“Why are we putting this together?” “They’re both 70s shows with a female lead.” “Works for me.”
Charlie’s Angels Vs. The Bionic Woman #1
Dynamite Entertainment (2019; posted to comiXology July, 2019)
WRITER: Cameron DeOrdio
ARTIST: Soo Lee
COLORIST: Addison Duke
LETTERER: Crank!
EDITOR: Matt Idelson
I’m not necessarily opposed to the existence of reboots mind you. I grew up with Transformers, who had once central source material (the toys) but no defining continuity, and even with attempts like the Aligned Continuity have never achieved this goal. He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe had the same issue and so have a bunch of other franchise I love. A good reboot can freshen a property for older fans while creating something newer viewers and readers could potentially connect with better. There have been good examples.
However, there have also been bad examples, a name slapped on an original idea and called a reboot or a re-imagining but are nothing of the sort. It could be good but ultimately it’s not-stalgia, something that preys on nostalgia to get people to watch their new or “better” (in the creator’s eyes) interpretation of the base concept. This is where the problem starts and I found a good article to examine the mindset from the perspective of the industry.
Granted, calling this a “vs” article is a bit harsh. Writer, producer, and former ITV exec Stephen Arnell (not to be confused with the actor from CW’s DCU) is simply stating what’s going on in Hollywood and other studios (ITV is a British TV network) around the world. In a piece for Television Business International, Arnell examines the current reboot trend in storytelling entertainment objectively but from his perspective. Since I’m a critic in this article I will be slightly less objective due to my own biases but will examine things from the fan perspective. Has the reboot craze gone too far and just become lazy creating?
“I’d rather snack on Scooby! GRRRRRR”
Scooby-Doo #34
DC Comics (May, 2000; posted to comiXology March 2014)
COLORIST: Paul Becton
LETTERER: John Costanza
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Harvey Richards
EDITOR: Heidi MacDonald
“The Hound Of The Basket Cases”
WRITER: Dan Abnett
PENCILER: Joe Staton
INKER: Dave Hunt
“Return Of The King”
WRITER: Joe Edkin
PENCILER: Chris Jordan
INKER: Dan Davis
NBCUniversal launched their Peacock service in the middle of this week. I already did my early review and plan to do a follow-up video in the next week or two to see if they address any of the issues. One problem they already have is losing some of the big movies they managed to have at launch, including movies owned by Universal and their subsidiaries. That doesn’t make a lot of sense (though the writer blames deals for pre-Peacock streaming rights with other companies) but it includes movies you can only see as a premium subscriber like Shrek. This is just looking worse and worse for NBC.
I’m not going to lie to you guys. Today was so nice I didn’t want to post anything. This is going to goof up the plans for today and tomorrow, but I also found a fascinating article on reboots I want to dissect tomorrow. I’m just too relaxed right now to do it.
So instead here’s a video that’s been sitting in the Filler Video playlist waiting for it’s own dissection, though a smaller one. It’s from YouTuber LioConvoy (named after the Maximal/Cybertron leader in Beast Wars II) about reboots and who is to blame for them. Though the video itself mostly talks about negative reactions to modern reboots. It’s still an interesting discussion to have so listen to him and read my thoughts on it.
“This is not proper social distancing!”
Robotech II: The Sentinels book 4 #3
Academy Comics, Ltd (February, 1996)
“Specters In Midnight”
WRITER/INKER/TONING: John Waltrip
PENCILER/TONING: Jason Waltrip
After numerous appearances in various Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and a failed attempt at a show based on his futuristic spin-off (which I covered once before) it looks like the wandering ronin rabbit is finally getting his own series. No wait, it’s another descendant, just closer to the original’s timeline. Why is it so hard to get an actual cartoon of the original comic? Does Stan Sakai not want it or do these creators not realize how popular the comic is?
The Clutter Reports (my other site) Atop The Fourth Wall Crisis On Earth Prime Lean Into Artcast Bully Says “Comics Oughta Be Fun” Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery
Cartoon Hero’s Lair SF Debris Four Million Years Later
