white, red-eyed alter-ego Videoman at will. However, he is inexperienced with handling such powerful abilities. He tries to help the trio against a hypnotized mob, but they repel his offers due to his inexperience. He then tries to save Louise from the Gamesman, but he is easily blackmailed into manipulating a military communications satellite system in return for Louise's freedom, an offer that is then reneged upon by the Gamesman. Enraged at the trickery, Videoman helps Spider-Man and the others free Louise and also reverses his stoppage of the military computer. After the Gamesman is defeated, Francis accepts an invitation to join the X-Men, while Louise accepts him and his abilities.
Videoman made a cameo appearance in the 2023 film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. He is depicted as a prisoner of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Society among other universe-displaced villains.