Zola's Mom: Of Capes and Superheroes

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Of Capes and Superheroes

Ate was playing with a baby blanket, then her Ahma (grandmother) said "Look", then she took it from her, tied it around her neck and turned it into a cape ala Superman! I was then expecting her to shout "Superman!" after . . .

Then my Mom said. . . MIGHTORRR!!!

Me and my thought bubble. . .Ummm, "Mightor???" Haha!

I asked her who he was and she said that we grew up with him. So I went to google "Mightor" to find more about this character.

Friends, meet my Mom's Mightor. . .

Image from www.oldschoolcartoonz.blogspot.com

So yes, he has a cape . . . just like Superman! But I really couldn't remember him at all! I think I would remember a bare-chested superhero! Heehee

He is actually called Mighty Mightor, and this is his story (from Wikipedia)

One day, while on a hunting trip, a teenage caveman named Tor, along with his winged pet dinosaur Tog, rescue an old man who, as a reward, gives Tor a magical club. When Tor raises his club to the sky, he transforms into the masked and muscular Mightor, a prehistoricsuperhero very much in the Space Ghostmold who possesses superhuman strength and the power of flight through his club, which can also fire energy blasts.

And if you notice that he has similarities with Thor (like the name and the hand-held weapon), Wikipedia shared this Background story

Image from hotdognight.tumblr.com

When Hanna Barbera was producing an animated series based on the Marvel Comics super-group the Fantastic Four they were also slated to produce a series based on the Marvel superhero the Mighty Thor (Marvel Comics) as well. However, Marvel had recently made a deal with Grantray-Lawrence Animation to produce several animated series based on some of their other characters called The Marvel Super Heroes. And at the last minute Marvel pulled Thor from Hanna-Barbera slate as part of this new deal. Not wanting to abandon the Thor concept entirely, Hanna-Barbera retooled the designs made for Thor and come up with a show which became "The Mighty Mightor". There are noticeable similarities between the characters: First, their names, "The Mighty Thor" and "Mighty Mightor". Thor carries a hammer-weapon that fires blasts and enables him to fly. Mightor carries a club-weapon that fires blasts and enables him to fly as well. Thor wears a cape and a winged helmet. Mightor wears a cape and a horned helmet. And lastly, both can transform into secret mortal identities initiated by the power of their mighty weapons. In addition, there are similarities between some of the supporting characters as well. Most notably Thor's father Odin and Chief Pondo of Mightor's village.