THE GUIDING LIGHT: MORE A MARVEL MISS THAN MS. MARVEL

I watched 'Guiding Light' on Wednesday, the episode in which Harley Cooper became a superhero who called herself "The Guiding Light". She had power over electrical discharges but could be vanquished by water.

You probably heard about this, hopefully here at Inner Toob.

On Thursday, I picked up a Marvel comic book which contained the 8 page story that tied into that same adventure. Although the comic book hit the shelves on Tuesday (as they always seem to do), its story served as a sequel to the soap opera.

Now, I called the comic book a tie-in because it can't be classified as a crossover. The soap opera is in the TV Universe and the story "A New Light" is obviously in the Comic Book Universe. And although the events of the 'Guiding Light' episode did precede those in the comic book, the comic book story doesn't follow the soap opera in the TV Universe (despite the "To Be Continued" caption displayed at the finale).

All of the TV characters who live in Springfield now have exact counterparts in the Comic Book Universe; there's no problem with them showing up in those pages, and we can take on faith the events of the soap opera preceded this tale. They could even go on to appear in other comic books with no difficulties. (And this was a possibility, as Big Al Spaulding, Springfield's ruthless businessman, might plan a vendetta against Stark Industries. Apparently Spaulding and Tony Stark have a past history.....)

But there would be difficulties if some of those comic book characters tried to show up in the Springfield of the TV Universe. And that's because the circumstances of their previous appearances in Toobworld would negate their current comic book configuration as the Avengers.

Most of the Marvel heroes as well as villains who showed up in "A New Light" comic don't have doppelgangers in Earth Prime-Time, although most have counterparts in the Tooniverse and a few - like Wolverine, Dr. Octopus, - and coming soon, Iron Man, Sandman, and Venom - can also be found in the Cineverse. But for the others......

First, let me list the heroes and villains who showed up in Springfield:

HEROES
Captain America
Wolverine
Spiderman
Iron Man
Spiderwoman

VILLAINS
Doctor Octopus
Sandman
Hydro (?)
Boomerang
Venom

Let's start with Iron Man......

Tony Stark's "bodyguard" has yet to make a metal encased flesh and blood appearance in Toobworld. But there is a Stark Industries - or at least there was, in an alternate future timeline stemming from events that happened in 'Eureka', Oregon.

But that Stark Industries was founded by Nathan, not Tony, Stark.

(Whenever he does finally show up in Toobworld, Iron Man better make sure a certain Gallifreyan Time Lord doesn't mistake him for a Cyberman!)

There might not be much of a problem with Wolverine's appearance on 'Guiding Light', except for already existing film rights all tied up, of course. He's quite a main character in the Cineverse and the Tooniverse, but in Toobworld he's only got a fleeting appearance in a blipvert for the Visa Check Card which had its premiere during a Super Bowl game.

So I don't see a problem with Logan coming back to Toobworld for a follow-up on 'Guiding Light', outside of those film rights being sewed up... and the fact that Toobworld has far too many guys named Logan lately.

No, my "Spidey Sense" tells me that the biggest problem would be with the Webslinger himself.

Unlike the situation for characters in the Tooniverse (outside of 'The Flintstones'), characters in the main Toobworld age, beginning in whatever era they first appeared.

For instance, Superman saved the day in Metropolis back in the 1950s. But by the early 1960s, he was dead. (The Supermen we see on other TV shows are to be found in alternate dimensions.) Batman served and protected Gotham City during the 1960s, and he's up in his eighties by now.

Wonder Woman - 1975-1979. And the Hulk? Late seventies to the mid-eighties. Captain America first burst onto the scene in 1979 (and technically I see no reason why he couldn't show up in 'Guiding Light' for a sequel). The thunder god Thor is immortal, so even though we first saw him in 1988's "The Return Of The Incredible Hulk", we know he lived during the days of Hercules legendary journeys.

Spiderman appeared in the main Toobworld in 1977, and he would now be about 56 years old. There's no way he'd even be considered for inclusion in the Avengers. Maybe in AARP......

But there is another Spiderman who appeared in the main Toobworld and he might be the one needed for the 'Guiding Light' sequel. Like Thor and Wolverine and Captain America, he showed up in that Visa Check Card commercial. You could tell by his voice that he was fairly young, so he couldn't have been the original TV Spiderman.

There are two ways we can run with this. First, he could be the son of the original Spiderman. But that would mean his origin story would have to be different, as he would have inherited his powers from his father genetically, thus classifying him as a mutant.

Or he could be a visitor from either an alternate dimension where there should be plenty of Spidermen around; or from another universe entirely - specifically the Cineverse. After all, his voice was almost similar to that of the movie Spiderman..... That Visa ad probably occurred at the same time it was broadcast, so that was a January. Maybe Peter Parker had a cold.

And that commercial established that at least one dimensional vortex had been breached, since Underdog arrived at the last moment from the Tooniverse.

I didn't even get around to mentioning that many of these superheroes (and at least one super-villain, Dr Doom) were referred to as comic book characters for the most part in the soap opera. And an issue of "X-Men: Endsong" was given a prominent close-up.

If only both the show and the comic book could have been produced together as an animated special. That way they could co-exist together in the Tooniverse.

Of course, being situated in Springfield, that would mean they would have only four fingers, bugged-out eyes, and yellow skin.

But Jeff Albertson, AKA Comic Book Guy, would have been in Seventh Heaven, and I don't mean the TV show: "Best. Crossover. Ever!"

As some other TV superheroes might say, "Cowabunga!"

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

ps
The 8 page story is appearing in several Marvel titles over the next two weeks. I chose "Civil War: Choosing Sides", mostly because it had Howard the Duck on the cover.....

But here again is that list of the comics in which you can find that story

10/25
CIVIL WAR: CHOOSING SIDES
SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE 11
MARVEL SELECT FLIP MAGAZINE 18
MARVEL TALES FLIP MAGAZINE 17

11/1
MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN 21
SPIDER-MAN AND POWER PACK 1
MARVEL ADVENTURES FLIP MAGAZINE 18
MARVEL HEROES FLIP MAGAZINE 18

11/8
AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL 2
FRANKLIN RICHARDS: HAPPY FRANKSGIVING!
MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR 18

11/15
ULTIMATE MARVEL FLIP MAGAZINE 19
ULTIMATE TALES FLIP MAGAZINE 19