REEL RETRO CINEMA: New looks at old flicks and their comic-book connections… A little while back, we published Rob Kelly’s REEL RETRO CINEMA column on 1981’s Condorman, a superhero movie that really wasn’t. (Click here.) It reminded me of another superhero movie that wasn’t, from the same era – 1980’s Hero at Large. I never saw Hero at Large in the theater but it was in heavy rotation on HBO at just the right time and, given the adolescent I was, I fell in love with it. It always struck me as a sort of Bizarro Universe version of Superman: The Movie – the Captain Avengermania seen in the film appeared to be inspired by the popularity of Richard Donner’s flick, and the two had similar atmospheres, since each was filmed in the gritty, exciting New York City of the period. Anyway, here’s Rob’s take on a longtime favorite that deserves another look… — Dan — By ROB KELLY Superheroes in live action were a real thing in the mid-to-late 1970s, reaching their peak (in more ways than one) with 1978’s Superman. Doc Savage, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, Dr. Strange, and even original creations like the Greatest American Hero donned tights and fought for truth and justice on the big and small screens. Coming on the tail end of this trend was 1980’s Hero at Large, starring sitcom megastar John Ritter as Steve Nichols, a struggling actor living in New York City, who finds himself a hero to many in his role of the costumed superhero Captain Avenger. Steve is a nice guy; maybe too nice to survive in the cutthroat world that was (is?) the New York City acting scene. Early in the film Steve has lunch with his grizzled old agent (veteran character actor Allan Rich), who is aghast when he learns that Steve gave away a part in a commercial to a fellow actor friend. Steve believes, truly, that one day his friend will return the favor, and generally seems to have a sunny, optimistic view of the world, despite the fact that he can’t even pay his rent because he can’t find acting gigs. At this same time, a big budget movie called Captain Avenger is being released, and the studio has hired dozens of able-bodied leading-man types to dress as...