Favorite Comic Based Superhero TV Shows
- Thread starter JD
- Start date
Not based on a comic book. There were comics, but they were based on the show.
Pretty cool, indeed. Someone should start a thread on the series.
There you go: http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?p=4911833#post4911833
Don't know if they qualify as superheroes, though, since they got no superpowers, no secret identities and no costumes. I mean, Captain Future had at least a nickname.
Depends on your definition of a superhero, I guess.
Well, "Buck" and "Flash" were both nicknames, for what it's worth. "Buck" was really Anthony Rogers, and while Flash was never given an official first name in the comics, the 2007 TV series called him Steven (after Steve Holland, who played him on TV in the '50s) while the 1996 animated series called him Alex (after his creator Alex Raymond).
Would you consider Adam Strange a superhero? He's a character in the same vein as Buck, Flash, and John Carter -- he doesn't have a secret identity or a costume in the sense you mean, and his "powers" are technological. But he's generally regarded as a superhero because he's a comic-book character who's often interacted with other DC heroes.
As I wrote above, it depends on how you define a superhero, and I'm not sure Rogers & Gordon qualify. I'm just as unsure about Adam Strange.
I'd count Flash and Buck as superheroes. They started out as comic strips, they have flashy costumes and cool scifi gadgets, and they regularly face evil aliens, mad scientists, and larger-than-life supervillains out to conquer the universe.
I mean, it's not like they're cowboys or cops or private eyes or something.
I mean, it's not like they're cowboys or cops or private eyes or something.
Err, nobody in this thread has mentioned Heroes until your post. Who were you responding to?
Okay, thanks for clearing that up.
Ooh, I was trying to think of less well-known comics-based shows, and I remembered The Middleman should be on the list. That's another one where it might be a stretch to call MM a superhero, but he did keep his identity secret and wore a uniform of sorts, he had a sidekick, and the series was definitely immersed in comics and superhero tropes (as well as sci-fi and spy-fi tropes).
Ooh, I was trying to think of less well-known comics-based shows, and I remembered The Middleman should be on the list. That's another one where it might be a stretch to call MM a superhero, but he did keep his identity secret and wore a uniform of sorts, he had a sidekick, and the series was definitely immersed in comics and superhero tropes (as well as sci-fi and spy-fi tropes).
No Particular Order:
Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter)
The Flash
The Incredible Hulk (Mr. McGee, don't make me angry...)
Justice League Unlimited
Batman TAS
Superman TAS
Fantastic Four (1960's)
The Adventures of Superman
Spider-Man (70's live-action...it's underappreciated)
The Cape (also underappreciated)
Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter)
The Flash
The Incredible Hulk (Mr. McGee, don't make me angry...)
Justice League Unlimited
Batman TAS
Superman TAS
Fantastic Four (1960's)
The Adventures of Superman
Spider-Man (70's live-action...it's underappreciated)
The Cape (also underappreciated)
^ The Cape wasn't based on a comic book. (Well, in the show it was, but not in reality.
)
My favorites, again in no particular order:
Batman (60s)
The Incredible Hulk
Wonder Woman (but only the first season)
The Adventures of Superman
Flash Gordon (Filmation)
Batman: The Animated Series (in all its incarnations)
Justice League Unlimited
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Superman (Ruby-Spears version)
The Flash
Honorable mentions go to Super Friends and Shazam! (even though neither show holds up well, I loved them both beyond all reason when I was six), Lois & Clark (which gets a split vote because while I loved Teri Hatcher, I couldn't stand Dean Cain as Superman), and Smallville (which gets it right when it gets it right, but oh so very wrong when it gets it wrong).
)My favorites, again in no particular order:
Batman (60s)
The Incredible Hulk
Wonder Woman (but only the first season)
The Adventures of Superman
Flash Gordon (Filmation)
Batman: The Animated Series (in all its incarnations)
Justice League Unlimited
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Superman (Ruby-Spears version)
The Flash
Honorable mentions go to Super Friends and Shazam! (even though neither show holds up well, I loved them both beyond all reason when I was six), Lois & Clark (which gets a split vote because while I loved Teri Hatcher, I couldn't stand Dean Cain as Superman), and Smallville (which gets it right when it gets it right, but oh so very wrong when it gets it wrong).
Does "Saturday Morning Watchmen" count?
The pilot of Superman:TAS is actually one of the weaker installments of the show. Or maybe I just say that because they re-ran the damn thing a million times back when it first aired and I got so damned sick of seeing it instead of new episodes 
It is a problematic pilot though, since he doesn't really do Superman-y things until part three.
It is a problematic pilot though, since he doesn't really do Superman-y things until part three.
Well, you could say much the same about Superman: The Movie. A great deal of the movie is spent on Krypton, in Smallville, in the Fortress, and at the Daily Planet before the first real superhero action comes along. "Last Son of Krypton" was adopting a similar structure, and I liked it that it went into so much depth about the origin story. It was cool seeing a whole episode of Jor-El, Action Scientist.