Though the two have been sharing story elements such as handsome heroes, evil twins and clones, and implausible returns from the grave for decades now, a meeting between the characters of Marvel Comics and CBS's Guiding Light has never seemed like an obvious move. Nonetheless, the House of Ideas is indeed teaming up with the longest running television program of all time to scribe a story that will span comics and television. No, it really doesn't make much sense.

The forthcoming storyline, due to begin as an eight page back-up feature in select Marvel comics starting October 25th and then conclude in an episode of Guiding Light on November 1st, will follow Guiding Light mainstay Harley Cooper, a police officer and mother, as she gains special abilities through a freak electrical accident.

Newsarama.com interviewed Guiding Light Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler and Head Writer David Kreizman for details.

DK: Harley Cooper is the main character in the story. She's a mom and a cop, and a wife - someone who's always thought of herself as something of a superhero, I think. She's got a lot going on in her life - she's got family problems, as does everyone in Springfield, and she's kind of wishing on this day, that she could have some super powers to help her through everything that's going on in her life.

NWSRM: So how do we go from there to being a full-fledged superhero?

DK: They've moved into a new house, and the wiring's gone a little haywire. She goes outside to deal with the Halloween lights that are flickering on and off, and she gets pelted with a water balloon by some trick or treaters.

EW: Trick or treaters dressed as Marvel bad guys, of course.

DK: When she goes to fix the lights, she gets electrocuted. She's rushed to the hospital, and when she wakes up, she had some very starling eyes, and some powers that she didn't have before. Her eyes are totally without color in their irises, and she's got a blue shock of hair as well. Everybody notices it, but nobody wants to say anything about her eyes.

EW: She slowly realizes that she has powers - she doesn't recognize immediately that she has them, but through the course of the next couple of hours in the show, she realizes that something has changed for her. She keeps saying she's fine and everything's fine, but her friends keep asking if she's sure, because she certainly doesn't look fine.

DK: As she goes through her day, she starts to realize things she's able to do - she touches the handle of a car, and it immediately turns on. She's able to cook breakfast for her kids without actually touching the appliances in the kitchen.

EW: Which is just what she was thinking of - "How can I make this day easier for myself?" She got exactly what she wished for.

DK: And soon she starts to realize that she can use these powers for something greater - to help and save the town of Springfield.

But who does Springfield need saving from? After teaming up with some familiar heroes to defeat an assortment of villains from Marvel's stable of characters within the eight page back-up story, the true test of Cooper's heroic abilities will manifest in the form of a mysterious, nefarious blogger

DK: [laughs] We have a continuing storyline about the "Springfield Burns" blogger - SpringfieldBurns.com is a website where someone, and we don't know who, is revealing secrets about everybody in town. So everyone in town is trying to figure out who this person, who's revealing their darkest secrets is. Harley, as a superhero, goes looking for the blogger.

Given that this a one-time collaboration, it's doubtful that the effects of this story will have lasting repercussions on either of the franchises which are both, at the moment, embroiled in their own major plots (including a civil war, in Marvel's case). Should this joint venture prove to be successful, however, it may only be a matter of time before we see more laser beams in our soaps and more amnesiac love triangles in our graphic novels.

Cooper experiences a chance accident involving a cup of soda and an electrical outlet. No, she doesn't gain soda powers.

Photo Location

Oz_the_Vamp

Lorain, OH

June 2005

OCT 22, 2006 08:10 PM

I've got the ramp, where's the shark?

MrStitches

Brooklyn, NY

November 2003

OCT 22, 2006 08:13 PM

Ahhhhhhhhahahahahahahahaha

mqx

Seattle, WA

January 2003

OCT 22, 2006 08:36 PM

Writing will still probably be better than Heroes.

TheJuanupsman

Hopkins, MN

April 2004

OCT 22, 2006 08:37 PM

That is one of the strangest ideas I have ever heard.

thefreak

NEWSWIRE

Gardner, MA

OCT 22, 2006 08:45 PM

TheJuanupsman said:
That is one of the strangest ideas I have ever heard.

Well, it's not that different a concept than Dark Shadows...

-TM

WishRyder

Waukee, IA

October 2003

OCT 22, 2006 08:49 PM

Mqx said:
Writing will still probably be better than Heroes.

Haha...Heroes was actually the first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title. Such a disappointing show...

jimmy_the_worm

San Diego, CA

July 2006

OCT 22, 2006 08:53 PM

As if it's not embarrassing enough to collect comics...

Mineux

HOPEFUL

Torrance, CA

OCT 22, 2006 09:00 PM

Ahh.. a new young generation of teen mothers will have something to watch with thier boyfriends before they go to thier night shift crap jobs.