oHOTmu or NOT Ep.26: Darkstar to Deathbird

A Russian bombshell. A famous pop star. A big bad's girlfriend. Not Hawkgirl, we swear. Which are Hot, and which are Not? Only one way to find out...

Featuring permanent panelists Elyse, Isabel, Nathalie, Josée, Amélie and Shotgun.

Listen to Episode 26 below (the usual mature language warnings apply), or subscribe to oHOTmu OR NOT? on iTunes!

Relevant images and further credits at: oHOTmu or NOT ep.26 Supplemental

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13 responses to “oHOTmu or NOT Ep.26: Darkstar to Deathbird

  1. All girls! And just when I thought this show couldn’t get any better.

    Darkstar I wasn’t familiar with, but I really do like her look. I think it’s how deep the black appears to be, to the point that lines of her body don’t really show and it makes the star a single point of reference in female shaped black void. I dig it.

    Oh Dazzler… I’m trying really hard to find the good points and I kind of can’t. She’s always struck me as a bizarre idea from the get go and even more baffling that she’s stuck around to the degree that she has. She was possibly one of the most blatant attempts at a marketing exercise that Marvel undertook, actually being commissioned by Casablanca Records with the intention of launching a cross-media brand with albums and a film. This was all planned in the late 70s but by the time the character debuted in 1980, Disco was kind of dead. And really that should have been the end of it. But she keeps popping up and I don’t know why. Setting aside the uselessness of her power set (putting her right up there with Jubilee in terms of flashy but pointless) it’s so strange to me that they keep pushing a character whose defining trait (being a pop star) and powers require an audio component when comics are a strictly visual medium. Yes, ok, the disco era look is kind of fun in how over the top it is. And I also have to admit that I might hold a grudge that she took up a playable character slot in the otherwise epically awesome 1992 X-Men arcade game, when almost ANY other X-Men character would have been a better choice. They don’t even have the excuse of her being the only other female option besides Storm (Siryn, Phoenix, Polaris, Magik, Domino, Rogue, etc. were all around at the time.) Oh well, I guess somebody has to be the character that nobody ever picks to play. I always called dibs on Nightcrawler, for the record.

    Death. I absolutely love how much Amélie squeeed over this. While I’m kind of more inclined to the DC Death (and curse you Siskoid for NOT getting her reaction to THAT Death on mic,) I’ve always found this look compelling. Like Skeletor’s hot sister. Sadly over the decades the skull would appear less in favor of a more overtly feminine face and eventually flat out over sexualization. For me the robe hinting at the curves just enough to make it clear that this is a female is the perfect level. I haven’t really followed her more recent appearances, but I LOVE how unimpressed she is by all of his attempts to impress him during the Infinity Gauntlet event. It has a wonderful “dude, she’s just not that into you” vibe. I guess later on they made her more reciprocating. And then there was that whole Death-Thanos-Deadpool love triangle thing. Comics are weird. But yeah, she’d be a hot for me. However, there’s a question that nags at me: was the only reason Death was depicted as feminine so that Thanos’ crush on her wouldn’t make him gay?

    Deathbird… yup… that’s a Deathbird alright. Pretty much exactly what you’d picture if you were told a character was named Deathbird. That’s all I’ve got. I found the insight into Josée’s bird hangups to be way more interesting than this character. I suppose we all have them. However I will however take up the cause of defending wolves from the obvious biased forces in your midst. Wolves are awesome. No citation needed. POWNED!

  2. Love this episode.

    Darkstar looks like the cold leader of a spinning class, belittling the people lagging behind. I know that goes against the ‘glass of wine while I see the sunset and read Proust’ entry. But that look and her expression have a cold feel.

    I am definitely a fan of Dazzler. Surprisingly, I like the Olivia Newton John version more than the original. There was a time where she wore a windbreaker type jacket over it which seemed to complete the look and make her look more like an adventurer than an aerobics instructor.

    I am surprised Mazzucchelli did that Death as it has way more lines/details than I am used to on his art.

    As for Giffen, I brought that issue up to be signed and said ‘a bunch of friends really can’t stand Sun Boy and were thrilled when you killed him’. He shrugged and said ‘happy to oblige!’ I was glad to grab it for you all! This show brings me happiness and I was glad to share.

  3. In addition to her standard robed-skeleton look, Marvel’s embodiment of Death sometimes assumes a fully-human appearance…possibly as a comfort to the people she claims. It’s too bad that the OHotMU entry doesn’t include an image of her alternate appearance, but as you suggested, you could show the gals for the “newer looks” special. Here’s her first “unhooded” appearance:

    https://longboxgraveyard.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/thanosanddeath800.jpg

    And then there’s the scene in “The Death of Captain Marvel” where Mar-Vell accepts his death: She initially appears to him in her “normal” guise, but he then says “I no longer need the illusion,” and she changes to her skeletal form.

    https://kalindamage.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/mgn1_death.jpg

    It always struck me that the scene could have been equally valid if it had played out the opposite way, if Death had appeared as the skeleton as he feared and fought his fate, but changed to the “human” look once he accepted her.

    Deathbird: How does she get dressed with those wings?

  4. Well, that was a lot of fun.

    There has been an ongoing thread on Back Issues Magazine’s Facebook page called “Razzle Dazzle” theater. It reviewed the Dazzler series from start to finish, including the “Dazzler: The Movie” graphic novel…which was never really a movie, of course. That’s where Allison is coerced into revealing her mutant powers by a shady manager. But the real awful part is that story is just…wow. Allison is so mistreated in that book by all the male characters and the writer, then-editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, it’s nigh impossible to imagine why Marvel would ever print such dreck. She is seduced by a fat, balding Frank Sinatra analog, and repeatedly tells him he has “the manual to her body” over and over, which is why she lets him use her fame and mutant power to revive his flagging career. And the worst part is, she still loves the guy at the end of the book, even though he used her like a cheap..well, you know. If you can ever get a copy of it, an FW Presents where the oHOTmu or Not team reviews it would be a riotous hoot, and the dumpster fire it deserves to get.

    I wonder if we’ll see Death in the MCU since we have Hela already being established? I’d rather look at Kate Blanchet than Skeletor’s sister, personally.

    All these years and I never really thought of how much Deathbird looks like Hawkgirl. I guess comic nerds are sometimes too close to such things.

    Great show as always gals and guy!

    Chris

  5. I am old enough to remember how completely a joke The Dazzler character was, since she was so connected with the Disco scene. I’m glad over time she has been embraced by new generations, because she is no more absurd than most of the other Marvel characters. Though it is a shame her OHOTMU entry is that horrid blue thing, not the awesome white jumpsuit.

    OHOTMU is always a fun romp!

  6. Another note on Dazzler: The last few issues of her comic were illustrated by Paul Chadwick, who would go on to create the acclaimed comic “Concrete.” In the first issue of Dark Horse Comics Presents, Chadwick wrote and drew a short story called “Brighter,” which was essentially Chadwick reflecting on the character’s wasted potential. In that story, a thinly-disguised version of Dazzler sits by herself, thinking about her life and wondering whether fighting is all her power is good for, before realizing that she could live her dream of being an artist by using her light-powers to create images on film: “I could create entire worlds, and they’d all be me!” An interesting exploration of how her powers could be useful in the real world, without super-hero conflicts…

  7. My wife and I listened to this in the car yesterday, and she had a few quotable moments:

    On Darkstar: “Yeah, I agree. Male Elf-Face.”

    On Disco Dazzler: “Yikes! That certainly is disco.”

    On Deathbird: “Okay.” (said like Bull from Night Court)

  8. This episode was so much fun! The squad was in fine form, and a good group of characters for them to review.

    Of all of them, I can’t believe I have the most thoughts about … Death? I really wished Siskoid had mentioned the Thanos-Death-Deadpool love triangle. The crew would have gone berserk over that. Similar to Vera’s comments, IMHO, Thanos is the guy who tries too hard, and Deadpool is the cool guy:
    Thanos: Hey Death, watch me kill these heroes!
    Death; Uh-huh.
    Thanos: Um, Death? I destroyed a whole planet for you!
    Death: Sure, whatever. (emory board on skeleton fingers)
    Deadpool: Hey baby, wanna go party?
    Death: (jumps onto DP’s motorcycle)

    How a skeleton in a robe gets two guys fighting over her, I don’t get. But hey, the ladies gave her a “hot” so I bow to their judgement.

    I’ve always had a crush on Dazzler. I know, disco, but her original costume was so sexy and I was a budding teenager when those full page ads were in all the books. And I agree with David Ace, all of her outfits are awesome.

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