Dr. Horrible Review

I anxiously awaited the debut of Doc Horrible, the way I wait in line at the deli to order some smoked turkey on special. You know, is it the really good stuff luckily on sale, or the clearanced junk just this side of expiration poison.
Both, as it turns out. I admire the attempt to challenge the comic standard and turn the superhero into a super asshat (Captain Hammer deserves to die), while also turning the supervillian into a sympathetic, if neurotic and lame (not to mention too self referential ego maniacal would be misguided anarchist) misunderstood geek. But the thing is, ultimately it just doesn't work. All of the leads are great, well above adequate, yet I got this nagging feeling that Felicia Day was waaaaay under used in her role as Penny, the do-gooder activist, who connects with Dr. Horrible's everyday persona, Billy, but is dazzled and screwed (literally and figuratively) by 'the Hammer is my penis' Captain Hammer. If any of you have seen Felicia Day in the online show "The Guild", you'll know what I mean. Actually, I'm not quite sure why the makers of this vlog used a real woman. She's about as animated and real as an inflatable love-doll, so why not pull a 'Lars and the Real Girl' and just tote about a wig glued onto a balloon? Stencil on a face, dimple in a faux vagina, and hey, no residual payments.
Oh, and to completely burst your bubble, the girl dies. Yes, that's right. Dr. Horrible sets out to kill Hammer, Hammer tries to kill Horrible...and who dies? Penny. Long ago I wrote a short story called, 'Penny's Worth' about a young working girl driven insane while waiting for a bus in LA. That story sucked, which is why I have a soft spot, sort of, in my heart for this failed vlog. Penny deserves better from us. In the instance of this vlog she deserved the chance to reject both Hammer and Horrible, and in my story she deserved the chance to self medicate with cheap hooch and recreational glue sniffing.