Over the years there have been many attempts to bring our favourite comic book heroes to the big and small screens, but not all of them have turned out quite how you would expect. So let's take a look at some of the strangest, most bizarre comic book adaptations there have been.
Japanese Spider-Man
This Japanese take on Spider-Man from 1978 lasted 41 episodes and spawned a movie. Clearly when you make a TV show for another country some things are going to have to change, but you wouldn't expect Spidey to have his own giant robot known as Leopardon to ride around in, would you? It's more Power Rangers than Spider-Man (in fact the company that produced this, Toei, would go on to make Super Sentai, the source material for Power Rangers). Take a look at the intro...
Legends of the Superheroes
The Adam West/Burt Ward Batman show from the 60s is an absolute classic, but if you think West hung up his cowl and Ward burnt his tights in 1968 when the show ended, think again! In 1979 they returned to the small screen in two 1 hour specials entitled Legend of the Superheroes, and they bought some Justice League friends along. Superman and Wonder Woman were busy elsewhere, but we had Captain Marvel, Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkman, The Huntress, The Atom and Black Canary. The first episode saw the team unite at the Hall of Heroes to celebrate elderly retired superhero Scarlet Cyclone's birthday. Bizarrely episode 2 was a celebrity roast of the superheroes hosted by Ed McMahon...
Roger Corman's Fantastic Four
Stuff of legends this. Basically, in the early 90s Roger Corman was hired to produce this Marvel superhero story on a very, very small budget, essentially just so the studio could keep the rights. If you imagine this film to be the Blue Peter equivalent of Thunderbird's Tracy Island, but with less double sided sticky tape, then you're almost there. The movie was ultimately shelved prior to distribution, but a VHS copy was 'mysteriously' leaked and the movie was soon circulated by bootleggers and web pirates, eventually the whole thing ended up on youTube...
3 Dev Adam
3 Dev Adam, or 3 Giant Men, is a 1973 Turkish movie which is sometimes known as Captain America and Santo vs. Spider-Man. Spider-Man is depicted as a villain and it's up to masked wrestler Santo and his new partner Captain America to stop him. I kid you not! Oh yes, and the action takes place in Istanbul (not Constantinople). Not surprisingly, 3 Dev Adam was completely unauthorized by Marvel and the individual copyright owners of the characters depicted.
Cutie Honey
I'm saving the best for last here. If you've never heard of Cutie Honey then shame on you! This Japanese Superhero first appeared in comic form back in 1973, and at the time was the first ever female Manga superhero. It's the story of an android girl named Honey Kisaragi, who transforms into the busty, red-haired heroine Cutie Honey to fight against the assorted villains that threaten her or her world. She has the finest transformation ever, our Cutie Honey does not hunt down a phone booth to change into her fighting clothes, oh no! Upon her pronunciation of the words "Honey Flash", Cutie Honey's clothes all self destruct! As she stands stark naked in the middle of her foes, often in the centre of a shopping plaza or some other very public place, her breasts enlarge and she's ready to save the day. If you hadn't guessed, we're not talking feminism here! I urge you to watch all 32 seconds of this clip from the 2008 TV version...
...You're welcome!
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