“Wait, who are we attacking again?”
Niko And The Sword Of Light #1
Amazon Content Services (2017)
CONCEPT: Kei Acedera, Jim Bryson, Bobby Chiu, & Adam Jeffcoat; developed by Rob Hoegee
WRITERS: Rob Hoegee, Ernie Altbacker, & Matt Wayne
ARTIST: Barry J. Kelley
COLORIST: Andy Brinkman
COVER ART: Jim Bryson & Bobby Chiu
LETTERER/PRODUCTION: Thomas Mauer
EDITOR: Elliot Blake
When it comes to bad adaptations, and so many of them have been lately, we put the blame on directors, showrunners, and writers. Also actors but we really shouldn’t do that. It’s not like they care about the source material unless it’s Henry Cavill, and even then we only have evidence of that with The Witcher rather than Superman, no matter how much he says he likes Superman, looks the part, and built his own gaming computer to show off nerd cred before announcing wanting to work on a Warhammer movie. Actors are only playing a role they want to play or just trying to earn that paycheck. I’ve given up on their caring about the source material versus what they care about…themselves.
There should definitely be some blame placed on the people in charge of the stories. While She-Hulk‘s creators have admitted they were trolling comic fans for not liking Captain Marvel and many are more interested in political standings than adaptation, this isn’t the complete issue with bad adaptations. We’ve had bad adaptations going back to the black and white days. Go watch the Captain America serials from 1944 if you don’t believe me. I really enjoyed The Adventures Of Captain Marvel but Republic too as much liberties with the future Shazam as they did with Captain America. (Maybe it’s a captain thing?). The recent Shazam movies are more accurate…if you take into account they’re based on Geoff Johns’ annoying reimagining of Billy Batson and his life. Heck, just go to the Masters Of The Universe or Super Mario Brothers live-action movies if you want something recent but before the current sociopolitical nonsense.
No, I put most of the blame on the studios and distributors for the failings of adaptations, and it’s only gotten worse in more recent years. Some of the reasons I’m going to cite may be obvious and some won’t. Either way it’s time to give all the devils their due.
Mobius’ version of Uber is not a great service.
Sonic The Hedgehog #40
Archie Comics Publications (November, 1996)
“Court-Martial”
WRITER: Mike Gallagher
PENCILER: Dave Manak
INKER: Rick Koslowski
COLORIST: Barry Grossman
LETTERER: Mindy Eisman
EDITOR: Justin Gabrie
Tim Drake is my favorite Robin.
For the record Dick Grayson is the one I grew up with. He didn’t become Nightwing until the 19804, slightly over halfway through my childhood but before my teen years. I grew up with Dick as Robin from both Filmation shows, repeats of the live-action 60s show, and Superfriends. Dick will always be my nostalgic Robin, but Nightwing signified an evolution of his character. He grew out of being a sidekick and became his own person.
I’ve felt since then that “Robin” is sort of the apprentice to becoming their own superhero. It’s why I’m bothered by Stephanie being Robin when she already formed her own superhero identity as Spoiler but not bothered by any other Robin. As it is Robin was created to keep things light, to keep Batman from the edge and being a more violent character. Before the Comics Code was ever an issue that was the purpose National had for creating Robin, seeing how kids liked superheroes and decided to soften Bruce up a bit with a teen sidekick. Robin basically started the sidekick trend, someone that the hero could mentor but also count on as backup in a fight.
Tim has qualities that set him apart from the others and made him THE Robin in some fans minds, including myself. The problem is DC Comics would come to be run by people who wanted that dark and gritty Batman, the brooding Dark Knight who smacked people around in anger even when fans were shown why that was a bad thing and embraced Bruce over Jean Paul Valley. And so Robin had to go or be altered into something different. That meant to them Tim Drake had to go. The problem wasn’t that he was redundant, as the following Comicstorian commentary states, but that Dan DiDio was put in charge. That never ends well. This isn’t a Versus article because Benny and I actually agree on many points. It’s the reason for those problems where we disagree.
Cap is still not 100% on retrieving his mighty shield.
Captain America #8
Marvel Comics (September, 2005)
“The Winter Soldier” part 1
WRITER: Ed Brubaker
ARTIST: Steve Epting
CO-INKER: Mike Perkins
COLORIST: Frank G. D’Armata
LETTERER: Chris Eliopoulos
ASSISTANT EDITORS: Andy Schmidt, Nicole Wiley, and Molly Lazer
EDITOR: Tom Brevoort
Atop The Fourth Wall Crisis On Earth Prime Lean Into Artcast Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery
Bully Says “Comics Oughta Be Fun” Four Color Media Monitor The Clutter Reports (my other site) Cartoon Hero’s Lair Four Million Years Later SF Debris
BW Media Spotlight 
BW’s Daily Video> Lightyear’s Failure And Puss In Boots Success
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on March 30, 2023 in Animation Spotlight, Movie Spotlight and tagged Buzz Lightyear, commentary, Disney, DreamWorks, Puss In Boots.
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