Spider-Man (partially found "Next Week" bumpers of ABC animated series; 1967-1970)

Title card from the cartoon.

Status: Partially Found

Spider-Man (commonly referred to as 60's Spider-Man) was an American animated series based on the eponymous superhero from Marvel Comics. The series was handled by Grantray-Lawrence Animation for one season from 1967 to 1968, and then by Krantz Films for two additional seasons from 1968 to 1970.

History

Following the success of the Spider-Man comic book series, as well as Marvel's previous collaboration with Grantray-Lawrence the previous year in the form of The Marvel Superheroes, production was started on an animated series based on the Spider-Man character, featuring several supporting characters and villains from the comics, while creating new ones specifically made for television. After Grantray-Lawrence Animation went bankrupt in 1968, production was turned over to Krantz Films, and Ralph Bakshi was named as the new director. A second and third season followed, featuring plotlines furthur departed from the source material, and an even smaller budget than before. The series concluded in 1970, and another cartoon based on Spider-Man was not made until 1981's Spider-Man.

When the show was originally airing, after the episode(s) had finished, brief bits of the stories that were set to air the following week would be teased. These featured narration from Spider-Man and occasional unfinished or deleted animation not seen in the aired episodes. Due to tighter production schedules, the second and third season opted for a series of rapid cuts from the first season over a lively tune, and Spider-Man would announce the title of the next episode and remind viewers to tune in the following week. These bumpers would occasionally be seen when the show was rerun on various networks over the next few decades, but completely disappeared when reruns opted to use the newly remastered versions of the episodes from The '67 Collection DVD box set released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment in 2004. Many of these bumpers have not been seen for years, and many of them remain lost.

Availability

Only two bumpers have ever been released on home media. The bumper for "Swing City" was left intact with "King Pinned" on the 2003 Daredevil vs. Spider-Man DVD. The 2004 The '67 Collection box set included the bumper aired with "Phantom from the Depths of Time," although the advertised episode is "Revolt in the Fifth Dimension" instead of the actual next episode, "The Evil Sorcerer."

On February 13, 2015, YouTuber COMIC GURU uploaded the bumper advertising "The Origin of Spider-Man." Two years later on April 20, 2017, COMIC GURU uploaded two compilations of bumpers from old airings on Fox Kids, covering most of the first season and the second season episode "Thunder Rumble."

List of Bumpers

Episode title	Episode #	Status	Notes
The Power of Dr. Octopus / Sub-Zero for Spidey	01	Existence Unconfirmed	Premiere episode, existence of a bumper unlikely.
Where Crawls the Lizard / Electro, the Human Lightning Bolt	02	Lost
The Menace of Mysterio	03	Found
The Sky is Falling / Captured by J. Jonah Jameson	04	Found
Never Step on a Scorpion / Sands of Crime	05	Found
Diet of Destruction / The Witching Hour	06	Found
Kilowatt Kaper / The Peril of Parafino	07	Found
Horn of the Rhino	08	Found
The One-Eyed Idol / Fifth Avenue Phantom	09	Found
The Revenge of Dr. Magneto / The Sinister Prime Minister	10	Lost
The Night of the Villains / Here Comes Trubble	11	Found
Spider-Man Meets Doctor Noah Boddy / The Fantastic Fakir	12	Found
Return of the Flying Dutchman / Farewell Performance	13	Found
The Golden Rhino / Blueprint for Crime	14	Found
The Spider and the Fly / The Slippery Doctor Von Schlick	15	Found
The Vulture's Prey / The Dark Terrors	16	Found
The Terrible Triumph of Dr. Octopus / Magic Malice	17	Found
Fountain of Terror / Fiddler on the Loose	18	Lost
To Catch a Spider / Double Identity	19	Lost
Sting of the Scorpion / Trick or Treachery	20	Lost
The Origin of Spider-Man	21	Found	Different announcer than all other bumpers.
King Pinned	22	Lost
Swing City	23	Found
Criminals in the Clouds	24	Lost
Menace from the Bottom of the World	25	Lost
Diamond Dust	26	Lost
Spider-Man Battles the Molemen	27	Lost
Phantom from the Depths of Time	28	Lost
The Evil Sorcerer	29	Lost
Vine	30	Lost
Pardo Presents	31	Lost
Cloud City of Gold	32	Lost
Neptune's Nose Cone	33	Lost
Home	34	Lost
Blotto	35	Lost
Thunder Rumble	36	Found
Spider-Man Meets Skyboy	37	Lost
Cold Storage	38	Lost
To Cage a Spider	39	Lost
The Winged Thing / Conner's Reptiles	40	Existence Unconfirmed
Trouble with Snow / Spider-Man vs. Desperado	41	Lost
Sky Harbor / The Big Brainwasher	42	Lost
The Vanishing Doctor Vespasian / The Scourge of the Scarf	43	Lost
Super Swami / The Birth of Micro Man	44	Lost
Knight Must Fall / The Devious Dr. Dumpty	45	Lost
Up from Nowhere	46	Lost
Rollarama	47	Lost
Rhino / The Madness of Mysterio	48	Lost	A webpage run by Kevin McCorry claims that the latter episode was advertised as "The Scorpion and the Spider."
Revolt in the Fifth Dimension	49	Found
Specialists and Slaves	50	Lost
Down to Earth	51	Lost
Trip to Tomorrow	52	Lost

Gallery

Bumpers for episodes 3-9 and 36.

Bumpers for episodes 11-17 and 49.

Bumper for episode 21.

Bumper for episode 23.

See Also

• Spider-Man 4 (found unreleased video games based on cancelled Marvel film sequel; 2010)
• Spider-Man Safety Series (partially found direct-to-video animated educational series; 1990)
• Spider-Man: The New Animated Series "Geldhoff" (lost storyboards of cancelled episode of MTV animated series; 2003)
• Spider-Man (lost Josh Keaton vocal performance of film-based superhero game; 2002)
• Spider-Man versus Kraven the Hunter (lost short superhero fan film; 1974)
• Spider-Man Trilogy (partially found deleted scenes of action-superhero films; 2002-2007)
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (partially found deleted Mary-Jane Watson scenes of superhero film; 2014)
• The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (lost Josh Keaton vocal performance of 2D animated series; 2012)