List of Lame

Lately the comic book movies have really been big hits in the last 10 years. It wasn’t too long ago that they had a hard time making good movies out of comic books. For every movie like Superman: the Movie there has been a movie like the Punisher. The one with Dolph Lundgren. TV has also had more misses then hits. But the characters they try to add or create on their own are really lame. Here is my own personal List of Lame.

The top of the list would have to be Herbie. What added value did a small flying robot have to the Fantastic Four that the Human Torch didn’t have? It was because of him that I didn’t watch the show. My favorite character in the FF has always been the Torch. Ben Grimm is a close second but when your favorite is gone then there isn’t much reason to watch the show. For years we were told the reason behind taking the Torch out of the series was that the network didn’t want to take a chance that the kids would set themselves on fire trying to fly. Then it came out that the real reason was that another network had optioned the Human Torch for his own series but that didn’t get produced. They should have told the truth because the fake excuse was just as lame as adding a flying robot as a replacement.

Next up is the Wonder Twins from the Super-Friends. The one thing that I liked about the show when it first came on was that the heroes let regular kids like Wendy and Marvin and their dog hang around with them. What kid wouldn’t love to have them as his or her friend and have full access to the Hall of Justice? Those characters were the audience. But Zan and Jana were added and it didn’t hurt the shows popularity. But what added value did they have when only one of them could change into water?

Next up is Captain Planet. A politically correct hero for the politically correct times that created him. He seemed to be able to do anything. While the reason to create a hero to protect the environment seemed like a good idea it wasn’t executed well. Yet against all odds it succeeded. A decade earlier he probably would have been sent to cartoon obscurity. The character was created by, of all people, Ted Turner. I’m surprised he didn’t also create Super Business man. Mr. Turner is a good businessman but he should leave creating superheroes to people like Stan Lee or Marv Wolfman.

From the 1960’s we have Super President. Like Captain Planet he was a product of his times. This time was the 1960’s. President Kennedy’s dirty laundry wasn’t yet aired to the public and to many he seemed like a superhero. Thus the networks created James Norcross. He could fly, had super strength and change his molecular composition at will. Despite being called Super President no o ne knew that the President was his real identity. Talk about lame. The show came under fire by critics by showing a world leader as superhuman. I have to agree with them. No matter how good a leader you have he or she is still only human.
There are more but I have run out of time so I will save the rest of the list for later.