A cascading cornucopia of cool comics, crazy cartoons, & classic collectables - plus other completely captivating & occasionally controversial contents. With nostalgic notions, sentimental sighings, wistful wonderings, remorseful ruminations, melancholy musings, rueful reflections, poignant ponderings, & yearnings for yesteryear. (And a few profound perplexities, puzzling paradoxes, & a bevy of big, beautiful, bedazzling, buxom Babes to round it all off.)
I'm always gobsmacked by the extent to which Linda Carter looks like Wonder Woman. TV superheroes had always been rough approximates, with George Reeves in his padded costume and Adam West in his rather sad little togs, but with Linda Carter we got a human being who sold the look utterly. She's rather awesome!
The only actor I remember on TV at the time who looked like a superhero to me was William Smith who played "Joe Riley" on Laredo among likely hundreds of other roles was nigh ubiquitous on TV. He played villains a lot, but I always thought he had a superhero in him. By the time superheroes got cool again in the late 70's, he was a bit older and would've made a great Wildcat! He also played Conan's father in the first movie and damn near steals the movie in the first ten minutes.
I think that in the '70s, Rip, there were only two actors playing superheroes that looked like their comicbook incarnations. The first was Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, and the second was Christopher Reeve as Superman. Lynda was perfect for the part in every way. William Smith doesn't ring a bell, but I must've seen him in the Conan movie.
I think Lynda Carter nailed it because she was sexy, but wholesome. Wonder Woman is supposed to be a NICE character, wise and gentle as well as strong. She's not a cross between a porn star and a sadistic bully - or rather she often is these days, but shouldn't be.
Sadly, Joe, the days of soperheroes being nice people seems to be a thing of the past. And comics don't sell as many now, which makes you wonder if there's a connection.
I remember William Smith, Neville Brand, and Peter Brown as Texas Rangers on Laredo. It was, as I recall, a pretty good, tongue-in-cheek Western series. Smith also was in several "motorcycle gang" movies. He may be best known for playing the bad guy Falconetti on the Rich Man, Poor Man mini-series.
Lynda Carter was perfect for the semi-tongue-in-cheek Wonder Woman TV show. She looked like the character had jumped off the printed page and magically sprung to life.
Unfortunately, DC and Marvel both seem to have adopted a party line that all superhero comics have to be grimdark, with moral relativism making it hard to tell the heroes from the villains. While some characters (Batman, Punisher, Spectre, Ghost Rider) are well suited to grimdark, others (including Wonder Woman and the original [Shazam] Captain Marvel) work better with a more optimistic tone. Today's comics are too silly for adults, but too grim and violent for kids. And when I find myself cheering for the Red Skull against Captain America, it's time to swear off the medium for good.
I'm not sure whether Laredo was ever aired in Britain, TC, and I never watched Rich Man, Poor Man. I'm sure I'd recognize his face if I saw him 'though.
Yeah, the relentless grimdark approach gets tedious after a while, doesn't it? I've been reading the original X-Men stories in the Epic Collection volume recently, and it's immensely entertaining. If only more stories were like that today.
6 comments:
I'm always gobsmacked by the extent to which Linda Carter looks like Wonder Woman. TV superheroes had always been rough approximates, with George Reeves in his padded costume and Adam West in his rather sad little togs, but with Linda Carter we got a human being who sold the look utterly. She's rather awesome!
The only actor I remember on TV at the time who looked like a superhero to me was William Smith who played "Joe Riley" on Laredo among likely hundreds of other roles was nigh ubiquitous on TV. He played villains a lot, but I always thought he had a superhero in him. By the time superheroes got cool again in the late 70's, he was a bit older and would've made a great Wildcat! He also played Conan's father in the first movie and damn near steals the movie in the first ten minutes.
Rip Off
I think that in the '70s, Rip, there were only two actors playing superheroes that looked like their comicbook incarnations. The first was Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, and the second was Christopher Reeve as Superman. Lynda was perfect for the part in every way. William Smith doesn't ring a bell, but I must've seen him in the Conan movie.
I think Lynda Carter nailed it because she was sexy, but wholesome. Wonder Woman is supposed to be a NICE character, wise and gentle as well as strong. She's not a cross between a porn star and a sadistic bully - or rather she often is these days, but shouldn't be.
Sadly, Joe, the days of soperheroes being nice people seems to be a thing of the past. And comics don't sell as many now, which makes you wonder if there's a connection.
I remember William Smith, Neville Brand, and Peter Brown as Texas Rangers on Laredo. It was, as I recall, a pretty good, tongue-in-cheek Western series. Smith also was in several "motorcycle gang" movies. He may be best known for playing the bad guy Falconetti on the Rich Man, Poor Man mini-series.
Lynda Carter was perfect for the semi-tongue-in-cheek Wonder Woman TV show. She looked like the character had jumped off the printed page and magically sprung to life.
Unfortunately, DC and Marvel both seem to have adopted a party line that all superhero comics have to be grimdark, with moral relativism making it hard to tell the heroes from the villains. While some characters (Batman, Punisher, Spectre, Ghost Rider) are well suited to grimdark, others (including Wonder Woman and the original [Shazam] Captain Marvel) work better with a more optimistic tone. Today's comics are too silly for adults, but too grim and violent for kids. And when I find myself cheering for the Red Skull against Captain America, it's time to swear off the medium for good.
I'm not sure whether Laredo was ever aired in Britain, TC, and I never watched Rich Man, Poor Man. I'm sure I'd recognize his face if I saw him 'though.
Yeah, the relentless grimdark approach gets tedious after a while, doesn't it? I've been reading the original X-Men stories in the Epic Collection volume recently, and it's immensely entertaining. If only more stories were like that today.
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