The Style Evolution of Spider-Man

Spider-Man has always been the type of hero plenty of comic book readers can identify with. While Bruce Wayne is a rich playboy, Peter Parker is constantly broke, lives at home with his Aunt, gets bullied, and has trouble getting laid. That all changes when he gets bitten by a radioactive/genetically-altered spider, and well, you know the rest.

With The Amazing Spider-Man hitting theaters today, you'll get to see Andrew Garfield race around Manhattan in a new set of tights. Yet they're quite different from his previous togs. And true, Spider-Man's gone through a lot of costume changes in the comics and movies (like his famous black suit), but there's no denying that his most famous kit is when he's decked out in his red and blues. We did some digging to figure out how his iconic look has been interepreted throughout the years. Get ready true believers, here comes The Style Evolution of Spider-Man.

Spider-Man (Comics)

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962)
Created By: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Spider-Man first debuted as a character teenagers could relate to. He was broke, sucked at girls, and was a huge nerd. No wonder geeks love him. When he first appeared in the pages of Amazing Fantasy, the spider on his chest had a circular body, he had normal-sized eyes, and noticeable underarm webbing on his costume. As the years went on, the webbing disappeared and the eyes got bigger, especially under the pencil of influential artist Todd McFarlane, who among other things, helped create Venom. Artist Humberto Ramos further exaggerated Spider-Man's proportions, and gave him a Margot Tenenbaum-like thick shade of black around his eyes, and his Ultimate Spider-Man appearance kept the large bug eyes McFarlane popularized, and made his body smaller and more agile-looking.

Spider-Man (1967 Animated Series)

Voiced By: Paul Soles

You know that song about Spider-Man doing whatever a spider can? That was the theme to this show. The animation was pure crap by today's standards, but hey, it was Spider-Man on TV! Screencaps from this series became an Internet meme because of the absurdity of the series. Also, the animators couldn't be bothered to draw webbing on all of his costume, so that only his mask, gloves, and boots have the web detail.

The Electric Company's "Spidey Super Stories" (1974-1975)

Portrayed By: Danny Seagren

Believe it or not, Spider-Man at one point existed on a children's television show. That show was The Electric Company, and it was actually created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. These short segments combined live action and animated segments, and had Spidey solving petty crimes and going to Mets games. Yes, he was a Mets fan.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1977-1979 Movie and TV Series)

Portrayed By: Nicholas Hammond

Spider-Man's first attempt to cross over into live-action was met with mixed reviews... but when creator Stan Lee is expressing his disapproval, then you've gotta be in pretty bad shape. The costume wasn't bad, but very reminiscent of campy stuff like the '60s Batman series. It was bright, the boots sucked, and he had garish white accessories like a utility belt and a thick-ass bracelet. Points for trying to accessorize Spidey... but you just can't pull 'em off.

Spider-Man (1978 Toei TV series)

Portrayed By: Shinji Todō

Sometime in the '70s, Marvel and Japanese company Toei entered a licensing agreement in which the they could use Marvel's characters as they saw fit. What ensued was Spider-Man becoming a Power Rangers-like super hero given alien powers. His secret identity was a motocross racer named Takuya Yamashiro and he had a giant robot named Leopardon and fought all sorts of giant monsters. He also hung out with fellow bug-eyed hero Kamen Rider. You can't make this shit up. His appearance is actually pretty accurate to the comic, save for the big bracelet that he fires webbing from and calls on his many vehicles. That's where the similarities end though.

Spider-Man (1981 Animated Series)

Voiced By: Ted Schwartz

What a difference a couple of years makes in animation huh? This time Spidey was able to get his webbing all around his costume, and the blue was turned up a bit to give it a nice contrast and make it feel cartoony and kid-friendly. Prior to this, he also made some appearances in the animated Spider-Woman series. He was voiced by Paul Soles, reprising his role from the 1967 animated series, and the show was pretty bad. Like, "let's pretend it never happened" bad. Also, MF Doom samples bits from the episode "Dr. Doom, Master of the World" on his album Mm.. Food.

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981 Animated Series)

Voiced By: Dan Gilvezan

This series was popular with true '80s babies, and it depicted our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man gallivanting around town and solving crimes with Iceman and Firestar. His appearance was pretty much the same as it was in the previous series.

Spider-Man (1994 Animated Series)

Voiced By: Christopher Daniel Barnes

Children of the '90s... this is your Spider-Man. Sure, the animation might have sucked and it was campy as hell, but from the memorable theme song and cameo appearances from people like The X-Men, Punisher, and more, it was pretty amazing. They managed to cover a lot of ground in this series, and its final episode contained about five or six different costumes over the years, including the Spider-Armor (not to be confused with the "Iron Spider") and the Scarlet Spider. 1999's follow-up, Spider-Man Unlimited, changed up his look entirely from the red and blue outfit, and was actually pretty bad... so let's pretend it never happened.

Spider-Man (2002-2007 Film Series)

Portrayed By: Tobey Maguire

With Sam Raimi at the helm, this was definitely one of the better renditions of Spider-Man to date. The costume's most notable change was the raised silver webbing, as opposed to the regular black webbing fans had been used to. The costume was also given a scaly look, almost like chain mail. Another controversial move was doing away with Peter Parker's trademark web shooters, which he had invented in the comics, and making "organic webbing" one of the powers he gained from the fateful spider bite.

Spider-Man (2003 Animated Series)

Voiced By: Neil Patrick Harris

Doogie Howser stepped behind the mic for this short-lived MTV animated series. Mary Jane Watson was voiced by Lisa Loeb, and it involved him solving all sorts of college crimes. His costume here was clearly based on his film appearance, with the raised silver webbing, but also paid homage to the agile build the character was often drawn with in the comics.

The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008 Series)

Voiced By: Josh Keaton

Drawing upon the exaggerated proportions of artist Humberto Ramos, this Spidey also had the underarm webbing from his first appearance. It also did away with the silver raised webbing look established in the film series, perhaps hinting at a reboot?

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2012 Animated Series)

Voiced By: Drake Bell

Spidey made appeared in a couple of episodes of this series, which was fitting given at the time, he was a full-fledged Avenger in the comics. His appearance is an amalgam of his smaller-eyed 1994 self, with a SHIELD-approriate navy blue contrast to his outfit.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2012 Animated Series)

Voiced By: Drake Bell

Drawing from his "Ultimate" comic book counterpart, this modern-day Spider-Man is a faithful rendition to the comic's bug-eyed, sinewy-muscled Peter Parker. They pretty much hit the nail on the head.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 Film)

Portrayed By: Andrew Garfield

Spidey's latest incarnation gives the red and blue costume a sleek, modern look. His boots have been mad eover to look like running sneakers with what looks like special attachments that will aid his ability to stick to walls. There's a fancy red racing stripe that runs down the side of his legs (or maybe it's a tuxedo stripe, because he's classy!), and contrasting blue details on his boots and gloves. Most notably, there are silver web shooters affixed to his wrists, a nod to the comic book version's web shooters. And fanboys everywhere had a nerdgasm.