MARVELS IN THE MAKING THE MEN AND WOMEN IN TIGHTS OF `WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO?'.Byline: David Kronke Television Writer Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's ... Oh -- right the first time. It's a bird. But here on the ground in Pasadena is a riot of colorful spandex and Lycra and leather, as contestants for Sci Fi's new competition series ``Who Wants to Be a Superhero su·per·he·ro n. pl. su·per·he·roes A figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime. ?'' have assembled in an attempt to save the world from mundane reality TV. In the series, which premieres at 9 tonight, 11 contenders try to convince Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee For the fictional character of this name, see . Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922[1]) is an American writer, editor, former Chairman of Marvel Comics, and memoirist. that their original superhero creation is the most noble, vivid, valiant -- and marketable. The winner will see his or her character immortalized in a comic book comic book Bound collection of comic strips, usually in chronological sequence, typically telling a single story or a series of different stories. The first true comic books were marketed in 1933 as giveaway advertising premiums. and future Sci Fi Sci fi may refer to:
Contestants go by such monikers as Cell Phone Girl, whose secret identity is Chelsea Weld of La Canada Flintridge, Monkey Woman (Mary Votava), Major Victory (Chris Watters) and Fat Momma (Nell Wilson). ``Me and the kids came up with that,'' Wilson, a single mom from Lancaster, says of her alter ego A doctrine used by the courts to ignore the corporate status of a group of stockholders, officers, and directors of a corporation in reference to their limited liability so that they may be held personally liable for their actions when they have acted fraudulently or unjustly or when . ``I knew nothing about comics or this show. My 14-year-old heard about it, and I said, `OK, let's do it.' And we thought of an idea. I said, `Well, I'm fat and I'm a momma, so I'll be Fat Momma.''' Wilson -- whose costume is black and pink with doughnuts hanging from her belt -- describes her character's super powers: ``I can grow five times my size when I get angry, and I can stomp, smash, knock you out of this universe. I can do the Fat Momma clap that stuns my enemies and gives me time to catch up with them. I can sing the Fat Momma song.'' Yes, Wilson is one up on the others in that she's already cooked up her own personal theme song. Cell Phone Girl, too, is a vision in black and pink, with a cell-phone carrier strapped to a vinyl boot. Weld boasts, ``I can hear up to a mile away. I can scan an area, magnify mag·ni·fy v. To increase the apparent size of, especially with a lens. it four times and memorize it, and teleport to areas. I can plug into the Internet and get information, like how to speak Japanese or dismantle an atomic bomb atomic bomb or A-bomb, weapon deriving its explosive force from the release of atomic energy through the fission (splitting) of heavy nuclei (see nuclear energy). The first atomic bomb was produced at the Los Alamos, N.Mex. .'' All useful in a crisis, no doubt, and if all else fails, then she can use the antennae that sprout from her cape to put somebody's eye out. But life is not all rosy for Cell Phone Girl. ``My kryptonite is no-service zones and hot guys.'' And, presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. , exorbitant roaming charges. By contrast, Major Victory's abilities seem to be limited to speaking in a deep bass voice reminiscent of a caffeinated radio announcer and filling out his red spandex uniform. Watters admits his character has his drawbacks: ``I have a hearing loss, I'm lactose intolerant and have bad athlete's foot athlete's foot: see ringworm. athlete's foot Form of ringworm that affects the feet. In the inflammatory type, the infection may lie inactive much of the time, with occasional acute episodes in which blisters develop, mostly between the toes. .'' Watters recalls, ``I used to dress up as a kid in San Francisco as Batman. Then I moved to Modesto. That didn't work out too well. They didn't seem to go for it there in Modesto.'' Votava's Monkey Woman also drew inspiration from Batman; bananas circle her waste and dangle dangle Nursing A popular term for the first movement a Pt is allowed, either after surgery under general anesthesia, or 'under local', where the recuperee allows his/her feet to dangle over the side of the bed down her thighs. ``Each of these bananas is a cleverly disguised weapon or tool, a la Batman,'' Votava explains, ``so I've got the grappling hooks, flashbombs, grenades, things of that nature. And, of course, one of them is a snack.'' The world-saving wannabes Wannabes is an online interactive soap and game created for the BBC by Illumna Digital. Wannabes follows on from Jamie Kane, the BBC's previous foray into online interactive drama. The show/game consists of 14 10 minute episodes released twice a week. all admit they -- and each other -- look pretty good in tights. ``Superheroes Superheroes are fictional heroes who possess abilities beyond those of normal human beings. Superheroes may also refer to:
Lee, the creator of such famous superheroes as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, had misgivings about hanging out with such otherwise sentient sentient /sen·ti·ent/ (sen´she-ent) able to feel; sensitive. sen·tient adj. 1. Having sense perception; conscious. 2. Experiencing sensation or feeling. adults ``only when I found out how much time I would have to devote to it,'' he says. ``But I've got to tell you, each day I'm more and more excited about the show and more excited about the people who have been involved in the show, the people that we chose. I think it's just a monument to our own brilliance that we chose these people because every one of them is terrific. I wish every one of them could have won.'' Lee, as you may have noticed, is rather famous for his hyperbole. In the series, the crime-fighting candidates are given a series of challenges; Lee, the Donald Trump of the comics industry, then dismisses those he deems not-so-super. ``I had a lot of fun with the challenges,'' Weld says. ``They weren't testing our physical strength, but our character, integrity and heart.'' But ``Superhero'' executive producer Scott Satin hints that some contestants may lapse over to the dark side. ``Every supervillain that has ever been out there started out as good.'' Though the winner may earn a certain notoriety, he or she won't likely get rich: Lee will own the character. ``The contract is very detailed,'' Weld says. ``We have no rights to our character we created, which is unfortunate, but they'll give us a percentage of the profits.'' ``The winner has no rights: You should see the contract our lawyers drew up,'' Lee says with a cackle. Even superheroes, it seems, are powerless against attorneys. ``But,'' Lee adds, ``luckily, we're kindhearted kind·heart·ed adj. Having or proceeding from a kind heart. See Synonyms at kind1. kind , we're nice guys, and maybe we'll give them a free copy of the book.'' David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO? What: Contestants vie to convince Stan Lee to transform their creation into a comic-book character. Where: Sci Fi Channel Sci Fi Channel may refer to:
When: 9 tonight CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) They've got the KA-POWER `Superhero' hopefuls ready to rock on Sci Fi (2 -- color) - Stan Lee (3 -- color) From left: Monkey Woman, Major Victory, Cell Phone Girl and Fat Momma (4 -- color) Superheroes raise a toast: Iron Enforcer, left, Nitro G, Lemuria, Feedback, Major Victory, Tyveculus, Creature, Cell Phone Girl, Monkey Woman and Fat Momma. |
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