Not Magneto's daughter. A really old scholar. A criminal enterprise. Nicholas Cage's favorite. The youngest super-team. Which are Hot? Which are Not? Find out, as the Hot Squad continues its coverage of OHOTMU's 10th issue and reveals how datable its characters are.
Featuring permanent panelists Isabel, Nathalie, Josée and Amélie.
Listen to Episode 87 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.87 Supplemental
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Love the girls and their observations. Siskoid’s not bad either. The lion on top of the Possessor’s staff looks like Pete Puma from the Looney Tunes cartoons. How many lumps in you tea do you want? A whole lotta lumps!
Travis Morgan
A bitterly cold Tuesday is saved by the Hot Squad! And the more scalding the shower…the better!!!
Polaris: She is indeed, very hot. Her outfit doesn’t make any sense, but it’s very distinctive, and looks really cool. Hey, sometimes it’s just about the look!
Posessor: Again, the Girls make me think things that as a comic fan, I never thought of before. Why DO these characters always keep wearing ragged clothes? Why not change them, or at least cut off the tattered parts? I’ll never be able to unsee that again.
Power Broker, Inc; Beyond lame, OHOTMU creators!
Power Man: Yeah, this is a very vanilla image of Luke Cage. I was never a huge fan of Mark Bright’s work, so maybe that’s it. But he does look like a turnaround for an action figure. Where’s the cocky confidence? The swagger?
But the bulge…well…as Siskoid pointed out, he’s based on the Blaxploitation characters of the time, and who was the greatest Blaxploitation character? Shut your mouth!!!
Power Pack: They switched their powers? Sounds like a failing TV show doing a retool. Did that Power Pack pilot you sampled ever air?
I don’t have an exact date for you, but it was apparently shown on the Disney Channel/Disney XD. You can find it in its entirety on YouTube.
Power Man: Every issue in his early run he always lose his shirts for a reason or another. Also had a bit of anger issues that I hope get worked on post 1975 (where I’m reading currently)
Polaris’s Neal Adams costume is also very good.
I am sitting at my computer, listening to your show, preparing to respond to your Power Pack comments…..tee hee….Power Man’s Package….tee hee…and of course he is hot….Sweeet Christmas!
Power Pack is very bad ass! I love that you had a friend that mocked Power Pack and then realized that it was a great book. Thank you lovely ladies for finding the team…hot!
But then….then….you had to use the narration from that OMFG horrible unreleased Power Pack pilot!!!
I had to, yes, but I want to know: What happened next?
Such a fun little collection of characters with the usual fun discussion.
Polaris – always on Anj’s hot list. I think green hair has always been a weakness of mine. Whether it is Polaris or Dragon Ball Z’s Bulma, the woman are always a big hit for me. I like Polaris’ original costume but this one is a bigger win. It feels a little Clea-esque so that’s like peanut butter and nutella, amazing. I also think that her dating Havok was another point for her as I always identified a little with him. He always seemed to be putting himself down and not thinking he belonged. If Polaris was into him, maybe Young Anj had a chance! (These comments often become therapy sessions for me discussing my nerdy youth!) Hope she is included in the ‘alternate looks’ episode including Emma Dumont’s live action take on her!
The Possessor – I never put the ‘professor – possessor’ wordplay together before. That makes a ton of sense. I know all too well the ‘so deep in to studying you become a disheveled mess’ look. Reminds me of when I was studying for my medical boards. The horror, the horror. The lion staff reminds me of the clown-headed or belled things that jesters and harlequins carry around, like Clopin in Disney’s Hunchback. It doesn’t quite match up with the feel of someone with ultimate knowledge.
Power Man – As I have said before, I am a sucker for bucket boots so that is the biggest win of this look. The live action Luke did wear this get up briefly in the series, after he escapes and just grabs some clothes off a clothesline. In real life it looks ridiculous.
As for showers, it depends on mood. At times I do like them scalding. But there is nothing worse than a tepid shower except a cold one.
As always, thanks for the much needed laughs and chat. Congrats to Nath and Amelie! True love is hard to find. Hold on!
Regarding the comments on Polaris’ costume and all its unusual elements (the pseudo-fishnets, the “boob bug,” etc): The “real world” explanation is that it was designed by Dave Cockrum…in-universe, the costume was given to her by an agent of the alien Shi’ar Empire, and it reflected their culture’s fashion sense…similar design elements can be seen in the costumes of the Imperial Guard and Lilandra.
Travis beat me to the punch in identifying the cartoon character that the Possessor’s Runestaff resembles: Pete Puma from the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Rabbit’s Kin.”
Power Broker: At the time of this entry, they hadn’t yet revealed the identity of the actual “Power Broker” running the organization. When Mark Gruenwald finally showed the man behind the company, it was Curtiss Jackson, an organized-crime boss who had previously appeared in issues of Machine Man and Captain America as an agent of the criminal organization known as “The Corporation.” I think Gruenwald intended it to be a surprise that the Power Broker was an established Marvel villain, but considering that he had always been a generic “man in a suit” in all his appearances, it wasn’t a particularly memorable twist. In a later story, the Power Broker was being stalked by the assassin Scourge of the Underworld, and tried to save himself by using his power-enhancing process on himself regardless of the risks, and it wound up making him so grotesquely muscular that he could barely move at all…and still later he got a suit of power armor to compensate for his paralysis. (Looking forward to the comments on his other looks when the time comes to review them!) He was eventually killed by the Punisher, but a new “Power Broker” took over the role.
Interesting that they were disappointed that Luke Cage’s super-hero name “Power Man” was so generic. For the first 16 issues of his series, he didn’t use a super-hero name; he simply called himself “Luke Cage” and the series was titled “Luke Cage, Hero for Hire.” He took the codename in issue #17; the change was probably dictated as a marketing decision to boost the comic’s sales by making it more obvious that it was a super-hero title, and writer Len Wein seemed to acknowledge it by making it a “marketing decision” on Cage’s part. Disappointed that his deeds weren’t getting as much attention as other heroes, Cage began the issue by wondering what the other guys had that he didn’t, and he decided that he needed a code-name. He couldn’t decide on a name initially, but towards the end of the issue, when the villain expressed surprise that Cage had survived the villain’s attack, Luke quipped “Just chalk it up to black power, man!” Immediately after saying that, Luke decided he’d found his super-hero name.
Erich, I never knew that was the story behind the name Power Man, but there’s a number of early Luke Cage appearances still on my to-read list. Thanks!
I concur with TM. The observations by Siskoid and the Hot Squad regarding the corporate and academic worlds were highlights of the episode. You’re also doing a good job on pacing. Polaris and Power Man are obvious “hots.” I want to hear all the points the ladies bring out, but we don’t have to deliberate forever, you know?
I used to take showers that were almost hot enough to cook a lobster, but I live in the North America’s tropics now. I’ve had to scale it back so I don’t end up sweating all day.
Looking forward to the next episode as always!
Great discussion, everyone! Another fine episode by Siskoid and the Hot Squad.
Polaris – From the few Polaris stories that I’ve read, I really enjoyed how she was portrayed as not being into a superhero all the time and I liked it when she wasn’t in costume, just her civvies. Havok seemed like a wet blanket that she had to take care off, so I would have liked to see solo Polaris stories. I’m glad her costume has thigh venting, for when she overheats!
Possessor – His Runestaff? Don’t you mean his ventriloquist dummy for his one man show? I can just picture his left thumb is on a hinge to make the lion’s mouth move up and down. Also, he seems to be wearing a spiky ankle monitor? What did he do at the university to require home arrest?!
Power Man – I’m with Dr.Anj. Bucket boots are just cool. And the cool chain, the upside down tiara, and steel cuffs put Power Man over the top to Super Hot! “I’m 30 and I’m ovulating” is probably not the best pickup line…. or maybe it is THE best? I’m out of the loop…..
Power Pack – or the Shower entry. I will say this for tepid or cold showers, they are the best after a hot day and you have been working out. Why does the Power Pack Pilot narration have the Edward Scissorhands music??? Also, there was a Power Pack Pilot???
Congrats to Nath for getting married! I wish you and your partner many years of happiness.
Hooray! I’m a cafeteria! I do like to eat quite a lot so I’ll take it. I am full of chicken strips, fountain pop, and lukewarm fries.
This was fun to listen to. Keep up the great work!
I don’t know if it’s Edward Scissorhands specifically, but they did get Danny Elfman.
Polaris: Silvestri killed it with this rendition of her costume which makes it even crazier that they changed it almost immediately after. This is still one of her best looks ever snd she’s still a criminally under-used character.
Possessor: I literally never connected the Possessor / Professor connection until this podcast. I’m pretty sure he hasn’t done much of anything since this time other than hang out with the other Elders.
Power Man: I was happy that aughts era Marvel passed the name to a younger hero who fit the powers better. Cage is a cooler name anyway. And silly or not, they’ve never topped this look.