Spider-Man TV (1967) - Season 1, Episode 14 (Story 1)

Background

The Rhino returns! Let's see how many things he runs into this time.

Story 'The Golden Rhino'

Spider-Man swings by the docks and watches a shipment of gold - $15 million to be precise - being loaded into an armored car. Seconds after the doors are locked, the Rhino charges and pushes the armored car into the river. [That's one!] Rhino quickly follows the truck to retrieve the gold. Spider-Man arrives and dives in after the Rhino, but is too late to prevent the theft.

The next day at the Daily Bugle, Jonah has a "thorough" explanation ready to prove that Spider-Man was responsible for the heist. All logical questions that Betty poses about the timing of the robbery and Spider-Man's appearance are ignored by the biased publisher.

In his hideout the Rhino is melting the gold down using a giant kettle and a fire pit [And the answer is "yes", this could possibly happen. The reddish-orange flames indicate that the fire is around 2,000^oF, more than enough to melt gold. I'm surprised too.] His plan is to make a statue of himself made of pure gold. [Got it. He's using his untapped scientific knowledge to make the ultimate custom bling.]. Unfortunately the $15 million in gold doesn't fill the mold. [I wasn't even trying to make it rhyme, it just worked out that way.] He needs more, and he knows where to find it.

Rhino attacks the gold depository on Wall Street. [That's two.] Spider-Man hears the destruction and swings to the ground to investigate. Unsure of what caused the damage, he decides to cover the opening with webbing to slow down whoever's inside. Moments later the Rhino emerges with more gold and pulls down the wall of the depository using Spider-Man's webbing. [Not a "crash", but destruction will count here. #3.]

The next night, Spider-Man searches the docks again. Following his spider-sense, he finds the Rhino's hideout and lands on the roof. Looking through an opening, he watches as Rhino completes his self-tribute in gold. The weak ceiling caves under the additional weight, causing Spider-Man to fall to the ground. Rhino realizes he's been compromised and charges Spider-Man, taking out the support columns and bringing the building down around him [Sub-totals: 3 support columns, the mold, and the building. We'll call it 5 bringing the grand total to 8] . The Rhino thinks Spider-Man is dead and takes his 24-karat clone with him to the sewer.

The police hear the disturbance and investigate. Spider-Man emerges from the wreckage and resumes his search for the Rhino. The Rhino overhears that Spider-Man is now wanted for the theft of the gold. He decides to destroy Fulton Street in order to bring him out into the open. He can then kill him to prevent him from telling his secret [What, you have an massive ego? Just tell everyone you're a musician, trying to create a new genre. They'll believe you.]

Rhino's simple plan does in fact bring Spider-Man to him. [And his hit count to 13] After the required punch and counter-punch,[+2] Spider-Man uses his latest webbing formula ["Blue Steel". Oh sorry, "concentrated steel"] in a barrier that stops the Rhino's charge. Rhino is discouraged and escapes to the sewers where he is quickly captured by Spider-Man.

The Rhino and his C-3PO-colored clone are delivered to the front door of the Daily Bugle with a glib note by Spider-Man.

General Comments

The grand total of things Rhino ran into is 15. This excludes the web-barrier ones. These didn't result in any damage, therefore no points were awarded.

Overall Rating

3 webs. I think I'm in a generous mood as of late. Aside from the fact that Rhino isn't creative enough to make a statue of himself, this was a reasonable episode. It makes much more sense than the world domination device he assembled in his first appearance.

Footnote

Screen cap #3 is now my favorite picture of the Rhino. So many possibilities...