Comic-book characters drawn into colorful movie

"Mystery Men"

Directed by: Kinka Usher

Starring: Janeane Garofalo, William H. Macy, Ben Stiller

Rated: PG-13

Like every red-blooded American baby boomer, I grew up on a large diet of TV, rock 'n' roll, movies and comic books. Lots of comic books.

Early on it was the standard fare of DC Comics: Superman, Batman and The Justice League of America. Then one day my life took a sudden turn. I discovered Marvel Comics and their brand of super heroes such as The Fantastic Four and Spider-man.

These people seemed more real than their stodgy DC counterparts. They had flaws and real-life problems. Peter Parker (Spider-man) lived with an aging aunt and was constantly worried about making enough money, at his nonsuper hero job with the city newspaper, to pay the bills.

Taking this formula to the modern extreme is the ragtag group of crime fighters that inhabit Champion City in the comic book, and now major motion picture, "Mystery Men."

The real super hero in this milieu is Captain Amazing, a crime fighter of the first order who has innumerable corporate sponsors, a publicist and a supersized ego.

Every battle with evil, like the one at the old folks' home that begins "Mystery Men," is seen as a photo-op, and an opportunity to pick up more endorsements from people like Pepsi, Ray-O-Vac batteries or Jiffy Lube. Captain Amazing wears logo patches from these companies, and many others, on his super outfit.

In one of the many tongue-in-cheek barbs at the super hero genre, someone points out that Captain Amazing and billionaire Lance Hunt (his secret identity) can't possibly be the same guy. Lance wears glasses