Crazy stuff, right? Well don't you worry, dear readers, because we've obviously saved the best for last. Because that's how lists ordered in this way work. Spider-Man is arguably one of the best-loved - and certainly well known - superheroes in the west, second only to the twin titans of Superman and Batman. Whilst those characters exist as paragons of the superhero ideal, Spider-man was always a lot more human, more relatable. Which is probably why, when the time came to send him over to Japan to make a name for himself, Toei decided to make him into a Power Rangers-style Tokusatsu hero who rode a motorbike and occasionally piloted a giant robot doppelgänger of himself. Tokusatsu is the name given to the genre of television the likes of Power Rangers are adapted from. Yes, sorry if we're blowing your minds, but Power Rangers is an adaptation of a Japanese show: all the fight sequences, both in and out of the Megazord (basically any time they're wearing helmets) is old footage from the Super Sentai series. Tokusatsu isn't just Power Rangers, but any live-action film or TV show which involves sci-fi, fantasy or rubber suited monster elements. And Spider-Man had all of those. In this version the wall crawler was given his powers by an alien, and uses them to fight another bunch of extraterrestrial invaders called the Iron Cross Army. Which he does with a space ship that turns into a giant robot. Also, on a number of occasions he introduces himself as "an emissary from hell!" for no real reason. Brilliantly bonkers, but by no means a good adaptation of Spider-Man.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
