FAT MOMMA GROUSE

It's a couple of weeks since the finale of 'Who Wants To Be A Superhero?" and I'm still peeved by it.

First off, that I actually watched it. I gave up on the "reality" show genre after the first season of 'Survivor'. (I refuse to write "reality" show without those quotation marks.) But because the grand prize was going to be a TV movie based on the winning character, and thus a legit addition to Toobworld, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I could tell right away it was so faked, and they made no effort to hide that from the audience. But that wasn't important to me. At the beginning I was pretty much focused on Lemuria's assets.

Talk about the Golden Globes!

But right from the beginning I told a few friends at work who were watching the series that I could see Fat Momma going all the way to the championship.

Well, I came pretty close.

I still find it hard to believe that Stan Lee chose Feedback over Fat Momma. Besides looking like the generic superhero with run-of-the-mill powers, he's basically the distaff version of the Disco Dazzler.

Back in the Sixties, Stan the Man came up with great, enduring ideas - the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, the X-Men, and of course, Spidey. (Of course, these were abetted by the work of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.) But somewhere along the line, I think the creative juices started to dry up. Or maybe the industry kept evolving beyond the limits of Stan's imagination.

This is most evident during the run of 'Who Wants To Be A Superhero?' when he brings up the reasons why people are eliminated. Superheroes don't kill? What about Wolverine? The Punisher? And there's no place for a sense of humor? Spiderman slings wisecracks as much as he does webs. Stan's image of the superhero is still stuck in 1964.

And his later characters illustrate this dearth of ideas - along with the Dazzler, there's also She-Hulk, and Stripperella. Feedback will fit right in with that crew. And even after the TV movie, no matter who plays the role, he'll just fade into obscurity.

But consider how it might have been with Fat Momma! She's unique in powers and image. Imagine if they got someone like Mo'nique to play the role! Maybe Stan just couldn't figure out a way to write the character, whereas he's done Feedback-style comic books in the past and can always fall back on those stale storylines.

Exelsior, Fat Momma! I wish it was your costumed avenger who'll be joining the roster of Toobworld superheros.

Up, up, and BCnU!
Tele-Toby