Sunday, January 29, 2012

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Web Woman (1978)

From Tarzan & the Super 7 comes Filmation's answer to Spider-Man (and, for that matter, Spider-Woman), Web Woman. Kelly Webster (Linda Gary) was an ordinary Earth woman until she met a being from another dimension who gave her fantastic powers, plus the then-obligatory pet sidekick, Spinner. The fact that she calls upon all insects, not just spiders, to loan her their powers, suggests that this is also based on DC's Insect Queen, the part-time alter ego of Superman's childhood sweetheart, Lana Lang (who never used her costumed ID in cartoons).

As was the case with Manta & Moray, threats of litigation due to, in all probability, intellectual property rights, prevents Web Woman, now owned by Classic Media, from being released on DVD. Any revival, again, would require a change of some kind. Palitoy uploaded the following sample from the episode, "Dr. Despair & the Mood Machine".



It just happens to be a coincidence, but Marvel, having introduced Spider-Woman in the comics a year prior to Web Woman's debut, brought their female webspinner to television the next season (previously reviewed). Unfortunately, it lasted just one season, despite a guest appearance by Spider-Man himself.

Rating: B.

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