Attack of the Live-Action Hero Series Part 1!

With the announcement not long ago of the CW's intention to create a new hero series called Grayson (essentially a Smallville ripoff focusing on Dick Grayson's life before his parents were killed), I thought it would be a good time to look back on those television series that gave us the chance to see our favorite heroes in living, breathing action.

Some stayed true to the comics, while others really went into freaky directions, but the one thing they all had in common was the ability to thrill us for the precious few minutes they were on the air each week.

The Adventures of Superman

The first major comic book hero to get a weekly series, Superman started out in glorious black & white before finally moving to color in its final seasons. George Reeves definitely didn't have the sculpted look we associate with the hero today, but he was great in the part. He didn't play Clark Kent as a bumbling idiot or a coward, but chose instead to make Clark someone to like rather than pity. There was no Lex Luthor or super-villains of any kind, but the stories were still thrilling week after week.

The series brought success to Reeves, which later played against him. Other studios were reluctant to hire him in new roles because he was so recognizable as the Man of Steel, and as such he isn't seen in much after his Superman days started. To be fair, Reeves took his role serious, and was careful with his public image while in the series. He wanted to be a good role model for the children.

Reeves tragically ended his own life, though there is still some speculation as to whether or not it was suicide or murder.

Lasting six seasons (or seven, depending on how you count season one as either a single or two incomplete seasons), The Adventures of Superman gave every child of the 50's a thrill. Even though the special effects are horribly dated by today's standards, I still remember rushing through my yard with a "whoosh!" sound effect going as the afternoon reruns were showing in the 70's.

Episode of note: Reeves really did do a lot for the character. He even appeared as himself playing Superman in a classic episode of I Love Lucy in 1956. When Lucy tries to dress up as Superman to appear at little Ricky's birthday party, she gets trapped on the ledge with an attack of vertigo. Reeves (who had been hired by Lucy's husband to show up at the party) raced out onto the ledge and easily helped her back into the apartment--much to the chagrin and admiration of Ricky Ricardo. Once again, Reeves brought respect to himself and the character by showing himself an unafraid hero (even though the ledge was really only 3 feet from the studio floor) rather than just a sissy actor in a costume.



Batman

The first live-action hero series to premiere in color, Batman wasn't seriously considered a threat when it first aired. Originally shot to be a one-hour show, the executives at ABC decided to split the show in half and show it on two consecutive nights. Batman became a monster hit, and was actually the most popular show on television at one time.

Unfortunately, all the hype worked against it and as popularity began to wane by season 3, they decided to try and spark some life into the series again with the introduction of Batgirl. It was a nice effort, but unfortunately not enough. The Batcave closed its doors at the end of the third season.

Ironically, another network actually wanted to pick up the series and continue it, but by the time they had come to an agreement on it the Batcave set had been torn down. Rebuilding such an expensive set ($300k) didn't sit well with the new network, so they backed out of the deal.

The show was heavy on camp, but that was the way the writers wanted it. By today's standards, it's almost painful to watch at times, yet who can change the channel when you happen to stumble across an old episode on television?

Episode of note: Too many to mention, but there was a cool crossover done with the Green Hornet and Kato. The story was originally slated with Robin winning the fight between himself and Kato, but Bruce Lee (Kato) refused to lose the fight. Rather than take the chance he might "accidentally" knock out Burt Ward's stunt double during filming, they decided to let it go to a draw.




Wonder Woman

Beauty queen Lynda Carter brought us our only female live-action hero to a weekly prime-time series (Isis doesn't count because she was a Saturday morning show). Like Batman, the series only ran 3 seasons.

The first season was set during World War 2. When the second season started, the series was brought into modern times with the explanation that Diana had been on Paradise Island and was returning to find Steve Trevor's son (also named Steve, and played by the same actor) working in the military. It was a little stretch of the imagination, but it worked well enough.

Toning down the camp factor from Batman, Wonder Woman actually tried to be a serious show. Carter played the role to the hilt, giving Wonder Woman this sexy flirtatious air at times, but making sure it was understood she could kick your tail if the need arose. And even though the fact that she changed by spinning around and around was a little weird, we let it slide to see her in action.

Episode of Note: Wonder Woman got a little help from a teen sidekick in a couple of episodes.

Wonder Girl made a few appearances to save the day. She was played by Debra Winger, who would later go on to become an award-winning actress in films like "An Officer and A Gentleman" and "Terms of Endearment".



Next Monday, we'll pick up here and see the other great superhero series that are worth noting. Marvel enters the fray with two of their biggest heroes...will it work or fail? And what happens when DC decides to redo the origin of it's most popular hero? Tune in next week...same Bat-time...same Bat-station!

Dumb Hero Names Part 2

Time to take a second look at some more heroes who needed help. Ok, so maybe the superpower isn't so bad--but that name...it's got to go. For Part 2, here are a few more folks that might not have gotten ripped in powers, but they should have put a little more thought into their name.

A-Bomb

He's supposed to be the new Abomination, but for some reason this blue guy goes by "A-Bomb".

In reality, he's Rick Jones, but for some reason he's become this big blue monster guy. Somehow the same accident that gave us a Red Hulk (pretty cool) gave us this cerulean freak.

What was so wrong with the name "Abomination" anyway? And who in the world thought A-Bomb would be better?

D-Man

To this day, I'm still not sure what "D-Man" stands for. I think it was "Demolition Man", but it's never been clear. At any rate, his costume is supposed to be a rip-off of Daredevil and Wolverine, and was acknowledged to be that because the guy was a fan of both. So why did he end up in Captain America comics for the most part? Go figure.

Batroc the Leaper

Holy crap! I mean, I know the guy is French and all, but I hear this name and picture some guy skipping through a flower bed somewhere. He's supposed to be an expert in Savate, so why not Batroc the Fighter, or Batroc the Kicker (though that seems like a football star, I guess). Any way you look at it, I remain confused.

I think a better name for him would be "Batroc the Loser", since he's never seemed to win a single fight he's been in since his creation. Let's be honest: he could team with Pepe Le Pew and stand a better chance of winning that he would fighting solo anymore.

Frog Man

No super powers, and he names himself after one of the more helpless members of the amphibian (I think) world.

So you'd think he could leap really high. You'd be wrong.
You'd think he could possibly swim really fast. Wrong again.
Does he make a chirping noise at night? Possibly, but probably not.

Nope, he's Frog Man for some unknown reason. He tried to join the Defenders, but got laughed out. He's shown up from time to time in Spider-Man's books, but not that often.

The Walrus

Yes, when you are alone in a dark alley, your heart will skip a beat in fear when you hear someone scream, "Oh no! It's the Walrus!" Nevertheless, Hubert Carpenter took on the role of the Walrus. He hasn't been seen in a very long time, but he fought the Defenders once (only to be defeated by Frog Man, who wasn't even good enough to be considered for joining the team).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a walrus is a big, slow animal on land. How did this seem a bright idea? Still, it seems he was actually created more as a comic relief than anything else, so we'll let this one slide.

Space Turnip

Ok, so this was a Howard the Duck villain, so there's not much to add to that. A security guard gets zapped by a turnip from outer space and becomes this super-hero guy. His jealousy over Howard getting Beverly's (his former roommate) love sends him on a killing rampage, but Howard manages to save the day.

The guy was only around for one issue and hasn't been seen since, but you can't make him go away, Marvel. You did it! You know you did!


Coming next week, a post so big it had to be split into 3! Get ready, as we take a 3-part long, hard look at heroes on television!

Folks We've Seen Too Much Of Lately

Let's just admit it: there are some heroes that used to be cool guest stars, but have worn out their welcomes. They seem to show up every month in some title or another, and it's not working any more. Most have their own book, and many times their guest-starring role makes no sense at all. Here's my list of heroes who need to lie low for a little while.

Wolverine
This is the poster boy for oversaturation (he even won our recent poll about heroes who are in too many books). He started as a guest-star in Hulk before moving on to a regular slot among the X-Men. Once Wolverine's popularity started to show in the X-Men titles of the 80's, he became the go-to guy for boosted sales. If you needed some extra issues, bring in Wolverine for a guest shot. As such, he's appeared in every comic you can imagine, and he's had some reason to fight the star of that comic in the process. Granted, his first appearance against Captain America in Cap's magazine remains one of the coolest fights he's had, but we've seen enough.

Even now Wolvie has two solo titles, his slot in X-Force, and his regular position in X-Men. Even with his healing factor, how on earth does anyone keep up that kind of schedule and not fall asleep on the job?

Spider-Man
A true underdog story, Spidey made his debut in the last issue of a dying comic title (Amazing Fantasy) before moving to his own solo title and becoming Marvel's most popular character. Unfortunately, it only took one issue before the guest-star bug (no pun intended) bit and he showed up with the Fantastic Four. After that, he was everywhere. Like Superman and Batman, Spider-Man was the star of his own team-up book for a while during the 70's and 80's before that fad died out.

Even though they've trimmed him to one title that comes out 3 times a month, he's still showing up everywhere during the Secret Invasion. The problem? The stupid reboot they gave him in "Brand New Day". He no longer fits into any title's continuity but his own. The recent crossover with the Thunderbolts gave him a chance to interact with Norman Osborn again, but it didn't make sense. Marvel downplayed this "minor event"--the sudden fact that no one in the Marvel Universe knows who Spider-Man really is anymore--and is desperately trying to cover their tracks.

During these years when Spider-Man doesn't have a movie on the horizon, they should let him have a little down time. I love the character, and he's the first comic I read and the reason I fell in love with comics to begin with...but he's popping up a little too often at the moment. Let's get everything straight with this new convoluted storyline and then gently interject him into other titles again.

Superman
Ok, so we have Action Comics, Superman, Trinity, JLA, JSA, a guest shot in Brave & The Bold, and the recent miniseries Superman and Legion of 3 Worlds, and Superman: Beyond 3D. Could this be considered oversaturation?

Granted, this is DC's heavy hitter. Anytime they feel the need to prove how tough a hero is, they send him after Superman (or vice versa). But let's give him a break. Seriously, after DC killed him off it took 4 guys to take his place until he returned! I understand he's Kryptonian, but let's send him and Lois on a little vacation to the Bahamas for a few months and leave him alone. He's still got a cousin and a dog running around out there, so let them cover it for a while.

Iron Man
Oh man, am I going to take flak for this, but let's face it: he's getting to be a little much. I know his movie came out this year and it was honestly the best Marvel has done so far, but is there any artist working for Marvel that hasn't drawn him yet? Before the Civil War he was just another player in the Marvel universe with a solo title and a team spot in the Avengers. Then he stepped into the spotlight during the Civil War (as the heavy, no less), and hasn't stepped away from it since. How did Tony Stark suddenly become the linchpin of the Marvel Universe?

There are those who would argue that he's always been important, but he's now the star of 2 solo titles, 2 miniseries, 1 team book, and a major player in Avengers: The Initiative. After the dust settles on this Secret Invasion and Nick Fury takes over SHIELD again, hopefully Marvel will pull him back just a little bit.

Batman
As much as I love this character, I think it's time to let him have a little rest. I know they're in the midst of this whole "Batman R.I.P." storyline that has the world in an uproar because it could mean the death of Bruce Wayne, but even if they kill him off the next guy to wear the cape needs to lie low for a while.

While Batman doesn't have as many titles as Superman (thanks to his 2 Final Crisis miniseries), he's still popping up in all kinds of books. I realize he's a central figure in the DC universe and has to used, but we're starting to lose something here. Maybe a little more slinking in the shadows for a bit? Or how about letting Jason Todd step in as Red Robin again and do a little tough guy work while Batman is away?


So what about you? Is there a hero I missed that you think needs a little vacation from the spotlight?