oHOTmu or NOT Ep.80: Morbius to Ms. Marvel

A living vampire. King Arthur's archenemy. All the sewer mutants. The pre-Thing She-Thing. Which are Hot? Which are Not? Find out, as the Hot Squad continues to rate OHOTMU's 9th issue on how datable its characters are.

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

Listen to Episode 80 below (the usual mature language warnings apply), or subscribe to oHOTmu OR NOT? on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Relevant images and further credits at: oHOTmu or NOT ep.80 Supplemental

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21 responses to “oHOTmu or NOT Ep.80: Morbius to Ms. Marvel

  1. A quick note before listening: FINALLY someone got the relationship between Morgan, Arthur, and Mordred correct! And they even got her name right!

    Sorry, it’s a pet peeve of mine when they combine all three of Arthur’s sisters into one character.

    1. Morbius – I’ve been reading through the old 70’s Vampire Tales magazine and the bloodlust that he goes through is really interesting. Basically, he’s a beast until his hunger is satiated and then, when reason comes back, he’s racked with guilt for what he’s done. Interesting way to handle that which didn’t last into the 90’s reinvention.

      Morgan Le Fey – As stated above, they really got the history right here, except for the reason behind “Le Fey” (it’s because she was aligned with the “old ways” and not Christianity), but we’re in superhero world so I’ll let that pass. The whole “Vagina Skull” thing reminds me of the book series “Saga of the Pliocene Exile” which has a race of aliens in it where the women have proof against rape with a second set of teeth. (And her mother’s name is pronounced “Ee-Grain”)

      Morlocks – The only storylines I remember the Morlocks from ate when Strom took over, when they were mostly killed in Mutant Massacre, and when Piper tried to have his gators eat Frog Thor. Not the best things to be remembered for, really. I want to say that my sister (3 years younger than me) did the same thing calling into storm gates to the Ninja Turtles, but I don’t remember if it was serious or kidding.

      Ms. Marvel – Talk about a character that no one knew what do with. She looks like someone Ben Grimm fell for on Battleworld, causing him to follow after her like a puppy dog when he met Sharon after returning to Earth. Just a little on the creepy side there. Then they gave her a sexual assault in her background, which made her afraid of men, until she was changed into She-Thing. All this just to keep the name “Ms. Marvel” under their control.

      I am finding that a typical answer to “How do stay on?” is “Tape”. Happened twice this episode.

      As to the good Captain’s thoughts on Odin and Moondragon, Odin has been known to take certain steps with mortals to make sure his plans come to fruition. (Look up Rindr sometime to see just how far he’ll go.) He probably saw Moondragon as interfering with Thor too much and he wanted to teach her a lesson.

      (WHAT about street luging? I’ll take the scuba diving, thank you.)

      1. Thanks, Gene! I looked it up, and I agree. That’s quite extreme, and not the kind of thing I should discuss in text, for fear of being misunderstood. I will say this: if the ancient Norse poems were still under copyright, they’d have a case against Marvel for Avengers #200.

      2. Oh, and I’m glad they got so much of the Arthurian lore correct. Once, it’s handy to have you around as an expert.

      3. For compelling stories about this particular group of Morlocks, I would highly recommend the runs of both Power Pack and X-Factor written by Louise Simonson in the mid 80s. These characters really shined under her authorship.

  2. Man, I was glad to see OHOTMU on the schedule today. I needed this. Thank you ladies and gent.

    Morbius: The bat nose always bothered me. His skin color reverts to normal, but he keeps the bat nose? I think I’d go see Masque the Morlock and get that fixed!

    Morgan Le Fey: I figured this would be a hot, because, well DUH. She’s HOT! But I wasn’t prepared for “Vagina Skull”.

    Morlocks: My favorite part of this discussion was the TMNT digression. I would love to hear a commentary with the Girls covering the first Turtles movie.

    Ms. Marvel: I really liked this character. What they put her through now seems pretty cruel. Compelling, but cruel. How dare you have a fun upbeat character who has overcome obstacles to be a positive, self-motivated person! Make her a self-loathing monster!

  3. Very thankful for this episode landing on my feed. It has been an exhausting week and I need a good laugh as I sat in commute traffic.

    Morbius – the ‘living vampire’ bit was needed to skirt the Comic Code Authority if I recall, like The Living Mummy and Zuvembies. Always intrigued when someone is a true physician in comics. I guess he is an infectious disease doctor given he cures folks of their weird maladies/infections. I thought he turned up nose was a good part of his look, akin to a bat as was said.

    Morgan Le Fay – I have no idea, none, how this could somehow be turned into real life cosplay without an inordinate amount of adhesives. She certainly has great things in front of her. I think the magenta hair and green dress sort of cement her being a villain how those non-primary colors are used by so many baddies.

    Ms. Marvel – as a DC guy, I have to say I had never heard of or seen *this* Ms. Marvel. And I also didn’t know she turns into The Thing. So this was all new to me. I think she is very hot. There is something about this pic that just screams ‘fun and happy’. I love her whole look but the asymmetric boots are what really sells it. Don’t know why. And I love the inclusion of the sash to tie her to the Ms Marvel moniker.

    Siskoid, perhaps the next time you show other looks of characters you could compare DC’s Beautiful Dreamer to the Morlock one??

  4. Siskoid, et al.: Great episode as always, and you’re really getting some interesting material in the Ms. One nit to pick: Kamala Khan, the current Ms. Marvel, is Pakistani-American. at least in the comics.

  5. Hooray for the oHOTmu crew! Another fun episode with a bunch of fun people!

    Morbius, Dr.Michael – I’m sorry if this was brought up already, but is there a reason he has pink skin in the entry? As seen in the inset panels, I just remember him always having chalk white skin. Also, I like the idea of a vampire that just goes for the ankles. What happens if you have ticklish feet? It would be a combination of sheer terror and giggling. Do vampires have a feet fetish?! Sidebar – having the initials of “MD”, there was 2 seconds I thought about becoming a doctor, like Morbius, so I could be “MD, M.D.”. But I’m guessing most people don’t get into the medical profession for the puns.

    Morgan Le Fey – So…. uh….. she’s certainly showing a lot of…. uh…. décolletage. I’m assuming she beats a lot of heroes by just showing up and they go all Warner Bros. cartoon on her (aawooooga!). Is her Vagina Skull ™ a chastity belt?! Because I would say it would do a good job as such.

    Morlocks – Gesundheit! Though I don’t know too much about the Morlocks, I loved anytime I saw Leech and his friend, Artie, with the X-Terminators in X-Factor. They were super cute and fun. I would read a series with just the two of them going on adventures. Also, I don’t think the writers thought too much about the racist history of the last character’s name so it would be problematic to bring this character back.

    Ms.Marvel – This discussion got me giggling along with the ladies. Ms. Marvel has legs for days! Though, looking at the picture, why does her right heel look so much bigger than her left heel? Is that a thing? Mis-matched heel height?? This was probably the era of Fantastic Four that finally got me interested in FF. Though I agree with others, that she wasn’t written the best. Specially when she changed into She-Thing and become a one note stereotype.

    The extreme sports not-liments were the best! Worth the price of admission alone.

    Well done everyone! Keep up the great work!

  6. What I remember most of MORBIUS is his ludicrous depiction in the 90s Spider-Man animated series. Broadcast Standards and Practices prevented Morbius from ever saying the word “blood” on the show. This resulted in a chalk-white slab of beefcake in black latex gliding over the night skies of NYC howling “Plasmaaaaa!” Chilling!

    This is telling on myself, but the panel depicted here of MORGAN LE FAY astral projecting gave me funny feelings when I was too young to understand or process such reactions. I’ve had a thing for collars and chokers ever since.

    Cycling back to Arthurian legend, it appears Merlin has been moonlighting as a healer for the MORLOCKS! This character looks just like Nicol Williamson from the set of 1981’s Excalibur!

    The ladies are right on about how the eclectic look of this crew really stands out. I want to believe they would be popular as a rock band, even if Piper is the only one with any known musical ability. Erg and Skids would make for great leads onstage, and they could get Ape to be the drums!

    If it’s any comfort, the text in the MS. MARVEL entry clearly uses the word “augmentation”. Maybe Dr. Karl Malus dabled in a bit of cosmetic surgery while applying strength enhancers to all those pro wrestlers!

    I’ll be in EXTREME anticipation for the next episode. I can’t wait to hear the reaction when the Hot Squad encounters the PEEPER!

  7. Another fantastic episode, nice one gang!

    I don’t know how anyone can look at Morbius’s hideous nose-chasm and not just yell NOT!

    Morgan Le Fay. Tart. And nowhere near as great an Arthurian enchantress as DC’s version, Morgana the Witch from Wonder Woman.

    I hate the Morlocks business, that first storyline ruined Storm for me, what with her getting all stabby. Bad enough having that horrible homunculus Wolverine on the team. That said, this was an imaginative bunch of characters. As for yelling into Storm drains, was no one worried about bypassing the mutated turtles and attracting killer clowns?

    Sharon Ventura is a top girl, and I liked this look for her, it was a great revamp of the Cockrum all-time classic. I wish she’d get a regular berth in the Marvel Universe again.

      1. Different gal, she was a witch who met Mod Diana and Supergirl in WW #186 and Adventure Comics #397… I’ll stick a pic or two in your Twitter.

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