Being “good” is a relative term. Sure, I might have a good day or feel good once I make it to the weekend. But am I really “good” overall? I don’t know. I don’t even know if I know what that means. I’ve definitely felt worse, but I feel like I’ve felt better too. I don’t know if this is a side effect of pandemic amnesia or maybe there’s just really no answer when it comes to questions like this. Who knows?
What I do know is that I wouldn’t have gotten this far and been able to say “I’m good” without certain “comfort media” that helped me to make it through nearly 21 years (including the last two years of hell). Many things come to mind: comfort movies of mine, like Corpse Bride or My Neighbor Totoro, or some shows like Adventure Time or Regular Show. Sometimes comfort is found in music, and I’ll listen to Mac Miller for hours on end until I feel “good” again. There are plenty of things that have brought me comfort over the years, and I love them all for their help. However, there is one that stands out above the rest: The 1967 Spider-Man cartoon.
Spider-Man first premiered on September 9th, 1967 and it’s last episode aired on June 14th, 1970. It was originally created by Stan Lee himself and starred Paul Soles as the voice of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and Paul Kligman as J. Jonah Jameson. The cartoon only ran for three seasons, but it was incredibly successful at the time, helping to pave the way for hundreds of other superhero cartoons to follow. This was also the cartoon that unveiled one of the most iconic theme songs of all time. My dad used to sing the song to me instead of a bedtime story when I was very young, and I still remember every word. Check it out below:
Lucky for me, these cartoons ended up being pretty popular and I was still able to watch them when I was a kid just over 30 years later. I’m honestly a bit surprised that mine still work after all this time, especially with how much use they have gotten over the years. Every single time I was home sick from school as a kid, I would get out my set of DVDs and put Spider-Man on the TV. This never really went away I guess, because no matter how many days I missed over my 12 years of public schooling, I always went back and watched the same 6 volumes (52 episodes in total) of that show.
As the world changed, or at least the way I saw the world, so too did my need for my comfort show. I grew up, as much as I didn’t want to. Those days playing outside until the sun went down became all I could see from my window while I pushed myself further into adulthood. The youthful bliss of not knowing the world we live in is killing itself by the hour eventually faded away to reveal the horrifying truth. I began placing the weight of the world on my shoulders, piece by piece, until it was unbearable.
And then my best friend, my Nanny, passed away.
And then I left everything I knew behind and went to college.
And then I had a brutal breakup that I still haven’t recovered from.
And then we had a slew of global crises in 2020.
And then we had more in 2021.
And now we’re on the cusp of World War III.
It’s been a hell of a run recently. I’m amazed every time I take a second to see how far I’ve made it, all things considered. I’m not a positive person. In fact I’m quite the opposite, and all of these continuous crises have really led me to believe the end of the world is lurking around every corner. These hopeful thoughts come with many days where getting out of bed feels insurmountable, and on those days I need comfort.
It’s not always easy to find comfort in our current world, and it’s even harder to ask for help to find some. So, I’ve looked elsewhere for it. Thankfully, I didn’t have to look far because while I might’ve grown out of sick days, but I never grew out of Spider-Man.
The show isn’t anything extraordinary. It’s about what you’d expect from a cheesy cartoon from the late 60s, but there’s something endearing about how dated it feels. I think that a part of me enjoys this simpler version of the hero more than our current cinematic version of him. Plus, it’s just simpler. There aren’t any alien invasions or time travel scenarios or a multiverse, it’s just the good old friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
There are also scenes where Spider-Man is swinging through the city, and the same shot is reused over and over again with a new background slapped on it. Check it out:
The animators probably drew it once and thought no one would notice, but we did. I’m okay with that. Does it look goofy? Sure! But it was something that was probably crazy for the time. Both the thought of how far things have come and not needing to pay attention to every frame of the show is comforting to me.
However, what really does the trick are the memories. Sometimes it’s just nice for me to listen to the theme song or the bad voice acting with my eyes closed, as I go back to those days as a kid in my Spider-Man zip-up onesie and slippers (pictured below). I can’t go back physically, but I can still grab some of those feelings through the memories.
Things change over time, that’s always going to be true. However, not everything changes. No matter how hard things might get, there will always be something to provide comfort. That could be a show, like in my case, or it could be any combination of other things that serve as a reminder of better days or hope for a warmer future. It’s been a shitty few years, but thanks to my family and of course our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, I finally think I’m “good”.
Featured image credited to Marjan Blan via Unsplash.
