Tuesday, 3 December 2013

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.



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