|
|
Date and Issue: August 17, 1999.
The Greeks and Romans had their gods, but Americans have their own mythology superheroes. This essay and our Feature Puzzle review a genre that still thrives.
Many superheroes born in comic books have made a smooth transition to television. The Man of Steel first soared onto TV in the 1950s in The Adventures of Superman and quickly became a live-action success. The legend was revived in 1993 with the sexy Lois & Clark, in which Lois finally learned Superman's true identity and eventually married him. Colorful and campy, Batman was an instant hit in 1966 as he fought an assortment of cartoonish villains. Wonder Woman introduced an element of glamour in 1976, battling evil with golden bracelets. Drama returned to the genre in 1978 with The Incredible Hulk, which, in Fugitive-like fashion, followed a scientist who was trying to hide his transformations into a green monster from an inquisitive reporter.
Not every hero finds success on TV. The Green Hornet--a newspaper editor who fought crime at night-was a cross between Superman and Batman that never found its niche. The Man from Atlantis flopped like: a fish out of water. And The Flash was a flash in die pan, despite the program's clever special effects.
Series about superhumans are not all about crime and punishment. The Greatest American Hem poked gentle fun at the genre, featuring a teacher-turned-hero who had trouble flying. The Powers of Matthew Star, Mr. Merlin and T he Misfits of Science all starred teens as heroes in training who fought crime but still knew flow to have fun.
Today's superheroes emphasize more humanity. Hercules and Xena exhibit human traits and heroic powers, and their series offer a mix of drama and action. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer has emerged as an even more unconventional heroine-fighting vampires and dating them too'. Whether to face chemical spills or alien encounters, more TV heroes are surely on the way.
-Dianne Zoccola.
Batman's rogues' gallery presents a perfect primer on supervillians. This fun bunch of felons kept Gotham City under siege with brain-twister whodunits and placed the dynamic duo in score: of life-threatening situations often above vats of boiling acid.
The Adventures of Superman depended on assorted hoods and thugs for villainy, while Lois & Clark returned to Superman's comic-book roots and trademark bad guy Lex Luthor. As usual, Luthor was a real thorn, trying to kill the Man of Steel and steal his gal pal, Lois Lane. The Plash faced The Trickster, a masked man out to get Central City's hero for stealing his lady love. Set initially in the '40s, Wonder Woman pitted the Amazon all-star against Nazi agents and her own evil lookalike, Fausta. The Six Million Dollar Man earned his fee by taking on Bigfoot in episodes that also featured The Bionic Woman. The pair also fought the Fembots-mechanical maidens who sought control of a weather machine and, later, Las Vegas. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers teamed up to save the world from space witch Rita Repulsa, then had to deal with her boss, the Emperor of Evil, Lord Zedd. While Herc battles dragons, demons and other creatures on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena is hounded by Callisto, who plotted the destruction of the Warrior Princess with the help of a duplicitous Julius Caesar.
Good guys may finish first, but with these baddies around, you can count on an exciting race.
-Damian Holbrook
|
|||||
|
