oHOTmu or NOT Ep.85: Omega Flight to Owl

Canadian sore losers. A whale rider. A big-brained gladiator. Daredevil's Kingpin before Kingpin. Which are Hot? Which are Not? Find out, as the Hot Squad finishes its coverage of OHOTMU's 9th issue on how datable its characters are.

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

Listen to Episode 85 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.85 Supplemental

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13 responses to “oHOTmu or NOT Ep.85: Omega Flight to Owl

  1. I’m partway through and enjoying it as always. Regarding Diamond Lil, I’m reprinting this from our exchange on Batman Family Reunion:

    Diamond Lil, AKA Diamond Tooth Lil (see Wikipedia entry) is the nom du joie de vivre of two Austrian immigrants to the North American West. They both had diamond insets in their teeth. One sang, one ran brothels. Now it is associated with tough, sexy dames with raucous lifestyles. Mae West wrote a play of the same name and starred in it. The U.S. Army Air Force named a B-24 Liberator Diamond Lil. In Vietnam, a young Airman on a B-52 named Diamond Lil shot down a MiG jet fighter (back when B-52s had gunners for self-defense). That particular aircraft was on static display at the U.S. Air Force Academy in the late 20th century.

  2. Also, one of the Hot Squad touched on the part I could never reconcile regarding Flashback. Weren’t his future selves (whether from an alternate timeline or not) doing something already when they get called back to 1980-whatever?? I mean, does there come a time in Flashback’s life where his whole job is to sit and wait to be kidnapped and tasked by his own younger self? This power set is innovative, but problematic.

    Must get back to work. Probably more to follow.

  3. Omega Flight: It’s amazing to think that this Omega Flight entry is drawn by Mike Mignola. I think you can see a bit of modern Mignola here and there (Diamond Lil’s legs, for example), but he’s still a long way away from Hellboy.

    Orca: Does he have a dorsal fin somewhere? Also, he looks like some creature is eating his face to me. Ugh!

    Overmind: If they don’t like Overmind’s beard, I guess the girls aren’t awaiting the arrivel of Amish super beings in these pages.

    Owl: He looks way more svelte in that main image than I remember him, so the dorky cover version is more accurate (sorry girls). His type of cloak/coat is called an Inverness cloak, and it’s funny they should mention What We Do In The Shadows, because when I see that type of coat, I instnatly picture vampire Barnabas Collins. But watching all 1,225 episodes of the original Dark Shadows series will do that to you!!!

    Leland Owsley did appear on the Netflix Daredevil series, played by Bob Gunton, most famously the warden in The Shawshank Redemption. He unfortunately did not have the hair. Or the cloak. Or the claws.

    Mystique looks more blue-gray than her usual vibrant blue on the cover, yet everyone else looks on model, so the colorist just decided to mix things up, I guess. Her kid’s right there in the front, though!

  4. Orka : Namor really has all the sea fauna themed villains. Orka is a bit too trusting and too aggressive. he’s never the main villain only a follower but I’m sure if a good positive undersea leader took him under his wing he could be redeemed.

    Owl : He is budget Penguin from Batman. He never felt really menacing especially once Kingpin was introduced.

    It’s amazing to see some of those stories I’ve now read summarised in one or two sentences. Sometimes there’s not that much behind those characters with the questions from the panel not even being close to what happens in the comics. “The guy appears, threatens something, gets his ass kicked. Then disappears for a few years, coming back with maybe a short explanation of where he’s been”

  5. Didn’t Diamond Lil date Captain America or am I thinking of someone else? I hope to see Orca in the new Black Panther movie.

  6. Hurray for more Hot Squad! This episode was as enjoyable as ever and I keep looking insane as I’m laughing to myself while working.

    Omega Flight – Hurray for more Canadian content! I’m a big fan of Diamond Lil. Like Siskoid mentioned, she wasn’t a villain, per se, and I really liked that. I want to say
    there was an issue where they explored the loneliness of Diamond Lil not being able feel? Or maybe it was just part of an issue. I’ve really got to pull out
    my old issues…..
    – Wild Child really felt like the Marvel saying, “Wolverine is selling really well. Make another one!” and I hated it.
    – I love, LOVE Delphine Courtney’s ’80’s fashion. The hair, the earring, the collar…. amazing!
    – Perhaps, for clichéd Canadian heroes, they should recruit Mr.Canoehead from Four on the Floor?

    Orka – He’s finding his joy riding that whale. I’m wondering, if you go in for a kiss, won’t those costume teeth around his head get in the way?

    Owl – I also thought that the Owl was derivative of Wolverine not knowing he was created before Wolverine. I was all ready to say the same thing I felt about Wild Child!
    My view on Owl is now going up, thanks to things I learned on oHOTmu!

    Please, not the seagulls! We have so many seagulls out here and they poop everywhere. We also have lots of Canadian Geese out here and they poop everywhere. In fact, I’m beginning to see a pattern here. I’m okay with hanging around with Sasquatches (Sasquatchi? Sasquatchedes?). I feel like it would be hanging out with a bunch of Chewbaccas. There would be so many hugs!

    This was so fun and everyone is amazing! I’m looking forward to the start of a new issue! Keep up the great work!

  7. Since they asked where I was from while trying to figure out what animals would follow me: I’m from Georgia (the US state, not the European country)…so, yeah, raccoons are an appropriate choice.

    Regarding Omega Flight and Diamond Lil, and Mike’s memory of an issue exploring the downside of her invulnerability, there was a storyline where she had a serious health scare complicated by her powers. Some time after joining Alpha Flight, she discovered a lump in her breast, and her terror of the situation was made worse by the fact that no scalpel could penetrate her skin to perform a biopsy. The storyline was eventually resolved when Lil was injured by an alien weapon, and when the team realized they’d found something that could get through her skin, Madison Jeffries converted the weapon into a medical device to treat her. The lump turned out to be a benign cyst, much to everyone’s relief.

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  8. Yeah, this was a great one. My only other character comment is on The Owl. He’s always managed to be less than impressive, but still threatening, in a mean, crazy person sort of way. I didn’t figure out until yesterday that a prominent U.S. political figure reminds me of him. I think it’s been one of those things nagging my subconscious. Thank you for this therapeutic breakthrough, Siskoid and Hot Squad!

  9. Regarding Flashback and the speculation about his acting career: If he was working today, I can see him being one of the “suspects of the week” on Murdoch Mysteries. I’m not sure what the 1980s equivalent would have been.

    I wonder if he ever tried incorporating his powers into his acting career, like playing twins without trick photography? I can imagine David Cronenberg seeing the potential of Flashback’s powers and writing roles specifically for him. Hmm…would that mean that in the Marvel Universe, Gardner Monroe starred in “Dead Ringers” instead of Jeremy Irons?

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  10. Cheers for another top show. Not the most exciting bunch of entries, but as ever, the conversation and cackles were fun.

    ‘Bog standard’ would be a kind way to describe the Omega Flight costumes. Points to Jaxxon for the boutonnière and Flashback for obscene tightness – he may as well call himself ‘Flasher’.

    Daft belt apart, I always liked Orca, those head teeth are just so delightfully freaky.

    Overmind could never be hot, not with the daft Abraham Lincoln facial hair. Also, they’re dressed as a penknife.

    The Owl’s Victorian murderer vibe is excellent. The diagram of how his claws supposedly work is ridiculous… who could possibly care about cogs and ratchets? It’s a knife that comes out of his sleeve, what more could you need?

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