oHOTmu or NOT Ep.70: Mandarin to Manhattan

The lord of the rings. A polygamous ape. A power suit. The place where all the action takes place. Which are hot, which are not? The Girls of the Hot Squad will tell you as they continue reading the eighth issue of Marvel Universe Deluxe.

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

Listen to Episode 70 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.70 Supplemental

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17 responses to “oHOTmu or NOT Ep.70: Mandarin to Manhattan

  1. Mandarin: Is that look really better than the Silver Age get-up? I’m not really sure. I mean, I’m glad they toned down the horribly racist way his face was drawn, but this costume is pretty horrid. Mandarin hasn’t ever really nailed down his look, has he? He’s no Doctor Doom in that regard. I can appreciate the Mandarin Twist (sounds like a refreshing soda) in the MCU better, now that they are giving us the real deal. But his rings are no longer finger rings! If there’s not a pickle on one of those armbands, I’m walking out of the theater.

    Mandrill: Yeah, this one is just WEIRD. And off-putting, and all kinds of gross. But real mandrills are SCARY! Look at those fangs!!!

    Mandroid: I don’t know whether I’m impressed or disappointed that none of the girls went for a “marital aid” joke with this thing.

    Manhatten: FINALLY, I can sleep easier at night, knowing of the location of Clint Barton’s former apartment. Thank you OHOTMU!!!

    Chris

  2. Mandarin: That’s quite an outfit. I (thankfully) missed this particular costume phase in the comic books. By the way, which of his rings has the power to grant him his dignity back?

    Mandroid: I can see it now, the next great MCU rom-com, WandaVision 2: Mandroid in Love. In an attempt to win the new Vision’s heart, Wanda uses a Mandroid suit to trick him into thinking that she is a fellow android. Hilarity ensues.

    Manhattan: According to the map, it looks like Sersi has both an Upper West Side apartment, and a Soho loft. That’s pretty impressive given property values in New York City.

    Thank you for another incredible episode.

    1. Mandrill: Mandrill the primate (scientific name: Mandrillus sphinx) is cool. Mandrill the professional criminal (scientific name: Creepius maximus) is ?!?!?!

    2. Given the sitcom trappings of WandaVision, I think your Mandroid Love pitch would have fit in seamlessly. Bravo!

      Off topic, I once had a Mento-Intensifier Ring back in grade school. I didn’t know what it was and could only tap its power unconsciously. It did help me to ace all my spelling tests when I took it to school. Ultimately, I traded it away for some bubble gum cards when I tried licking the gem on the ring and was disapointed to learn it wasn’t candy.

      1. I think I ended up with that ring. I’m glad you traded it, ’cause I wouldn’t have made it through grad school bare-handed.

  3. Big fan of the show
    Always makes work go great listening to the newest episode course have to be careful not to laugh out loud

    Mandarin: this look for some reason gives a Yul Brenner king and vibe which I can see them using that a bit as redesign
    It’s funny how long it took for them try and give him a new look.
    Mandarin has struggled especially in animation
    (Green skin elf look from the 90s iron man cartoon)
    I’m interested in seeing how he will be in Shang chi
    I know the twist In 3 has its fans but I didn’t like it
    Just came off as them trying to be clever when all were left is a boring businessman who was mad Tony stiffed him at a party.
    Not for me but at the time I understand them getting nervous about adapting the mandarin though if they were nervous why bother putting them in the film there were other organizations they could have used
    One version That I think the girls would like is the version from the iron man armoured adventures cartoon not only is hes giving a good overall in design he and tony actually are friends and has a major story arc that is really fascinating.

    Mandroid: really dig these suits suprised they havent been adapted yet in the mcu I can definitely see the baymax comparisons and they do look like something that would be out now though they probably would apple store white and come in a variety of colors.

    Mandril: geez that backstory I was not expecting and power set.
    Kind of proto purple man
    (Though I now imagining if that used mandrill in Jessica Jones instead of the purple man that is a image I didn’t need.)
    They probably were looking for potential animal themes and came across a pic with a mandrill with there mouth wide open and just went bingo mandrill themed villain.

    Manhattan: I wish they would do more maps like this but with the advent of the internet they probably figure the readers can look up the places they put in comics.

    Great episode keep up the good work

    1. Correction in ment ti comment on the samurai look and confused it with yul Brenner
      It happens when writing before bed

  4. Given Tony Stark’s career as an industrialist and capitalist and the plethora of Iron Man villains from the Silver Age who were communist (Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo, Won Chu, etc.), it surprises me that Iron’s chief antagonist, the MANDARIN was not also a communist. I blithely assumed (shame on me) that Iron Man’s greatest foe was Chinese because, in 1960s Silver Age logic, China = Communism = Bad. Could it be that under that garish costume lies legitimate acknowlegement of real Chinese history?

    As for his placement on the Hot or Not range, I just can’t get behind this one. The Mandarin just seems like a mash-up to too many concepts rolled into one character. He’s a jingoistic Fu Manchu pastiche! He uses mysticism to combat a tech-based hero! His weapons are of alien origIn! He’s also a martial arts master! It’s just too much. The aforementioned garrish costume doesn’t help. Kudos to Mandarin for rocking that much skin, but he’s still a NOT.

    — Which might explain why I loved Sir Ben Kinsley’s portrayal in Iron Man 3. I loved modernizing the Mandarin as a terrorist in the mold of Osama Bin Laden and I loved it again when that persona was shown to be hollow theater.

    MANDRILL… wow. Just… wow. Nowhere else but in comics do you wind up with an ape-man who uses his power to control women through secondary sex characteristics to don a cape and command an army of Radio City Rockettes under a monolithic statue of himself! I have been a life-long devoted comics reader and fan precisely for this level of wacky absurdity! However, Mandrill’s powers remove consent and nothing can be Hot without consent.

    I think the contrast in opinion over MANDROIDS on the show between Siskoid and the Ladies shows how familiarity can color one’s opinion about something. I’m used to Mandroids being used as cannon fodder for super-powered fight scenes — faceless, disposable pawns for our heroes to trounce an their way a real threat. The fresh perspective the Ladies gave on this show is precisely why I tune in month after month. Thank you for letting me see with new eyes.

    MANHATTAN: One of my favorite Woody Allen films and another great collaboration between Woody and Diane Keaton. Absolutely this one is HOT.

    Thanks again for all the usual amounts of thought, perspective, and low-brow humor that make this time and again my favorite Fire and Water Network show.

  5. Another crazy episode with strange entries.

    Mandarin – this was perhaps the most ludicrous of his looks. It looks like a version of the ‘i’m at school and I’m naked’ nightmare. Like Mandarin wakes in a cold sweat – ‘What a nightmare! I was fighting Iron Man and I forgot my pants and shirt’. Plus that snake belly tattoo is idiotic. Is that his pick-up line? “I have a dragon in my pants!’ I couldn’t take him seriously.

    Mandrill – such a creepy character.

    Mandroid – as Chris said, I was surprised this didn’t veer into more randy discussions. Everything is bulbous.

    Manhattan – at long last I know where the coffee bean is! I hope Gwen Stacy meant it when she said she’d have coffee with me on Friday! If Gwen is in the district, Manhattan is hot.

    As always, thanks for this show which never fails to make me laugh out loud.

  6. Thanks for a funny and entertaining episode! You all are a joy.

    Mandarin: I was always “F’neh” about Mandarin in the comics ’til the Extremis era. That’s when he made himself over as a charismatic businessman who went golfing in a pink polo and white trousers. Tony knew he was the megalomaniacal maniac with super-powered rings, but everyone else thought he was a charming tech magnate and thought leader. Iron Man had to wait for the other shoe to drop before he could take action. Anyway, because I lacked deep investment in traditional versions of the character, I enjoyed the twist in Iron Man 3 and the Ten Rings Easter eggs in the first Iron Man, and I’m really looking forward to Shang-Chi!

    Mandrill: Baboons, as a category of apes, are scary and inordinately violent. My wife* learned in anthropology labs that mandrills are the most unpleasant of the bunch. Marvel’s Mandrill doesn’t have much to do with the real thing, but he is similarly terrible. Unlike Dr. Doom, who must survive because you want to see him again, Mandrill is one of those characters you hope falls off a skyscraper and the hero just can’t reach him in time. On page 2.

    The real Manhattan is crazy awesome HOT! I’m pretty fond of Brooklyn, too. Check out the Met! And Bergen Street Books! They will find the comic that is right for you, just like Brooks Brothers will find you the suit you never knew you needed. Concur that this image should be made into a more detailed, more aesthetically appealing wall map, with even more descriptions of Marvel hero locales. And there should be laminated fold-up versions! I will lead the street tour! And afterwards, we’ll get brick oven pizza at two a.m. I love New York!

    *She’s considering the titles “Mrs. Negentropy” and “Major Negentropy”. Negentropy is reverse entropy or increasing order, of course.

  7. This show just keeps getting better and better! Well done, everyone! It’s like that favourite comic that you get on Wednesday and can’t wait to read. You’re becoming a national treasure and I hope we can get a Heritage minute about oHOTmu.

    Mandarin – “I wish he was wearing more clothes”. If I was built like this, and had my own force field, I would wear this all the time. The sheer confidence, or should I say balls, it takes to wear something like this and not feel ridiculous is off the charts. Can the ladies rate if the orange is hot or not?

    Mandrill – Every wrong idea, ever. The shorty shorts, the blouse sleeves, the pointy cape. On top of that there’s the pheromones and all that implies?! Ugh. “I disagree with his face.” I can’t agree more with that comment.

    Mandroid – The little face makes it look like a little boy playing dress up in a big suit. I was surprised the ladies found this cute when there is not that much definition to the armour.

    Manhattan – I would love to go to Manhattan AND Winnipeg!

    Tides challenge? Oh, it’s on! Did you know Vancouver Island has the largest waterfall in Canada? The Della Falls is 440 metres tall, eight times the height of the Niagra Falls! (Okay, I didn’t know that either and had to Google something that BC had over New Brunswick more than smug vegans talking about all the flowers we have in bloom).

    Josée, you are my bae and any time with you would be Fundy……. I’m so sorry, that pun was terrible. I need to take some lessons from Dr.Anj.

    Thank you, everyone, for another fantastic show! You are the best! Keep up the great work!

    1. I would love to go to Manhattan AND Winnipeg!

      You will regret at least one of those decisions.

      Did you know Vancouver Island has the largest waterfall in Canada?

      We’re not really a waterfall kind of province… the tallest falls on Earth are in Venezuela, more than twice as high as Vancouver Island’s. I don’t think we have anything that would even make the needle move.

  8. As a Manhattan-born fan, allow me to verify Siskoid’s statement. I was born here, went on a whirlwind tour of other states for education and career, and FOUGHT LIKE HELL to come back. Now I finally have my own apartment #InTheHeights (shout out to Lin-Manuel Miranda) and am, in fact, *never going to leave again.*

    Sidenote: when I was school-aged, my Mom had moved me upstate, out of the city, to live with her as my custodial parent, but I would constantly take a bus to come back and visit Dad, and eventually just come explore. One of those explorations was to find the offices of Marvel Comics since they had amply displayed themselves in Fantastic Four #176. I had found them, but since I wasn’t actually The Impossible Man, the doorman/lobby staff wouldn’t let me up into the building.

    1. Side-Sidenote: That map has Foggy Nelson living WAYYY above the paygrade of someone who does casework with Matt Murdock in Hell’s Kitchen. Not to mention Matt having a whole-ass TOWNHOUSE on Fifth Avenue. No damn way.

      Also, I guess I’ll point this out because I live in the Heights now (which would be just under that stick labeled “George Washington Bridge”)– that whole empty yellow area in the northern part of Manhattan? That’s us and Harlem. I guess the superheroes don’t want none. Even Misty Knight lived downtown. COLLEEN WING, yes, but Misty no? DAMN. So glad for the Luke Cage Netflix series.

      :curtsies:

      1. Thanks Alan,

        Just so you know, we recorded last night so your comments didn’t make it in, but I dutifully sent it along to the Girls (as I always do).

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