Nerds with Words: Spider-Man Themes

This should be a fun one, I hope. But what Nerd discussions aren’t?

This one is simple enough, Spider-man has a storied career in comics, but an even more storied one in animation (and one really weird live action show) with something like half a dozen shows span more than 40 years. Unlike Superman and to a lesser extent Batman, there isn’t one particular Spider-man song so each show comes with its own new and catchy theme song. Now the question posed to you, which is the best of the best?

Spiderman (1967)

Probably the most well known theme song of all. Parodied to heck and back, and I believe featured in all 3 live action movies. Its catchy, its original and its here

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o29VoxtsFk[/youtube]

The Amazing Spider-Man (1977)

Remember that one live-action Spider-man show I mentioned. Yeah this is it. The show was also made in the 70s which would explain why the theme sounds like something you’d hear in a porno.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUcktiQxC9Q[/youtube]

Spider-Man (1978)

Okay, I lied there were TWO live-action Spider-man TV shows, but this one was a Japanese show… and well.. here’s the intro

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81unCInr91I[/youtube]

Spider-Man (1981)

After his mini-detour into live-action Spiderman returns to animation. This theme is pretty.. well generic. It doesn’t sound like anything.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OciUdeVfIdA[/youtube]

Spider-man and his Amazing Friends (1981)

You can pretty much see this story in the current Ultimate universe, but Spider-man is again animated and this time he has not just friends but AMAZING friends. You think costume heroes, they’d be Superfri.. oh wait…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spmlzifLrHY&feature=related[/youtube]

Spider-Man (1994)

The second most recognized Spider-man theme, and the one that my generation most relates to. This is an interesting sounding theme. Random personal fun fact, once had friends decide to translate this song into Spanish for a project assignment. Yes, the song says Spider-man over and over again, tough project. Haha

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxt9_uiq0io&feature=related[/youtube]

Spider-Man Unlimited (1999)

Another theme song that really does not sound like much. I wonder if that’s what they aim for. I realize you don’t want to go too cheesy/camp, but you need to make them memorable.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2xy-72zWME[/youtube]

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003)

Probably the most underrated Spider-man show. I guess it didn’t help that it was on MTV which doesn’t know how to keep a good cartoon on the air (Clone High, Undergrads, this)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-_OK-N-KSw&feature=related[/youtube]

The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008)

Now we come to the greatest Spider-man cartoon of all-time. One of the best animated series to ever air. A show that was killed off way before its time, but I won’t try and sway you with some personal bias. You can check out the awesome song/intro below. And if you haven’t checked out the show, I implore you to do so now! And Sony/Marvel/Disney get on the phone and get me season 2 on DVD already!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S19w2xXU54&feature=related[/youtube]

That’s it ladies and gentlemen. Which is the best of the best? The worst of the worst? Best audio? Best visual?