shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Mar 8, 2021 14:20:30 GMT -5
I don't watch much TV, and yet I realize we are living in a Golden Age of television, especially if you are a fan of comics and superheroes. this makes me genuinely curious to see everyone's top five television adaptations of comic book properties from any and all decades (along with explanations, please!).
The rules:
1. Each of your choices should be based entirely on content that aired two or more years ago so as not to be influenced by current hype. You may pick a television series that is still running so long as your choice is not based upon episodes that aired in 2020 or 2021.
2. this isn't about what's BEST. It's about your FAVORITES. You don't have to argue why it's great; just explain why you love it.
3. Each of your choices needs to have originally aired on broadcast television, cable television, or as a series of episodes on a video streaming service.
4. Except in the case of a streaming service, these need not be television SERIES with individual episodes. Rejected pilots, specials that aired first on television, even parody skits and guest appearances on otherwise non-comic book related shows are eligible.
5. Cartoons are eligible.
6. Direct to video movies are not eligible
7. Television series that continued from adaptations in other mediums are eligible.
8. Radio shows and audiobooks are not eligible.
So lay it on me: What were your absolute favorite television adaptations?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2021 15:13:25 GMT -5
1. Batman 1966. It was literally a comic book that came to life. It fully embraced the absurdities of the genre at that time. The colors the villains the Batmobile. All were perfect.
2. Daredevil Season 3 on Net Flix. An excellent adaption of the comic book with amazing fight scenes and brilliant performances by the actors playing DD & Kingpin.
3. Batman The Animated Series is the absolute best. It captured the essence of what makes Batman timeless. Great adaption of classic stories. Perfect tone.
4. Lois & Clark (Dean Cain & Terri Hatcher). The FIRST Superhero TV show that my wife & I watched together.
5. Incredible Hulk 1970s. Even though it was a watered down version of the comic book it was great. I loved the sadness of Bill Bixby's portrayal of David Banner & Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk. |
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Post by brutalis on Mar 8, 2021 17:38:01 GMT -5
In order of experiencing them and going OMG this is great!
1. BATMAN with Adam West and Burt Ward. Such an amazing series with full blown live action comic book brought to life. The camp, the colors, the writing, the visuals but most of all those scene chewing oh so amazing villains given life by wondrous actors. Such a joy even for adult me today.
2. Wonder Woman with Lynda Carter. A truly perfect rendition which again captures the simple fun and thrills of bringing a drawn comic book to life for viewing.
3. Batman the Animated Series. The crown jewel of ALL comic to television shows. A true and honest love of Batman and comics can be seen with EVERY episode.
4. X-Men the Fox Kids Saturday morning animated series. Little kids, teens and us adults tuned in each weekend for our dose of Marvel Mutant Mania.
5. The Flash currently on the CW. Really amazing visually, creatively exciting and fun for me starring one of my favorite heroes.
Honorable mention as they are comic based but created their own "thing" from their original comic book origin. Superfriends for being there every weekend when there was little to no comic book cartoons and giving us all an animated (yes cheaply and poorly) does of comic book heroics to enjoy with our breakfast cereal. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for taking a dark black and white parody and turning it on end and into a funny, fun, colorful, playful iconic toon and toy mega selling machine. Legends of Tomorrow for being the closest current thing to capturing the concepts of comic books into television adventures which can be fun, silly, goofy, intelligent, dark, mysterious, serious, mind altering and mind numbing thrilling love to watch while wait for seeing which comic character they will adapt into the show next.
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,860
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Post by shaxper on Mar 8, 2021 19:22:50 GMT -5
We're already spanning 1966 thru 2018 in our selections. Wild.
I fully expect a shout-out to The 1950s Adventures of Superman series somewhere in this thread too.
Also, when possible, please try to keep it all in one post so that we can easily see which selections belong to which member with a minimum of confusion. Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2021 22:13:14 GMT -5
5. Flash Gordon (Filmation)  I encountered this animated serial shortly after experiencing the Buster Crabbe serial for the first time, and soon got a Whitman 3 pack of the comics, and I was hooked). The animation was fun, the sense of adventure oozed in every minute of each episode. 4. The Human Target  My wife and I both loved this series. Excellent cast who turned in very good performances, good stories, and great action. 3. Young Justice animated series  One of my favorite versions of the Justice League in media, I loved the voice cast, the stories were awesome, and I loved the aesthetic of the show overall. So many fist pump moments through the course of the three seasons. 2. Agent Carter  I loved Hayley Atwell's character, dug the stories, and all the world building in the series. And Jarvis was the breakout character of the series. 1. Batman: The Animated Series  Best comic adaptation to other media ever and it's not even close. Mood, tone, smart writing, great action, addictive characters that were spot-on in capturing the essential essence of each of them -M |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 9, 2021 8:25:29 GMT -5
I'm never good at these... as my opinion can change on any given day. Also, I'm assuming no Anime (since otherwise the list would be all anime)
1. TMNT - The show clearly transcended the comic and because a pop culture phenomenon... I'm talking the 1st one.. the reboots since have been less than stellar.
2. Batman: The Animated Series - Best Big 2 series ever by far... the Diniverse in general was the best job of bringing comics to the screen, IMO.
3. Daredevil - My favorite live action superhero show... made me care about a character that doesn't usually do much for me, and Kingpin/Punisher were amazing.
4. Agent Carter - fantasic period piece that also added to the general MCU tapestry... ended far too soon
5. Smallville - There were some plot issues, sure, but this was the best portrayal of Superman (and especially) Lex Luthor ever. It's a crime they didn't ever let Welling and Rosebaum do a big budget movie.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Mar 9, 2021 8:29:59 GMT -5
Also, I'm assuming no Anime (since otherwise the list would be all anime) Anime adaptations of traditional comic books are absolutely fair game. As for whether or not to include television programming that adapts manga (which is what I think you meant), that might be a different creature entirely. At the very least, I agree that it would deserve its own discussion. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2021 10:48:49 GMT -5
We're already spanning 1966 thru 2018 in our selections. Wild. I fully expect a shout-out to The 1950s Adventures of Superman series somewhere in this thread too. That would be in my top 10. I don't know if the Lone Ranger could be part of the list since he started on the radio so that was left off my list. I also liked the late 60s DC & Marvel cartoons. And the 70s Wonder Woman. Again these would be #6-10. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 9, 2021 11:27:11 GMT -5
In chronological order:
The Adventures of Superman, 1952-58. The ur-show.
Popeye Cartoons (Fleischer Studios). Fudging a bit because there were made for theatres, and Popeye began in a strip, but became a staple of quality kids' programming in the 50s.
The Addams Family, 1964-66. Fudging again because they were one-panel cartoons, but still. Groundbreaking, perfectly cast. Ghoulish bad taste in the guise of a family sit-com.
The Marvel Super Heroes (Grantray-Lawrence). Nothing like them before or since, but they were so cool when they came out.
Batman: The Animated Series, 1992-95. Near perfect.
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Post by tarkintino on Mar 9, 2021 17:11:33 GMT -5
5. Flash Gordon (Filmation) I encountered this animated serial shortly after experiencing the Buster Crabbe serial for the first time, and soon got a Whitman 3 pack of the comics, and I was hooked). The animation was fun, the sense of adventure oozed in every minute of each episode. I have that on my list, too. Its the greatest adaptation of Flash Gordon ever produced. 1. The Incredible Hulk (1977-82). The most mature adaptation of a superhero retains that title more than 40 years later. Kenneth Johnson's approach, using tragedy, violence and a feeling that the world would never be fair to a hero mixed with Bill Bixby's one-for-the-ages interpretation of Banner made this the model Marvel adaptations should have used more often than not. Ferrigno's Hulk still sells immense power and danger over any of the painfully fake CG Hulks, from the 2003 version to everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So many great episodes, with one of the best pilots of any fantasy TV series. 2. Flash Gordon. As mentioned, Filmation's adaptation was the greatest in history--no other film or TV series could come so close to capturing Alex Raymond's creation. I shudder to think how a Hanna-Barbera version would have turned out. 3. Black Lightning. The one and only DC series on the CW that is a classy production, almost perfectly weaving real world issues (relevant to its characters)with the super-heroics. Now in its 4th season (and unfortunately, its last), Black Lightning is so rich with characterization, meaning and production values, that it makes the vast majority of modern day superhero TV adaptations look like high school theatre by comparison. Its that good. 4. Daredevil / The Punisher (tie). The now cancelled Netflix series were among the best anything associated with Disney's Marvel productions. Both were solid fantasy/crime dramas that respected the characters, and leaned toward realism to the degree where you could imagine them operating in the real world...unlike most of the cartoony MCU. 5. WB's DCAU...with exceptions. From Batman: The Animated Series all the way to Justice League Unlimited (and Static Shock), that universe was DC animation at its finest, with scripting that placed most movie superhero plots to shame. It was a modified comic come to life. Note: This DCAU list does not include Batman Beyond, Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go, Young Justice, The Batman (2004) or Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Honorable mention:
The Amazing Spider-Man (1977-1979) & Spider-Man (1981-1982). The live action series and the second animated version of Spider-Man captured the feeling of how a fantasy character would be perceived in reality, with both--especially in the characterization of Peter Parker--taking cues from the Lee/Romita newspaper strip, where the plots did not dip back into early comic history drama, and focused on Parker as an adult. The live-action series' Nicholas Hammond is my second favorite interpretation of Parker, after Tobey Maguire.
The Marvel Super-Heroes (1966). The most faithful, direct adaptation of Marvel comics to this day. True to its advertising, it was like the comics were leaping out of the TV screen. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 9, 2021 20:32:02 GMT -5
Also, I'm assuming no Anime (since otherwise the list would be all anime) Anime adaptations of traditional comic books are absolutely fair game. As for whether or not to include television programming that adapts manga (which is what I think you meant), that might be a different creature entirely. At the very least, I agree that it would deserve its own discussion. I would agree Manga is a different category... it's much more standard for it to be adapted that American comics... just about everything that's halfway decent gets a show  |
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Post by Duragizer on Mar 9, 2021 23:54:45 GMT -5
- Batman: The Animated Series (EXCLUDING The New Batman Adventures)
- Fleischer/Famous Studios Superman shorts
- Daredevil
- Tales from the Cryptkeeper (prefer the animated spinoff to the live-action series; that third season can die in a vault fire, though)
- ?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2021 0:36:52 GMT -5
- Batman: The Animated Series (EXCLUDING The New Batman Adventures)
- Fleischer/Famous Studios Superman shorts
- Daredevil
- Tales from the Cryptkeeper (prefer the animated spinoff to the live-action series; that third season can die in a vault fire, though)
- ?
Oooh I forgot about the Fleisher Superman shorts, they should have made my list. -M |
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Post by Dizzy D on Mar 10, 2021 6:55:05 GMT -5
5. Global Frequency: Sadly only a single pilot episode produced, but it was a series with a lot of potential and it was very faithful to its original material.
4. Constantine: It was not perfect, but it was a lot closer to the original work than the Keanu Reeves movie.
3. Human Target: I only read the Milligan series, never the original, but the series was a lot of fun to watch.
2. Jessica Jones (first season). Kinda struggling between Daredevil (overall the best of the Netflix adaptions with ony a dip in quality for the 2nd half of season 2), Luke Cage season 2 (which I liked a lot for fixing the problems with season 1), but Jessica Jones season 1 is the one that I think adapted the comic it was based on the best, worked around the limits of its budget and had a point to make. Combined with great casting, it remains my favourite of the Netflix series. Sadly the rest of the series was not high quality.
1. Legion: Did a lot of interesting things with characters I never cared for before (The Shadow King first and foremost), had an amazing cast and with the main characters being telepaths interesting ways to portray their battles.
Honorable and dishonorable mentions: I've never had a channel that broadcasted Batman: the Animated Series (or most of Marvel or DC cartoons for that matter), so I missed most of them, but from what little I've seen or heard, it would have made my list if I had.
The ones I did see where the motion comics of Captain America, Namor, Iron Man and Thor, some versions Spider-Man (and or without his Amazing Friends) and a few episodes of the 90s X-Men.
As far European adaptions: I think I saw a few episodes of Largo Winch, but they left no impression. I never got to see the adaption of Jeremiah.
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,860
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Post by shaxper on Mar 10, 2021 9:04:08 GMT -5
- Batman: The Animated Series (EXCLUDING The New Batman Adventures)
- Fleischer/Famous Studios Superman shorts
- Daredevil
- Tales from the Cryptkeeper (prefer the animated spinoff to the live-action series; that third season can die in a vault fire, though)
- ?
The Fleischer shorts first aired in movie theaters, right? That would not be eligible, but it's a great pick otherwise! |
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