The Cape

Ok....

Good cop, with family and son

Check!

Living in a bad, corrupt town full of criminals and corrupt cops.

Check!

Big Corporation (here called "Ark") trying to take control of town ala "Robocop."

Check!

Evil villain Chess is (GASP) the person that runs Ark, and frames our hero for his crime and has him killed.

Check!

Hero not dead, but wakes up in a mysterious "Carnival of Crime," where shady people first threaten him, then befriend him, then train him.

Check!

Now Hero has dark cape made from spider silk and can do a lot with it more than fashion accessorize. Learns how to hypnotise, be an escape artist, and all sorts of cute magic tricks.

Check!

Hero then fights Chess and finds out that Chess has flunkies like Scales.  Hero also finds a mysterious friend in "Orwell," a pretty girl who runs a blog of truth.

Check!

Hero can't go home to family, but as the Cape goes to his son and tells him that his father is innocent and that THE CAPE will restore his good name and get the bad guys.


So... there were no aliens, but other than that it's a near perfect comic book origin.  I would say it reaches farther back into pulp tradition of "The Shadow" as well.  This show could go either too dry or too silly, it's early to tell.  I liked it though, and I think the Carnival of Crime is a good balancing force.  They are good natured scum, and form sort of a "Dirty Merry Men" with a touch of "Yoda" into the mix.   They are wild cards and also are free to spout off the most purple dialog imaginable.

On the other hand the main villain is just a twink.  He tries to hard to be a villain, he's all "OHHH OHH I"M BAD."  Frankly Donald Pleasance had more evil in just one upraised eyebrow.Still and all I have hopes for this, maybe as the season progresses there will be character growth and exciting plots.

Oh, wait, this is on NBC.  The network of "Heroes."
Oy Vey.