« Stuff. | Main | The Revolution will be Pixilated »
Eric: Excelsior!
We are into the last week of Who Wants to Be A Superhero. This is a reality show that is cheesy, too compressed, obviously staged in places, bordering the line between competition and straight entertainment. It has terrible production values. It lacks many of the elements that have made other reality programs hits in the past. The ways in which this show suffers compared to even syndicated reality shows is obvious and clear.
I love this god damned show so god damned much.
Spoilers ahead, so you know. If you care.
For those who came in late, Who Wants To Be A Superhero is a competition reality show. People put together costumes and character concepts, auditioned (in an abbreviated version of the humiliationfest that are the American Idol auditons, though very little "laughing-at" was done). The figurehead and host of the show is Stan Lee, who is well known throughout the comics buying world for his bombast, his showmanship (often bordering on used-car-salesmanship), his enthusiasm, his ego... oh, and the fact that he was the co-creator of some of the most popular and evocative superheroes of all time. (Though it is debatable how much of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and so forth were his versus Jack Kirby or Steve Dikto, it is unquestionable that Lee's focus and his writing style -- most especially the more "realistic" writing style that so strongly differentiated Marvel from DC or other comics at the time -- was one of the most important keys to Marvel's early success.) The competition is simple -- the contestants play their heroes, and run them through a series of challenges "not to test if you can fly," in Lee's words, but testing for the core values that superheroes should embody.
Now, right there they had my attention. I've made no bones about the fact that I'm disillusioned pretty hardcore with the world of Superheroes these days. With DC run to rape, to Wonder Woman snapping the neck of one of her enemies, to Uncle Sam lying face down in a pool of his own blood, to essentially all the fun loving heroes of the universe driven mad, depressed or to death... and with Marvel's entire superhero population in a fratricidal battle that serves as nothing so much as a harsh repudiation of the core principles of the whole costumed spandex genre, having a high profile (surprisingly high profile, as it works out) television program open with "there are certain expectations superheroes are supposed to live up to, and this is what you're going to win or lose this competition over" is going to make me a happy person.
> And over the course of the last six weeks, they've lived up to this. Of the eleven contestants, the first nine were eliminated for avarice (rather unfairly, Levity was singled out because he makes custom action figures -- calling into question whether he intended to be a real superhero or if he intended to sell toys. I think Levity was probably there to be a hero, but still), lack of compassion (Nitro G was one of several heroes who completed his core challenge of running through an area and hitting a finish line as quickly as possible, but missed the hidden challenge of helping a lost girl who was loudly crying, completing his mission but not acting heroically), lack of courage (Cell Phone Girl was the fastest to cry uncle in a challenge where she was being savagely attacked by trained guard dogs -- you know, I'm not saying I would do better), essential heroism (Iron Enforcer -- an almost certain plant -- was a pastiche of all the modern brutal murderous superheroes, and did essentially everything wrong despite being huge. He then was "recruited" by Stan Lee to turn evil and become the Dark Enforcer -- the show's Supervillain.), commitment and temptation (sent to go buy lunch in what looked like a camera free zone, the heroes were tempted to giving up their secret identities by cute members of the opposite sex. Monkey Woman volunteered her name instantly without being prompted, and went on to describe herself as an actress. The actor thing was dodgy, since several of the Heroes have acting backgrounds, but she was the most egregious of the folks who failed the test), a failure in self sacrifice (the heroes were invited to nominate someone else for elimination. Most of the heroes nominated themselves, but Ty'Veculus nominated Lemuria for somewhat dodgy reasons and was eliminated for it), hypocrisy (Creature broke the law in one of the challenges), failure (Lemuria was the only one to fail a given challenge -- sometimes it's not so hard), and finally not taking heroism seriously (Major Victory, in a stunning upset -- though both he and Fat Momma are comedic superheroes, Fat Momma has a core message to her character, whereas Major Victory is more of a pure comedy character.)
Through the whole competition, the conventional wisdom of reality shows has been flouted. On most reality shows, lip services is given to integrity and "winning the right way," but backbiting and cunning are generally shown to be as effective or more effective, and many times at the end of the game the most machiavellian players are rewarded for "playing the game well." But on Who Wants To Be A Superhero, integrity and honor are everything. The reasons for doing things are more important than the tasks themselves. In several situations, the players who completed the stated task most quickly or securely (Nitro G on the race challenge, for example, or Major Victory on the Citywalk) get eliminated because they failed to act like true superheroes in the process, while some of the weakest or slowest players (Fat Momma on the Citywalk, Monkey Woman in the dog challenge) are rewarded.
A fast note about Monkey Woman and the dog challenge. Monkey Woman had the slowest time of those who completed the challenge, but she absolutely refused to quit. This is a woman who let herself be dragged all over a yard by dogs, and spent the whole time struggling to complete her task. It was really astoundingly cool, and it was even cooler that at the end, she was the one extolled as a success.
There are some significant flaws to Who Wants To Be A Superhero. For one thing, some tacit confirmation that Iron Enforcer was a plant all along would be nice. For another, we're given almost no opportunity to get to know the people in question -- we don't see very much of the heroes living in the Lair, interacting, getting along with each other. When Ty'Veculus was eliminated, for the first time we saw all the heroes crowding around him, clearly strongly affected by his leaving -- but we hadn't gotten a chance to see Ty'Veculus connecting with them on a human level. We know the heroes all sleep in the same room, but we don't see any of those pressures or discomforts. That's a part of what makes reality television a total train wreck so much fun to watch.
Well, we're down to the last two. Fat Momma is a comedic hero, but one with a solid message (take self esteem in yourself -- if you need to make a change, make that change, but don't let bullies hurt you). Feedback is an almost frighteningly earnest fan of superheroes (in the Dog Challenge, he spent the entire time saying "Must... reach... goal.... it... will... not... end... like... this!") which you will spend the whole time saying "one of us, one of us" about. I'm okay with either one of them winning, though at this point I'm solidly in Feedback's corner.
I just hope that the people currently writing super heroes are watching this show, because these guys? These are superheroes. And Stan Lee's pronouncements have been spot on in my book. "Heroes don't kill people," he bombasted. "Heroes save people. Children look up to heroes." Unlike most of the current comics companies, Stan Lee and this television program aren't ashamed of superheroes or what they traditionally represent, and for that reason alone I would watch this show.
But more than that, I want to see the next episode. I'm excited to see the finale. Who will win? How will our heroes face their next challenges? What happens next?
Aces. Be a winner, gang. Not a wiener!
Posted by Eric Burns at August 31, 2006 10:38 AM
Comments
Comment from: Montykins ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.websnark.com/nav-commenters.gif)
posted at August 31, 2006 11:50 AM
I was rooting for Monkey Woman and Major Victory, but I guess I'll be okay with whoever wins. I'm still annoyed that the creator of Spider-Man criticized Major Victory for making too many light-hearted quips, though.
Also, although Dark Enforcer is billed as a Supervillain, he's clearly a Henchman -- note how every sentence starts with "Boss . . .". Stan's the Supervillain, I think. He's even got a bust of himself on his desk. Who does that?
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 31, 2006 12:10 PM
Oh, thank you. I was so worried I was the only geek addicted to this show.
I'm actually still trying to decide if the elimination of Tyveculus or Major Victory (who were the two I pegged to be the last remaining initially) were eliminated. I see why Ty was eliminated, but you know what? He turned out to be quite right (the cutaways revealed Lemuria to be playing this like most reality shows). Major Victory was a disappointment to me, because he did remind me so much of why I liked superheroes in the first place. I'm glad they at least gave him an appropriate sendoff (the phone call at the end).
In terms of Feedback... let's not forget when they showed his wife in his messy study, you can see all sorts of Spider-Man paraphenelia in the background (including either replicas or actual movie props, like a framed Daily Bugle). In some ways, it's unnerving to see the level of hero worship he has for Stan Lee (he's basically admitted to having serious Daddy Issues). But on the other hand, watching him through the show, he seems to really be growing into his identity. I have much more respect for him now than I did at the beginning.
I'm a bit torn for the final result, myself. My head says that Feedback will win it all, but I'd rather see Fat Momma win it myself. She just seems more compassionate, even with her temper flare-ups (which I can completely empathize with).
All I know is, if they make a sequel, I'd try out for it. It's the one reality show I can watch and not feel shame afterwards.
Comment from: Adam posted at August 31, 2006 12:32 PM
Of course, the reason that superheros in comics are no longer people "children can look up to", is that they're no longer written for kids. They're written for middle-aged fanboys who need their comics to be "dark" to justify reading them as an adult…
Comment from: stuckintraffik posted at August 31, 2006 12:33 PM
Did anyone else think Ty got hosed? Earlier in the episode he was chided for not being honest about the costume, so then he was honest enough to call out Lemuria and was hit for that? His reasoning may not have been perfect, but he was trying to be honest rather than just make the easy 'oh, take me, take me' that Stan was looking for. Fat Momma called it that night when she told Stan that the others weren't being honest with it.
Feedback for the win!
Comment from: Remus Shepherd posted at August 31, 2006 12:44 PM
I loved this show early on, but it's soured a bit for me because of the arbitrary way they're eliminations some of the competitors. They have to do it that way, though, with 12 contestants and only 6(?) episodes. It's just too rushed.
Monkey Woman is the only one who has done anything heroic on that show. I was rooting for her. A few people at ComicGenesis have drawn her fanart already. :)
Make this a 22-episode season of shows, put someone other than Stan Lee in charge (have Stan be the man organizing the thing, but we need a 'Bosley' character to actually give out assignments and eliminations -- someone who can *act*) and then it'd be my favorite reality show ever.
Comment from: J.(Channing)Wells posted at August 31, 2006 12:55 PM
I'm following this show nigh-exclusively through secondhand accounts, so I may well not be the best person to offer an opinion, but...
Yeah, I know, you gotta have a winner so that you can name your comic book or movie or whatever after that person, but if the people in charge of the subsequent media items have half a brain amongst them, they will already be planning guest star appearances from the eliminated heroes. You know that the hardcore Monkey Woman fans, for instance, are going to be at least a little piqued at the concept of an issue where (Insert Eventual Winner's Name) teams up with their beloved heroine for a while.
That's assuming interest in any of this endures longer than a mayfly fart once the show's over. But apparently that one "American Idol" girl is still all over the radio, so whatever.
Comment from: KJToo posted at August 31, 2006 1:10 PM
I've been following Who Wants to Be A Superhero? from the beginning and I've reviewed each episode individually. I was honestly surprised that you didn't mention the show before now, but I'm glad to see that you're enjoying it despite the fact that each episode is more melodramatic than the last.
Comment from: quiller posted at August 31, 2006 1:58 PM
You know this reminds of why, despite all the neat gadgets, Danny Elfman music and over the top acting, I didn't like the first batman movie. Because batman kept getting there too late! He would save the reporter girl, while 60 other people died. At the very least you should be upset at the other people dying because you didn't get there in time. If you are going after the villain and not helping the victims you are just a vigilante, not a hero.
Comment from: Jennifer the Chaos Queen posted at August 31, 2006 2:10 PM
(Disclaimer: thanks to iTunes getting it up late, I still haven't seen the last episode. So if any of this has changed since then, I don't know.)
I'm really enjoying it too. Though in some ways, I do kind of feel like people are arbitrarily getting the boot at times, which is annoying. But it's nice to see good elements of people's character being reinforced on a reality show.
Oh, and the "Dark Enforcer" as a "villain" is kind of a big joke, considering how non-villainous he is. It's a little weird to have the "villain" set up by the host so much. I liked the idea, but the execution is meh.
Comment from: Dave Van Domelen posted at August 31, 2006 2:42 PM
As many have pointed out elsewhere, most of Stan's own creations didn't live up to all of the "rules" he trots out as excuses for elimination. It's pretty clear he wasn't the driving creative force behind this, and that whoever the real idea men are get their ideas of superheroism from campy 50s DC stuff and the Adam West Batman (heck, they were selecting so strongly for parody that it makes the booting of Major Victory even more hypocritical than Tyveculus's!).
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 31, 2006 3:15 PM
Damn skippy, Ty got hosed. Lemuria was pretty transparent and non-heroic, and I thought Ty actually went easy on her. Feedback... at Ty's elimination, at least, I was still against him, because I felt he also was trying too much to win at the expense of others. He's really seemed to grow since then. But I think Major Victory and Creature were sincere.
Also, I couldn't believe how much grief Major Victory got for taking off his cape. Especially when Stan said "Did Superman ever take off his cape?" Um, yeah. Back in the Silver Age, when his cape was a rewoven Kryptonian blanket and thus also invulnerable, Supes took that thing off all the time if he thought it would help him. Batman also was not above taking off parts of his costume as need be. I mean, Bats even revealed his secret identity to Joe Chill, probably one of his dumbest decisions despite the fact that it didn't end up hurting him.
As for Remus' suggestion... actually, I think Dark Enforcer is acting in the Bosley role in a way. So he does still get to be the anti-hero.
Oh, and since I failed to before, let me say now that Monkey Girl's turn facing the trained attack dogs was nothing short of riveting. I made sure to catch the rerun the next two weeks just because it was that gripping to watch.
Comment from: djcoffman posted at August 31, 2006 3:21 PM
I entered watching the show with a skeptical eye, because I generally don't like Stan Lee-- but I gotta admit, it's been an entertaining show. Most of the "contestants" are just people who applied through acting websites, not real "creators" or anything like that, so it's all a bit fake and setup. The magic of Hollywood!
I have to admit, quietly here, that my opinion of Stan Lee has change a bit now. You see, I've always come from that JACK KIRBY camp, you might know the one.... but Stan seems to have been having fun with this and his enthusiasm for comic books and heroes really is great. Hell, my kids all want to go to NY Comicon to meet him now, and they think this is the greatest show ever.
And seriously, I think a Major Victory comic book would have been a lot more entertaining than a Fat Momma or Feedback comic book. Boo!
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 31, 2006 4:06 PM
Actually, DJ's last paragraph (which is dead on) makes me wonder... will they try making comics out of some of the ones already eliminated? Major Victory and Monkey Woman's comics would probably do alright, and I know there's other people who'd go for Tyveculus' book.
If nothing else, I'd hope for cameos as appropriate.
Comment from: larksilver posted at August 31, 2006 6:11 PM
The Spiderman cartoons with Stan Lee voiceovers are my first memory of the concept of superheroes as a kid. I may have gone on to be more invested in other stories than I am in Spidey, but "Stay tuned, True believers!" is stuck in my brain forever.
I have not seen the show, as TV just doesn't really figure into my schedule during prime-time hours, but the concept of winning on the heroic heart is very cool. Sure, I enjoy some of the rougher-edged comics that are out there... but man, sometimes, it's nice to just have the good guy be the good guy, y'know?
Now, well, I may have to make time to catch some of this after all.
Comment from: larksilver posted at August 31, 2006 6:13 PM
The Spiderman cartoons with Stan Lee voiceovers are my first memory of the concept of superheroes as a kid. I may have gone on to be more invested in other stories than I am in Spidey, but "Stay tuned, True believers!" is stuck in my brain forever.
I have not seen the show, as TV just doesn't really figure into my schedule during prime-time hours, but the concept of winning on the heroic heart is very cool. Sure, I enjoy some of the rougher-edged comics that are out there... but man, sometimes, it's nice to just have the good guy be the good guy, y'know?
Now, well, I may have to make time to catch some of this after all.
Comment from: John Bankert posted at August 31, 2006 7:21 PM
It's funny, I didn't watch the first two weeks, as I tried watching the first epside, and it just didn't hook me. I got sucked by the promo for the first ep after Iron Enforcer became Dark Enforcer. How can you not watch with dialog like "What Treachery is This?"
I'm a believer now. Personally, I'm hoping that Feedback wins. Fat Momma just doesn't resonate with me. I think she's been prone to fits of disingenousness.
Either way, I'm hoping they'll do another run of episodes, maybe stretch it out a little more now that they know people are going for it.
Comment from: Nate posted at August 31, 2006 7:41 PM
How about a team-based sequel: Who Wants to Be a Justice League
Comment from: Phil Kahn posted at August 31, 2006 8:09 PM
Comment from: Plaid Phantom posted at August 31, 2006 8:58 PM
I've rooted for Feedback ever since his "you taught me how to be a man" speech. Sure, it was a bit overdone, but hey. He really seems to care about this and the tradition of superheroism. Sure, Fat Momma cares about this and her message, but I don't feel she has that passion.
Oh, and I felt that Ty was consistently channeling the whole "I'm a superhero. I am the great muck-a-muck." or whatever. HOlier-than-thou, in a way. I like a bit of humility in my heros. Of course, he might have just been playing the Roman Soldier. What really suprises me is that Lemuria lasted as long as she did, as hollow as she was being.
And I did kinda like Major Victory, as cheesy as he was.
Comment from: Plaid Phantom posted at August 31, 2006 9:08 PM
*is watching right now*
Stan posing by a poster of Stripperella? Sweet.
Comment from: rikchik posted at August 31, 2006 10:08 PM
You know, I read this whole entry thinking you had made up this show, as a parody of / commentary on Rock Star and other reality shows. I thought everyone was doing a great job of playing along in the comments. Then I mentioned it to my partner and she said "oh, yeah, everyone's been talking about that." My mind is blown.
Comment from: John Bankert posted at August 31, 2006 10:16 PM
Well, that works for me.
Sad thing is, when they did the montages of them fighting the monsters, I recognized the stock footage and had seen both of the made for sci-fi crap movies they were lifted from.
I sincerely hope that the winner's movie rises above the level of crap that was Manticore and Dragon Dynasty. We won't discuss Stan Lee's Lightspeed. Sucked, sucked, sucked.
Comment from: Doug Wykstra posted at August 31, 2006 10:42 PM
Huh- I haven't seen this show. Maybe I should.
And Eric, I can understand what you're saying about being disillousioned with superhero comics. It seems like there's very little out there for kids anymore; in fact, it's felt that way for a long time. One of my first experiences with a comic book was the issue where Bane tosses Batman around for 16 pages or so, and breaks his back at the end. I was eight or nine, and that issue put me off comics for about 5 years. Then, I randomly picked up a TPB of the Death of Superman. I didn't read comics for 4 more years. Finally, when I was 19, I picked up a Spider-man issue, again at random. This was the recent issue where some guy named Morlun beats Spiderman to death, plucks out Spiderman's eye, and eats it.
Apparently I am a sort of Superhero-Death Divining Rod, able to find an issue where a superhero dies, even in the most disorganized of magazine racks.
But at the age of 19, I was finally able to stomach the violence in superhero comics, due to the gradual attrition of innocence everyone experiences between the ages of 12 and 19. And it wasn't the violence of the comics that struck me so much as how depressing they were. Even at 12, I think I understood that I could find much better stories in books, and I wouldn't have to pay for them episodically. But despite this, I'm getting back into comics, especially Civil War. This seems to be the best current evolution of comics- not too much blood, a well-paced plot that isn't afraid to turn down the action every once in a while, and above all, ambiguity. You called Civil War "a harsh repudiation of the core principles of the whole costumed spandex genre," but I would have to argue that it's an attempt to define those principles and ask some questions about the definitions of "superhero." At its most basic level, Civil War is asking, "how can someone who operates outside the law claim to defend it?" The introduction of philosophical questions like these are what has me reading comics today.
Still, the sad thing is that it took me 20 nearly years before I was 'old enough' for comics. There are some talented writers out there now, but they mostly seem to be working for teenagers, with very few comics catering to the kids that used to make up the majority of readers. It's too bad that nobody jumped on the idea of making an "Incredibles" comic book series, as that is one liscense that could bring a lot more kids back to comics.
...Wow. I just typed way too much.
Comment from: miyaa posted at August 31, 2006 11:48 PM
The other half of the comic book dilemna that I've noticed is that what comics that are written for kids are rather inanely silly and children really pick up on that. Children don't pick up on such things as romance, no matter how hard Archie tries. (And really, the anime/manga thing have taken its place.)
I would contend a lot of the reason why comic book series features less than ideallic traditionally heroic people has probably less to do with adults wanting their comics to have adult issues than that the introduction of manga and anime into Western culture. I think you really saw that shift in the 1980's and 1990's when western comics became less absolute battles of good versus evil. And it's not just comics that seem to have gotten this way. It's part of the whole post-modernistic flair where stories and genres revel in the characters who have ambigious morals or are rather amoral, stories that have no clear-cut good or evil characters.
I haven't watch this series because a) I'm not much of a Sci-Fi fan, b) I don't like reality series and c) these days I do not have a television as I'm sacrificing TV for basically the Internet and my Ph.D. studies. And while it sounds like it's a cool series, I don't feel like I'm missing much.
Except maybe the Good Eats shows. I do miss that.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at September 1, 2006 12:07 AM
You know, in watching the rerun from last week, I had forgotten how dusty it got in the room when they did the elimination.
Especially after the two did the tasks for the final episode, I wasn't surprised to see who won (keeping this spoiler-free for now). It was almost like the other one just stepped aside for the winner.
Now, I know it'll be cheesy as all get-out. But surely I can't be the only one looking forward to picking up the book.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at September 1, 2006 12:13 AM
Oh, heck yeah -- I'm gonna buy two. ;)
Comment from: larksilver posted at September 1, 2006 12:47 AM
Wow. My internet at work timed out on me, and I thought it didn't even post. Turns out, it posted twice up there. Sorry about that. grr.
I had the chance to catch a wee bit of the show this evening between the munchkin's bath and story times. I kind of wish I'd seen more of this one. Ah, well, there's always next season, right? hehe
Comment from: Plaid Phantom posted at September 1, 2006 1:22 AM
Honestly, I thought the finale was pretty well done. Especially the one-on-ones with the contestants.
I'm with 32_footsteps: The winner really didn't surprise me. I'd say more, but I probably should stay spoiler-free for now.
This really was a show that deserved more episodes than it got. There was definitely a lot of friendship building that we didn't get to see.
Comment from: BruceJD posted at September 1, 2006 2:59 AM
It does sound like they fundamentally get it. (Haven't seen any of the shows, being in exile in Greece.) This essay brings to mind the resonance I felt on watching the original Batman: The Animated Series. One bit in particular: Batman becoming disillusioned upon seeing Batman merchandise for sale in a store window, and wondering whether it was all worth it...
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at September 1, 2006 8:26 AM
I can't help but wonder about the prospects of a second season. I mean, it's not big enough to knock the MTV Video Music Awards (do people still watch that?) from the top of the entertainment news, but the show was a lot more popular than I thought. Just thinking about another season (especially if someone takes Nate's suggestion and runs with it).
As for Doug's comment... I'm not too familiar, did they try to make an Incredibles comic? Seems like the only thing that would have stopped it would be Pixar saying, "No."
Comment from: Dave Van Domelen posted at September 1, 2006 10:02 AM
I believe Dark Horse did an Incredibles movie adaptation comic. I gave it a pass, because movie adaptations almost always suck because they have to chop more than half the stuff out to make it fit (general rule of thumb: 1 issue can do justice to about 10 minutes of movie, but usually gets tasked to handle two or three times that).
Comment from: kellandros posted at September 1, 2006 5:29 PM
Making it team based would help in a lot of ways. Could keep more people around, have a team leader position, cooperative events, competition.
The downside is you could easily lose the personal, introspective focus. When you want a team of individuals, you can't focus to the same level of tests of character. There would be less screen time and involvement in each individual on the show. My other worry would be the heroes get pushed into a direct imitation of a existing superhero team in the comics.
Comment from: theNater posted at September 1, 2006 6:33 PM
I've been watching the show from the beginning, because I've always had a soft spot for superhero television. So I just wanted to toss in my two cents on a couple of things.
First, I don't really believe that the Iron Enforcer was a plant, or at least that he was aware that he was a plant(though I suspect Mr. Lee may have selected him in the initial auditions with the expectation that things would turn out as they did). I just don't have enough faith in the Iron Enforcer's acting ability. It may be a testament to that talent, but I really believed he panicked when the dogs pulled him down, whereas most of the time he had almost as much of a tendency to ham it up as Major Victory, in his own way.
As for who I'm rooting for in the final two, I've always liked Fat Momma better than Feedback. Feedback is in the competition because he wants to be a superhero. This is a noble and appropriate goal, especially given the name of the show. But his ultimate goal is to emulate other superheroes. He wants to help people because that's what superheroes do. Fat Momma, on the other hand, is in the competition in order to spread her message. She just wants to help people, and she became a superhero because she believes that is the best way to do that. She's a gigantic, loving heart, and when it came down to the final three, she asked to be removed from the show(which she was subsequently talked out of) for fear of seeing Feedback hurt. She offered to give up the win to help someone else, and as Mr. Lee said several times, that's what superheroes do.
And on the subject of the other heroes: I would certainly follow the stories of Major Victory, Creature, Ty'veculus, and Cell Phone Girl. Levity, Nitro G, and Lemuria never really got enough screen time for me to latch on to them(Lemuria was there for most of the series, but generally that's all she was; just...there.) And the Iron Enforcer seemed to be having such a good time playing the bad guy that I certainly wouldn't mind seeing him as a recurring villain in any series. So it does make me wonder if there's a possibility of the development of comics for those other heroes, or if they own the rights to their characters and have an option to sell them to other comic publishers.
Comment from: theNater posted at September 1, 2006 6:38 PM
And I just realized that in my previous comment, I forgot to mention Monkey Woman. If I had been the one making the decisions on the show, her performance in the dog challenge would have earned her a place in the final four, regardless of all other considerations. That was just an awe-inspiring display of perseverance. So, naturally, I would follow her story as well, were it to become avaliable.
Comment from: Meru posted at September 1, 2006 9:01 PM
Hahaha, how sad is this, I finally made a typekey account just to show you this, but this post made me think you just HAD to see it.
You might already have though. I'm not sure if you're aware of Kyle Baker's Plastic Man series. It was a beautiful, hilarious run that got nominated for Eisners and everything. Really absurd and completely out of continuity (which Baker took MUCH advantage of) it got cancelled at 20 issues because OMG, it made people laugh, and we can't be having that from COMICS.
Then again, they might have just gotten pissed of at Baker because he took so many pot-shots at their story lines. XD They did end it at a story line he called "The Edwina Crisis" and the last issue started out with these three pages:
You know, I'm surprised they haven't brutally killed off Plastic Man by now. Either they've forgotten about him completely, or they're afraid of Jack Cole's ghost.
Comment from: SpotWeld posted at September 2, 2006 1:57 AM
It would be easy to pare down this show. Looking at the technical points of its elimination process, the number of episodes, the logic behind the decisions. But I keep coming back to one very unique feature.
In this reality show the winner (and perhaps the finalists as well) can say at whatever post finale interviews they do, "I did my best," as opposed to a statement that seems more fitting for the winners of other reality competitions "I did what it took to win."
And that it seems it what makes all the differnce.
Comment from: kellandros posted at September 2, 2006 11:28 AM
Half the reality shows out there either have the people on the show have to vote each other off every time, or have a TV audience do the voting. This show had all the decisions made by an impartial judge, someone just about all of the heroes could look up to and accept his decision. Stan also gave a LOT of reasoning behind decisions, showing what criteria he was looking for.
By removing voting for removal, it becomes less a popularity contest, less political maneuvering. Having a celebrity judging helps gives authority to the results, instead of seeming completely arbitrary. Being critiqued by a childhood icon- priceless.
Comment from: Merus posted at September 3, 2006 4:03 AM
I think it'd be great to write a superhero book where the main character is basically fighting other superheros' neuroses.
Comment from: Robin Z posted at September 3, 2006 9:22 AM
Yesterday, after seeing that the show was available on iTunes, I decided to give the first episode a shot, based on y'all's recommendation.
I must say, six hours later and twelve bucks poorer, that I agree with your assessment to the max. (And I knew who'd get the prize the moment Stan Lee announced the final contest. I mean, seriously.)
My thought, actually, was that they should invite a few people back for the second season. I don't know if all my nominees would go for it, but I'd ask the other two of the final three to return, and then a wildcard from the rest of the group – if I were choosing, say Monkey Woman, Nitro G, or Levity. They couldn't really recycle more than three, though.
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
