oHOTmu or NOT Ep.38: Bill Foster to Frog-Man

A giant man. A famous creature from literature. Formerly evil mutants. A hero with a spring in his step. Which are Hot, which are Not? Call on the Girls for the complete lowdown.

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

Listen to Episode 38 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.38 Supplemental

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18 responses to “oHOTmu or NOT Ep.38: Bill Foster to Frog-Man

  1. If I was young Anj and listening to this podcast, I would definitely feel better about the world. The crew think Frankenstein’s Monster and Frogman are hot, and the ab-licious Giant Man ‘not’! Hooray for those of us who identify more with Frogman than more classic heroes.

    But then I think that young Anj would then feel worse. Because there is no doubt that, should I be a character in the MU, I would be sporting bucket boots. While I don’t own any in real life, I love those freaking things. I feel my bucket boot fashion sense would immediately dump me into the ‘not’ bucket.

    Thanks for all the laughs, as always!

  2. Another hilariously entertaining episode!

    Foster, Bill: Just to answer the question about “who’s that woman he’s holding?”, that’s Titania, part of the wrestlers-turned-criminals team The Grapplers. You’ll get a headshot of her when you get to the Grapplers, and she gets a full entry of her own in the Book of the Dead.

    Frankenstein’s Monster: I love the entry’s statement under “Other current aliases”: “Often incorrectly called simply ‘Frankenstein’ by the public.” Well, I’m sure he’d prefer being called “Frankenstein” to being called a monster.

    I know that those three images are from different issues and depict him defending three different “damsels in distress,” but I like to think that it’s the same woman in all the images, and that she’s having the same reaction as our panelists: “What are those, goblins? Trolls? Are they biting him?”

    Kind of interesting that in the Freedom Force discussion about the Blob, it’s asked why overweight characters have to have names that focus on their weight…and that’s followed by Frog-Man, a plus-sized hero whose weight isn’t his defining characteristic. It’s not really apparent from that image of him in costume, where he appears to have a fairly standard super-hero physique, but it is nice that he’s a larger-sized character who’s an active crimefighter and doesn’t consider his weight to be an issue.

  3. A hectic work week where I’m in two locations kept me from listening to oHOTmu Or Not on the day it dropped, and I was really bummed by that!

    The girls never fail to surprise. Sure Black Goliath’s ab window is ridiculous, but I thought they would have digged the beefcake on display.

    And who knew Frankenstein’s Monster was so fashion-forward! Skinny jeans in the early 1800s! If you look at the actual comics from the 70s, Marvel couldn’t decide if his hair was black, like the traditional Frankenstein look we know, or reddish-brown as we see here. I guess they may have settled on brown to keep Universal’s lawyers at bay?

    And in all my years of being a horror fan, and reading and watching countless iterations of the Frankenstein story, it never occurred to me to ask “What does Frankenstein smell like?”. Embalming fluid, I would think…

    Freedom Force was the name I gave my own team of super heroes back in my youth. I was bummed to see the X-Men books got to it first. Rogue IS Hilary there! Great observation.

    Frog-Man! I love that the girls think this mort is hot. I was there with MTU #121, so I got to witness the awesome origin of Eugene as the Ribbiting Revenger (I just made that up). I wish they had shown a pic of portly Eugene with his naturally curly red hair. There’s no way that kid weighs just 158, by the way. I know the girls would be upset with the initial story (or one of Frog Man’s early appearances anyway), because I seem to recall his dad backhanding him at some point. Sadly, a shortcut to family drama in Bronze Age comics is often pimp-slapping a kid. Sigh.

    Great episode as always Ladies and Gent!

    Chris

  4. Oh you lovely ladies always brighten my day.

    Foster, Bill. I was pretty much digging this (or at least the lab coat look) well enough until Siskoid got to the part about him basically trying to fake sympathy his way back into his wife’s good graces… I’m sorry but that’s sad. And pathetic. And god damn creepy. Fuck off with that shit. You don’t trick somebody into loving you, you literally oversized asshat. I’m genuinely surprised that the ladies pretty much brushed past that bit (and it sounded like Siskoid expected it to be a bigger deal too… or at least a bigger issue than the ab window). That bullshit alone makes it a not. Ok, I think I’m done swearing now.

    Frankenstein’s Monster. Oh darling, you have got to let somebody else do your hair. Don’t cut it yourself. I do honestly have a hard time getting past the hair. And I mean that literally, if I look at the image from top to bottom my eyes will get stuck on the top of his head because it’s just awful. That said, once I do actually get past it, he’s surprisingly endearing. The artists sure are lucky that any weird proportions (because he does have them) can be brushed off as poorly fit together body pieces. It’s still a not though. I know it’s petty to do this just because of the hair, but I’m realizing as I get older that it carries more weight for me than I once thought. Good hair can cover a lot of sins, but bad hair will cancel out so much good for me.

    Freedom Force. It’s a hot. It has to be: Mystique is on the team (nearly a livelong crush there). But even if I don’t let her carry the team, there’s plenty here to like: early Rogue (hair still works short), Destiny, Spiral, Spider-Woman, heck even Pyro pulls a little bit of weight. It’s more than enough to cancel out the blandness of Avalanche and the… blobbishness of blob. Not trying to body shame on that, he carries it well, but it’s literally too much for me. But the group gets a pass with bonus for the whole villains coerced into heroic acts routine, which I’m always a sucker for.

    Frog-Man. This is an interesting case, because it becomes a question of how far does an endearing backstory carry you. Because that outfit, dear GOD. When I first looked it my jaw just hung open. But I won’t lie, much like everybody else I found his backstory to gradually start winning me over. I really don’t know if it’s enough. So I did what I usually don’t do: outside research. I looked up what Eugene looks like outside the suit, and it is EXACTLY everything I was hoping for. Normally I make a pretty clear distinction between cute and hot. But Eugene as Frog-Man is that rare figure who’s cuteness is so pure it actually crosses over into being hot. And bless him for it.

  5. Someday I’m going to get to listen to this while taking notes rather then while driving. I lost a whole lot of comments to my poor memory. I enjoyed the episode and didn’t look at the pictures while the car was moving.

  6. One of my weird thoughts. Why no entry for Foster, Jane? She’s a huge part of Thor’s history, even merged with Lady Sif before the time OHOTMU was published. Not a good look, Marvel.

    Bill Foster is a character I learned about from OHOTMU first, and read more books with him later. It was weird to see him being much more likable than this entry implies. The Black Goliath story with his ex made me think he was dabbling in villainhood. Such a misstep by the writer of that story. Glad the gang like his afro and #NormalSizeCape as the high collar. Love it!

    I honestly never considered Frankenstein’s Monster needing to care about fashion in the slightest. Live and learn.

    The Freedom Force will be more interesting to evaluate in their individual entries, since this group page does not let them shine much at all. I look forward to hearing the take on Mystique and Spiral (I’ll be in assisted living by then). And of course, Spider-Woman II. It really threw me back in the day to see her on this page, so I looked it up, and sure enough, this issue predates X-Men 206 by 4 months. It was always odd to see future issues referenced in OHOTMU, but I understand Marvel trying to have the books be relevant for a “little” while after published, instead of immediately moot. But today, I avoid spoilers like the plague, so no thanks.

    Now I’m thinking if Rogue had appeared in the movie “Logan”, being in the near future, she could actually be played by Hillary. Wow.

    I won’t speak for all comic fans, but yes, Frog-Man was/is me. All the way. Like y’all, I completely love his eyes peeking out of the frog mouth. So on behalf of all the Eugenes out there, thank you hot squad. (Oh, the issue of Amazing Spider-Man where Frog-Man fights the Toad? HYSTERICAL!)

    Another winner, my friends. See you same Frog-time, same Frog-podcast!

  7. I have always had a soft spot for Foster, Bill. A coverless copy of Black Goliath was one of my early purchases, and I kept waiting for him to appear in a title that I might buy! He didn’t for a long time. Oh, well. However, I agree with Vera Wilde, that ruse he tried on his ex-wife is lousy. The girls also got me thinking along their lines, regarding his “ab window.” How large would his belly-button lint be? What if it fell on you? Eeewww!
    I absolutely loved the reaction to Frog-Man!

  8. Foster, Bill: Cool, but only because we like him in the movie. (This is a big deal because the twosome haven’t had any interest in Marvel movies before, but this year, they wanted to see “Avengers Infinity War” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp”. Yay!)

    Frankenstein’s Monster: Fneh, just fneh.

    Freedom Force: They’re all cool, but Blob has a weird face!

    Frog-Man: Undecided. He’s weird, but has a nice backstory.

    I finally remembered to play their part of the feedback segment, and they got a big kick out of it. So this segment might be saved from cancellation! Fingers crossed.

  9. Great episode. Sorry for no posts lately as I’m so far behind but trying to catch up.

    Foster, Bill – I like the idea of someone getting a super-human power and deciding that use your power for the most good, you’ll become shade for people who feel too hot in the sun.

    Frankenstein’s Monster – I never, EVER, thought about the monster’s hygiene but now that’s all I can think of.

    Freedom Force – I always enjoyed the Mystique and Destiny relationship. I don’t really care about anyone else. Avalanche just has a pot on his head.

    Frog-Man – Frog-Man is essentially me, minus the crime-fighting. The mort I could relate to. And for that reason….. I don’t like him. I don’t want to see more of me! I get enough of me already.

    Great work everyone! Now to catch up on the next episode…..

  10. I have every single appearance of Frog-Man. Why? Because he has been my favorite character since his first appearance. I even begged Sean McKeever to include him in the Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt mini series and he did!!

    For the ultimate Frog-Man story read the two issues of Marvel Fanfare where he goes up against the Yellow Claw. Two of the best comics I’ve ever read.

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