oHOTmu or NOT Ep.106: Starfox to Stranger

A space Lothario. A crew of space pirates. The tallest supervillain of all. An underwater hero (no, not that one). The X-Men’s punk leader. The population of an entire planet. Which are Hot? Which are Not? Find out, as the Hot Squad continues its coverage of OHOTMU’s 12th issue and reveals how datable its characters are.

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

Listen to Episode 106 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.106 Supplemental

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13 responses to “oHOTmu or NOT Ep.106: Starfox to Stranger

  1. Hey Hot Squad,
    Stilt-Man could be the high tech version of an old fashioned Second-Story Man which is a burglar that would break into a home or apartment building coming in through the second or higher floors. Back when Stan Lee was writing comics that was a common crime hence the comic book spin. Love the show!
    Travis Morgan

  2. All I can say is that when Storm debuted her punk look…Gothosmansion was one disappointed teen-age boy. Storm’s original Dave Cockrum designed-costume is still my favorite.

    I’ve been a Stilt-Man fan since Amazing Spider-Man 237. That cover is just a lot of fun!

  3. Starjammers: Hepzibah’s name was inspired by the classic Walt Kelly comic strip Pogo, where one of the supporting characters was a glamorous French female skunk named Hepzibah (or, as she was frequently and redundantly addressed, “Miss Ma’m’selle Hepzibah”). While Dave Cockrum’s original character design was definitely skunk-like, other artists have drawn her more cat-like.

    Brian Cronin wrote an amusing look back over Hepzibah’s “evolution” from skunk to cat (including some images of Walt Kelly’s Hepzibah for comparison):

    https://www.cbr.com/x-men-hepzibah-skunk-cat-transformation/

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  4. Siskoid is dead wrong about Hepzibah! She is 100% a skunk girl! She’s named after Mam’selle Hepzibah from Pogo.

    I believe Kurt Busiek clarified that Ch’od’s name is pronounced “Hh-oad” (like the Hebrew pronunciation of “ch” as in “Chanukah”)

    I got the feeling that Stan Lee intended the Stranger to be a bigger deal, but he stepped down from writing to editing and no one else really picked up on the character.

    1. I will forever remember Stilts Man’s first appearance where he says “No one can stop a man on hydraulic stilts” It didn’t take long for him to be stopped by a superpowered blind man (Daredevil) And history has kept proving him wrong.

  5. Great fun episode as usual.

    StarFox – unlike the Purple Man (which is outright mind control), I always thought this was more ‘super-charisma’ as you say, something that could be overcome by someone with strong will. As the struggling nerdy youth, I always looked at StarFox as the asshole jock who somehow was found irresistible by women. ‘What do they see in him??? It must be some latent super-power!’ Surprised to see him get a ‘hot’!

    Hepzibah – is a Biblical name. I only know this because in ‘7 Brides for 7 Brothers’, Hepzibah is considered for the daughters name because they are alphabetically going forward with children’s names and had reached H. I didn’t know about the Pogo connection!

    Storm – never quite glommed onto the mohawk look.

    Laughed throughout as usual. Thanks for that!

  6. Stingray: I have to admit that I was quite nervous heading into this episode, because I wasn’t sure how the Hot Squad would react to my fellow marine scientist, and absolute favorite C (or maybe D) list hero. Fortunately, after 10 years of waiting, I am relieved to learn that I had nothing to fear.

    In addition to his unique costume, I like the fact that Stingray sees himself as a scientist first, and a super hero second. He’s the guy the Avengers call when there is an undersea threat, and they can’t get hold of Namor. Not a bad side hustle, if you can manage it.

    As an aside, I work in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, which isn’t too far from Gloucester. Sadly, I have yet to run into Walter Newell at any professional meetings or conferences. Dr. Newell, if you are listening, and are interested in collaborating on a research project….

    Thanks for another excellent episode.

  7. Starfox: Add me to the list of folks floored that the Girls “HOTTED” this guy. I expected a universal “NOT” and I think Siskoid did too! You ladies are always keeping us guessing! Having being married for nearly 30 years (!), I shouldn’t be surprised!

    Starjammers: I know next to nothing about these characters beyond knowing they run around with Cyclops’ dad, but I alwasy assumed Hepzibah was a skunk lady. Does she smell though? Does she emit that defensive (and offensive in all meanings of the word) odor of a skunk? That could be a cool power, but a deterrent for romance. I keep thinking of the old Masters of the Universe Stinkor character, who was also a skunk creature. The toy came with a skunk-like odor! EWWW!

    Stilt-Man: I give this guy way to much creedence due to the Spider-Man cover and comic mentioned above. They did make a cool Marvel Legends figure of him a few years back. He was a “Build-a-Figure” meaning you had to buy the other characters in the wave to put him together. Each figure came with a part of the Stilt-Man figure. But the Hand Ninja figure came with his legs, so if you wanted to army build them, you could keep making your Stilt-Man taller and taller! Oh, and one of the other figures that came with the Stilt-Man pieces? Frog-Man!

    Stingray: Perhaps the coolest look for a part-time, fairly obscure hero in comics.

    Storm: I remember getting the first volume of OHOTMU and in the “S” issue, there was this image of Storm, with the punk look. I had no idea this change had occurred. I don’t hate it, but the original Cockrum design is a stone-cold classic. This was a nice “blip” in her story, but glad she didn’t stick with it. It did make it into X-Men ’97, though!

    Stranger: Marvel is lousy with this nigh-omnipotent space guys. Yawn.

  8. Starfox – This character was in The Avengers when I started reading the title, and I don’t remember them going on about, or even mentioning, the Super-Charisma power. It was probably there and my young mind overlooked it. He always stuck me more like the classic adventurer type, in a similar mold to Hercules.

    Starjammers – The only things I really know about the Starjammers is they’re led by Cyclops & Havok’s deadbeat father, and they only show up when Chris Claremont wants the X-Men to have space adventures. (And I’d split the difference on Hepzibah and call her a Polecat Woman. 😉 I’m also glad she found a second job staring in Sabrina Online.)

    Stiltman – Not being a big classic Daredevil reader, I’m also a bit surprised that this guy got two and a half pages.

    Stingray – This is the kind of hero that I would have thought would have shown up more in team books. Someone who is highly specialized and only brought in when needed. I did feel a bit bad for him when Hydrobase was destroyed (as chronicled on The Quantum Cast – Episode 14) since that was his day job.

    Storm – While I understand why her look was changed, I never warmed up to Storm’s punk phase. I’m glad it was eventually dropped. I love the character, though. She’s a great leader and friend, and also one of the most powerful mutants.

    Stranger, The – While the whole point of The Stranger’s creation was Stan Lee saying “I need a way to get rid of Magneto for awhile”, that did lead to his collecting various, highly-powerful beings, which ultimately lead to some big doings with Quasar’s life. (Yes, I brought the topic back to Quasar twice in one feedback. 😀 )

  9. Great show, Hot Squad! Your commentary on Stilt Man alone was worth the listen. I have also always been confused by the Starfox collar that sort of melts into the front of his costume. Maybe after every woman he coerces, he pops the collar in celebration. I’ll be honest, I never got the Stingray costume. For someone who is an underwater hero, it seems like way too much clothing. Like that flappy cape stuff would instantly get wrapped around him and he’d drown. Storm is always hot no matter what she’s wearing.

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