Today’s brain melting video comes courtesy of Spider-Man


… again, I suppose, after that poop-tastic skidmark of “Spider-Man and His Mediocre Friends.”

When I was a kid, my first intro to comics, beyond a Batman issue from “A Lonely Place of Dying,” was the “X-Men” cartoon, thanks to some cousins. I was enthralled, and soon became a Marvel zombie. As happens when I delve into something, I try to soak up as much as I can in rapid succession. This meant trying to not only read all I could, but watch all I could. This is also why, as a lad, I kept singing “When Captain America swings his might shield! Something something … bad guys yield?” But part of this journey is a dark, long forgetton harrowing tale of the first spandexified Spider-Man.

It was probably after the success of “The Incredible Hulk” that Marvel was ready to send itself out to the live-action arena. And why not? Superheroes in prime time hadn’t been seen since West and Ward made Batman and Robin a goofy comedy gag instead of a mentally unbalanced billionaire and his ward. So, they developed a “Dr. Strange” series that never made it past pilot. But they also had a “Spider-Man” series starring an actor you’ve probably never heard of, Nicholas Hammond. As it happened, my local video store had a copy of the pilot.

Even at the age of 10, I knew that I was watching something bad. Here’s a clip to show you a man who shouldn’t have worn spandex in a Spider-Man costume … with a utility belt. Ladies and gentleman … a clips real I found on YouTube!

But, just to balance things, it looks like Japan got it right … or at least AWESOME …

EDIT: And commenters, don’t worry. I’ll get to “Three Dev Adam” soon enough.