# Low Rent Comic book Heros **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042 "2011-09-29T17:59:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/1 "2011-09-29T17:59:09Z")
Along with all-time favorites like SUPERMAN and BATMAN, I remember seeing a lot of really sucky comics. There was one called “NAZA”?-some prehistoric warrior dude, and another one that featured robots made of diffferent metals (e.g. tinman, leadman, ironman, etc.) And the truly awful ones-like “Jon Jonz-The Martian Mancatcher”. As far as I can see, these low rent characters never sold anywhere near comics like Superman and Batman-are they still around? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/2 "2011-09-29T18:04:15Z")
I don’t recognize your “NAZA” (maybe [Ka-Zar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka-Zar)?), but that’s the [Martian Manhunter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_Manhunter) and the [Metal Men](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Men) you’re recalling. Yes, they’re still around. Comic companies essentially exist to promote their intellectual property, so everything eventually gets pulled out and reused eventually (… particularly if Grant Morrison is involved). I don’t think Ka-Zar or the Metal Men are in any ongoing series right now, but the latter had a short series just a few years ago. And the Martian Manhunter is usually in an ongoing series _and_ shows up in DC animated series (_Justice League_ as a main character, and I think in _Batman: the Brave & the Bold_ too). ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/3 "2011-09-29T18:29:18Z")
My favorite is [Johnny Quick](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Quick_%28Johnny_Chambers%29), although I figured out eventually that his speed formula didn’t fail because I wasn’t pronouncing the parentheses right. I also liked [Sarge Steel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarge_Steel), especially when he co-appeared in [Judomaster](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judomaster). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/4 "2011-09-29T18:33:58Z")
Pretty much anything from Image Comics. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/5 "2011-09-29T18:48:50Z")
My first thought was of Spider-Man dodging his landlady all through the eighties and early nineties. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/6 "2011-09-29T18:50:44Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Along with all-time favorites like SUPERMAN and BATMAN, I remember seeing a lot of really sucky comics. There was one called “NAZA”?-some prehistoric warrior dude, and another one that featured robots made of diffferent metals (e.g. tinman, leadman, ironman, etc.) > And the truly awful ones-like “Jon Jonz-The Martian Mancatcher”. > As far as I can see, these low rent characters never sold anywhere near comics like Superman and Batman-are they still around? I’m going to need you to take your libel of J’onn J’onnz back, please. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/7 "2011-09-29T19:14:56Z")
Skateman > **[Skateman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skateman)** > > Skateman was a comic book produced by Neal Adams, and published by Pacific Comics in November 1983. It is primarily known as an industry curiosity, a widely derided comic produced by one of comics' most highly regarded and influential creators. > One issue of Skateman was published, cover-dated November 1983. Its 19-page lead story was written and drawn by Neal Adams. Accompanying it were two five-page backup features: "Korlack of Futureworld" by writer and penciler Jack Arata, and inker Andy Kube... [http://ape-law.com/GAF/2007/10/classic-gone-and-forgotten-skateman.html](http://ape-law.com/GAF/2007/10/classic-gone-and-forgotten-skateman.html) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/8 "2011-09-29T19:29:32Z")
> [@](#): > > another one that featured robots made of diffferent metals (e.g. tinman, leadman, ironman, etc.) Probably [Metal Men](http://www.themetalmen.com/Metalmen.htm). Never cared for them, since I found the woman robot who was infatuated with Doc Magnus to be annoying. Plus the sexual implications were too bizarre. A platinum woman with a fleshly man? Not gonna work. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/9 "2011-09-29T19:44:40Z")
Also remember Luke Cage “Hero for Hire” and his sometime partner Iron Fist. Though I don’t know what they charged. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/10 "2011-09-29T20:11:32Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Plus the sexual implications were too bizarre. A platinum woman with a fleshly man? Not gonna work. In bed, she’s very wiry. Some of the early stories featured her being injured (or “damaged” if you prefer) and Will Magnus (the robots’ creator) heroically carrying her body, fallen-damsel style. Trouble is, if she really is made of solid Platinum, she’d weigh about 21 times as much as a human woman of similar build, say _minimum_ 2100 lbs. I appreciate that the Metal Men stories tried to teach kids chemistry factoids, but it was mingled in with a great deal of nonsense, even by comic-book standards. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/11 "2011-09-29T21:10:33Z")
Robby Reed, in _Dial H For Hero_. Kid had an alien telephone dial (yes, you read that right: _an alien telephone dial_) that, when you dialed the letters H-E-R-O, would change him into a different superhero each time! They’d run contests in the letter column to “Create Your Own Hero”, & the winners would appear in the Robby Reed story. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/12 "2011-09-29T21:15:16Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Probably [Metal Men](http://www.themetalmen.com/Metalmen.htm). Never cared for them, since I found the woman robot who was infatuated with Doc Magnus to be annoying. > > Plus the sexual implications were too bizarre. A platinum woman with a fleshly man? Not gonna work. > > Regards, > Shodan :: shrugs :: Super-powered Kryptonians and Daxamites have skin far harder than steel. Yet it was pretty clear (at least during the Bronze Age) Superman with Lois and Lana. Well, not at the same time. At least, probably not. Lana would have been up for it, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/13 "2011-09-29T21:23:55Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Some of the early stories featured her being injured (or “damaged” if you prefer) and Will Magnus (the robots’ creator) heroically carrying her body, fallen-damsel style. Trouble is, if she really is made of solid Platinum, she’d weigh about 21 times as much as a human woman of similar build, say _minimum_ 2100 lbs. There was a Batman crossover that (quietly) poked fun at this. Someone was eliminating the Metal Men, and Bats found Tina in a burning building. He couldn’t get her out because she was too heavy for him to move. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/14 "2011-09-29T21:25:28Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > And the truly awful ones-like “Jon Jonz-The Martian Mancatcher”. What?! Jon Jonz is a major JL character. He hasnt got his series but neither does Cyclops. It’s too bad actually, cuz an alien shapeshifter that tries to fit into human society while working as a cop is a great premise. > [@Satchmo](#): > > Also remember Luke Cage “Hero for Hire” > and his sometime partner Iron Fist. > Though I don’t know what they charged. _Faints._ Power Man and Iron Fist are horribly lame heroes? But they’re the only Superheroic buddy partner double team, thing. > [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Robby Reed, in _Dial H For Hero_. > > Kid had an alien telephone dial (yes, you read that right: _an alien telephone dial_) that, when you dialed the letters H-E-R-O, would change him into a different superhero each time! > They’d run contests in the letter column to “Create Your Own Hero”, & the winners would appear in the Robby Reed story. You realize that that very concept was stolen and re-served as “Ben 10”. Which was a success, with spin offs. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/15 "2011-09-29T21:35:21Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > What?! Jon Jonz is a major JL character. He hasnt got his series but neither does Cyclops. It’s too bad actually, cuz an alien shapeshifter that tries to fit into human society while working as a cop is a great premise. A problem with J’onn J’onnz is that, even more than Superman or Green Lantern, he’s a story breaking. I mean, he has all of Supes’s powers, plus shapeshifting, invisibility, intangibility, and telepathy, and except for the intangibility he can use them all at once. Even with his fire weakness, it’s hard to explain why he ever comes close to losing a fight. > [@](#): > > You realize that that very concept was stolen and re-served as “Ben 10”. > Which was a success, with spin offs. Oh, no one watches Ben 10 for Ben 10. You want Ben 10 for 17-year-old Gwen 10. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/16 "2011-09-29T21:35:41Z")
I thought you were talking about things like Harvey Pekar in his American Splendor comics, but I see I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/17 "2011-09-29T21:35:52Z")
> [@Satchmo](#): > > Also remember Luke Cage “Hero for Hire” > and his sometime partner Iron Fist. > Though I don’t know what they charged. [Two hundred dollars](http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/08/18/luke-cage-power-man/). (Scroll to the last entry above the comments) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/18 "2011-09-29T21:38:03Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Robby Reed, in _Dial H For Hero_. > > Kid had an alien telephone dial (yes, you read that right: _an alien telephone dial_) that, when you dialed the letters H-E-R-O, would change him into a different superhero each time! > They’d run contests in the letter column to “Create Your Own Hero”, & the winners would appear in the Robby Reed story. They did it again (with two dials, which were found by two teenagers - I’d say I didn’t remember their names, but that’s a lie (Chris and Vicki) - and the dials were magic or something) in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/19 "2011-09-29T22:00:50Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > A problem with J’onn J’onnz is that, even more than Superman or Green Lantern, he’s a story breaking. I mean, he has all of Supes’s powers, plus shapeshifting, invisibility, intangibility, and telepathy, and except for the intangibility he can use them all at once. Even with his fire weakness, it’s hard to explain why he ever comes close to losing a fight. I agree, they should have kept it to shapeshifting, and then, maybe some minor telepathy (that could be blocked by his alien-ness, that said telepathy is an interesting plot point for a guy that tries to fit into human society) OR intangibility. Jon Jonz and The Vision share a lot of that “too-many-different-powers-it’s-hard-to-state-the-concept-of-the-character” thing, though the Vision with all of his android angst is better defined. In the tv cartoons I’ve seen with him he is most interesting when he is a cop (especially “the New Frontier” but even in the JLI episodes), and not the whole power set of the JL gathered in one guy, but slightly reduced. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042/20 "2011-09-29T22:30:14Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Some of the early stories featured her being injured (or “damaged” if you prefer) and Will Magnus (the robots’ creator) heroically carrying her body, fallen-damsel style. Trouble is, if she really is made of solid Platinum, she’d weigh about 21 times as much as a human woman of similar build, say _minimum_ 2100 lbs. The conceit that the Metal Men were made entirely out of their namesake metals never made any sense anyway. How could _anything_ be built out of mercury? I think DC later tried to retcon this away by claiming that the robots were really made out of some kind of polymer that only mimicked the properties of various metals. Not that this makes a whole lot _more_ sense! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-rent-comic-book-heros/598042.md?page=2)