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"MY" version of _______________.

Got to thinking as I was writing in another thread. We've all grown up in different eras of comics, and may have different iterations of characters that we consider "our" version. Maybe not your favorite. Maybe not the "best" (whatever that is) version of the character...but the version of the character that got you on board and made you a fan of the character, perhaps for life.

Example: For all the different version of Batman there have been, Jim Aparo's version of Batman will always be "my" Batman. He was as much the detective as the crimefighter, and lordy those pointy ears! :)

Example: While I think the Peter David run on Supergirl was one of the best takes on her story, and I've been reading her exploits as long as I've been able to read, the 70s hot-pants (I'll give the nod to Carmine Infantino here as he started her look in Daring with it) version of Supergirl is "my" version of the character.

Example: Mike Grell's take on Green Arrow. I'll say no more. Shouldn't have to. :)

So howzabout you guys? I'll put more in here as I'm thinking about it.

Comments

  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748
    edited June 2016
    I don’t think I really think of characters that way. Especially a character like Batman, where I’ve read and enjoyed so many different takes. The Haney/Aparo Batman of Brave & the Bold was a character I loved growing up, but I equally love the Miller/Mazzucchelli Batman of “Year One,” and the Dini/Timm/et al Batman of Batman: The Animated Series, and the Adam West Batman, and... I could go on. I don't think of any one of them as “mine.” I think of them as Haney and Aparo’s or Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s, etc.—and their versions just happen to be the versions I love the most.

    And even with characters like Supergirl, where there is only one version I would say I “love,” I still don’t think of Bob Oksner’s Supergirl as “mine.” In that particular case, I was only really into the character because of the art and the wackiness of the stories. (And I will also say that Carmine’s hot pants Supergirl was only a very slightly altered version of Oksner’s—who inked Carmine on Daring—most prominent design. The blouse was all Oksner, and the Oksner-designed go-go shorts were simply given an updated hemline.)

    With Green Arrow, Mike Grell’s original take on the character (in Green Lantern/Green Arrow) was simply Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams’ take on the character. His later Longbow Hunter version was really only O’Neil/Adams’ take minus the trick arrows and with more graphic violence.

    I just think of comic book characters as being more flexible, I guess, and I always have, probably because I grew up reading different takes on the characters silmultaneously thanks to the many reprint comics that were around in the early to mid-’70s. While I was enjoying Haney/Aparo’s Batman in B&B, I was also enjoying the reprints of Dick Sprang’s Batman stories and also the syndicated reruns of the Adam West Batman on TV. I saw certain traits that were carried through in all the different versions, and those defined the characters for me, not one particular creative team’s take.

    So when I see something like the Man of Steel movie and say, “That’s not Superman,” it’s not because I'm comparing this version to “my Superman”—that is to say, a specific version I love—it’s because I don’t see enough of the core traits that have been essential to the character over the decades he’s been in existence.






    And I realize that I just sucked all the fun out of your premise. Sorry about that. Carry on.
  • Mr_CosmicMr_Cosmic Posts: 3,200
    I realize that there are much better versions of Spider-Man but McFarlane's will always be my SM.
  • SolitaireRoseSolitaireRose Posts: 1,445
    My version is whatever Jack Kirby’s version of them was.


    OK. FINE.

    Doctor Strange is Ditko, pure and simple, but the Modern Doctor Strange is Steve Englehart /Gene Colon. Englehart’s Sorcerer Supreme wrapped in Colon’s shadows is what I think of.

    Black Panther, oddly enough, I rarely think of Kirby, but instead key in on Don McGregor and Rich Buckler because of their run in the 70s.

    For Batman, I think of the Grant Morrison take on the character. I was never a HUGE fan of the “Batman as psychotic obsessed engine of vengeance” that was the take on the character after Dark Knight, and Morrison’s “Badada BOO, Smartest Guy In The Room” always worked for me, and the stories were just the kind of thing I was looking for.

    Superman? The Superman team from the 890’s after Byrne left. Byrne’s Superman was a good START, but there were too many missteps (Superman in a porno film? NO!) but the team Mike Carlin had in place kept the series hot, and a great mix of the Big Blue Boy Scout and a interesting person worked for me.
  • TheOriginalGManTheOriginalGMan Posts: 1,763
    Well, since I'm old, the answer to all of mine is "Lee and Kirby" (and occasionally Ditko)

    :-)
  • SolitaireRoseSolitaireRose Posts: 1,445

    Well, since I'm old, the answer to all of mine is "Lee and Kirby" (and occasionally Ditko)

    :-)

    It's how I feel, except in a VERY few instances.

  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,637
    edited June 2016
    I'm going to take this in a little different direction; my version of Ghost Rider is Danny Ketch.

    My version of the incredible Hulk is Greg Pak, but I will always love Peter David's Hulk drawn by Dale Keown. Greg Pak's multi-year run on the Hulk is one of the top runs in the franchise history.
  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967
    edited June 2016
    Great thread idea @Torchsong

    I'm just going to put this here:


    image
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,637
    Now that made me laugh.
  • aquatroyaquatroy Posts: 552



    For Batman, I think of the Grant Morrison take on the character. I was never a HUGE fan of the “Batman as psychotic obsessed engine of vengeance” that was the take on the character after Dark Knight, and Morrison’s “Badada BOO, Smartest Guy In The Room” always worked for me, and the stories were just the kind of thing I was looking for.

    I agree. However, the O'Neil and Adams "sexy super spy" will always be my Batman.
  • MattMatt Posts: 4,457



    ... “Batman as psychotic obsessed engine of vengeance”...

    See you stop reading a character for 10 years, & writers make him psychotic. I recall the last time I read Batman it was just after Infinite Crisis. By that point, Batman was just lost in his war on crime. His way of coping with loss.

    Weird.

    M
  • aquatroyaquatroy Posts: 552
    Bud Collyer will always be the voice of Superman.
  • Great thread idea @Torchsong

    I'm just going to put this here:


    image

    This is my version of Captain America as well. Steve Englehart and Sal Buscemi. A great run of cap books.
  • BrackBrack Posts: 868


    For Batman, I think of the Grant Morrison take on the character. I was never a HUGE fan of the “Batman as psychotic obsessed engine of vengeance” that was the take on the character after Dark Knight, and Morrison’s “Badada BOO, Smartest Guy In The Room” always worked for me, and the stories were just the kind of thing I was looking for.

    I prefer Morrison's final (?) take on Batman, being that all takes on Batman are valid takes on Batman.

  • LibraryBoyLibraryBoy Posts: 1,803
    I think the Aparo Batman (written by almost anyone) is my Batman, too, but the Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers and Mike W. Barr/Alan Davis versions come damn close.

    My Flash is the Mark Waid-penned version (preferably drawn by Wiern... Wally West as backed up by Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, Impulse, Johnny & Jesse Quick, and Linda Park.

    As for the FF, I'm always torn. The Lee/Kirby FF is obviously THE Fantastic Four, but it's the Byrne run that made me a fan, and an issue of Marvel's Greatest Comics reprinting a John Buscema-drawn story that was my introduction to the characters, so that's the version I always see in my mind's eye first when I think of the characters!
  • ChrisBeckettChrisBeckett Posts: 535
    I remember a similar thread on an old iteration of these forums --- pretty sure Peter Rios started that one --- which focused on character/artist combinations. This character + this artist = "My Character." That was fun, and I intend to share a series of posts like that over at my (poorly & intermittently) updated site [warrior27.net]. The first one's already up: This is My Spider-Man.

    Spoiler alert: it's Ditko's version.
    image

    Anyway. Others I hope to get to at some point.

    Batman by Norm Breyfogle
    image

    Superman by Jon Bogdanove
    image

    Flash by Carmine Infantino
    image

    Incredible Hulk by Todd McFarlane
    image

    Daredevil by Mazzucchelli
    image

    Captain America by Kieron Dwyer
    image


    Looking forward to seeing what others add to this discussion.

    chris



  • CageNarleighCageNarleigh Posts: 729
    image

    My version? Jose Luis Garcia Lopez....praise be his name.
  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794


    And I realize that I just sucked all the fun out of your premise. Sorry about that. Carry on.

    Way to bring the party down, Debbie! :)

    To say something is "mine" doesn't negate other versions of the character. I'm mainly curious - with all these variations out there - which particular one (or ones) made you a bona-fide fan and got you on board with them?

    A good example is the Flash. There have been a ton of different takes, but when someone says "The Flash" to me, I automatically picture Carmine Infantino's version with all the squishy head and speed-lined goodness that entails.

    You could even toss out artists entirely and bring on the writer. Grell's take on Green Arrow, for example, does hearken back to earlier days, but I like that Grell aged the character, and yes, brought in the fact that he's using a very deadly weapon in his crimefighting, and treated it as such.

    And I think CageNarleigh nailed it - JLG Lopez pretty much set the tone for a lot of us 70s/80s kids as far as DC was concerned...even if other artists worked off the template he set up.


  • hauberkhauberk Posts: 1,511
    Torchsong said:

    Got to thinking as I was writing in another thread. We've all grown up in different eras of comics, and may have different iterations of characters that we consider "our" version. Maybe not your favorite. Maybe not the "best" (whatever that is) version of the character...but the version of the character that got you on board and made you a fan of the character, perhaps for life.

    Example: For all the different version of Batman there have been, Jim Aparo's version of Batman will always be "my" Batman. He was as much the detective as the crimefighter, and lordy those pointy ears! :)

    Example: While I think the Peter David run on Supergirl was one of the best takes on her story, and I've been reading her exploits as long as I've been able to read, the 70s hot-pants (I'll give the nod to Carmine Infantino here as he started her look in Daring with it) version of Supergirl is "my" version of the character.

    Example: Mike Grell's take on Green Arrow. I'll say no more. Shouldn't have to. :)

    So howzabout you guys? I'll put more in here as I'm thinking about it.

    Not sure that I really quantify this by creator so much as by characteristics:

    Dr Fate - Kent Nelson - full face mask.

    Legion of Superheroes - I was going to say anything other than the Jugheads, but that would allow for the most recent incarnation. Let's go with pre-Zero Hour plus Lightning Saga instead.

    Iron Man - Armor Wars

    Captain America - Hail Hydra ;D Actually, pre-Cap-Wolf Gruenwald + Stern + Byrne.



  • SolitaireRoseSolitaireRose Posts: 1,445
    hauberk said:

    Torchsong said:

    Got to thinking as I was writing in another thread. We've all grown up in different eras of comics, and may have different iterations of characters that we consider "our" version. Maybe not your favorite. Maybe not the "best" (whatever that is) version of the character...but the version of the character that got you on board and made you a fan of the character, perhaps for life.

    Example: For all the different version of Batman there have been, Jim Aparo's version of Batman will always be "my" Batman. He was as much the detective as the crimefighter, and lordy those pointy ears! :)

    Example: While I think the Peter David run on Supergirl was one of the best takes on her story, and I've been reading her exploits as long as I've been able to read, the 70s hot-pants (I'll give the nod to Carmine Infantino here as he started her look in Daring with it) version of Supergirl is "my" version of the character.

    Example: Mike Grell's take on Green Arrow. I'll say no more. Shouldn't have to. :)

    So howzabout you guys? I'll put more in here as I'm thinking about it.

    Not sure that I really quantify this by creator so much as by characteristics:

    Dr Fate - Kent Nelson - full face mask.

    Legion of Superheroes - I was going to say anything other than the Jugheads, but that would allow for the most recent incarnation. Let's go with pre-Zero Hour plus Lightning Saga instead.

    For me, the Legion ended with the "five year jump" and then came back during the "Legion/Legionnaires" run. Waid and Kitson did a good series, but it didn't feel like the Legion to me. It's a shame that DC has buggered it all up so badly, as the Legion was the first Team book at DC I read, thinking it was their Avengers and was excited by the idea that they were a 1000 years in the future. Kinda Sad the Geoff Johns went to all the work of fixing everything only to have it Floashpointed away before they did anything with it.

    As for Dr Fate - Steve Gerber's version was my favorite because it was Steve Gerber.



  • hauberkhauberk Posts: 1,511

    hauberk said:

    Torchsong said:

    Got to thinking as I was writing in another thread. We've all grown up in different eras of comics, and may have different iterations of characters that we consider "our" version. Maybe not your favorite. Maybe not the "best" (whatever that is) version of the character...but the version of the character that got you on board and made you a fan of the character, perhaps for life.

    Example: For all the different version of Batman there have been, Jim Aparo's version of Batman will always be "my" Batman. He was as much the detective as the crimefighter, and lordy those pointy ears! :)

    Example: While I think the Peter David run on Supergirl was one of the best takes on her story, and I've been reading her exploits as long as I've been able to read, the 70s hot-pants (I'll give the nod to Carmine Infantino here as he started her look in Daring with it) version of Supergirl is "my" version of the character.

    Example: Mike Grell's take on Green Arrow. I'll say no more. Shouldn't have to. :)

    So howzabout you guys? I'll put more in here as I'm thinking about it.

    Not sure that I really quantify this by creator so much as by characteristics:

    Dr Fate - Kent Nelson - full face mask.

    Legion of Superheroes - I was going to say anything other than the Jugheads, but that would allow for the most recent incarnation. Let's go with pre-Zero Hour plus Lightning Saga instead.

    For me, the Legion ended with the "five year jump" and then came back during the "Legion/Legionnaires" run. Waid and Kitson did a good series, but it didn't feel like the Legion to me. It's a shame that DC has buggered it all up so badly, as the Legion was the first Team book at DC I read, thinking it was their Avengers and was excited by the idea that they were a 1000 years in the future. Kinda Sad the Geoff Johns went to all the work of fixing everything only to have it Floashpointed away before they did anything with it.

    As for Dr Fate - Steve Gerber's version was my favorite because it was Steve Gerber.



    I liked the 5 years later stuff. Legion was my first childhood book and that series effectively had it grown up with me in a manner unlike any other book I was reading at the time. Legion/Legionnaires could have had potential, but I ended up giving up on it pretty quickly post Zero-Hour. I would have loved to have seen them carry on with the SW-6 Legionnaires. I bought and read, but resented the Waid-Kitson run - it was pretty to look at, but was absolutely not my Legion. Completely agree about Johns and the Flashpointing away of his good stuff.

    RE: Dr Fate: Are you referring to Immortal Dr Fate or the more recent Countdown to Mystery. I'm with you on Immortal, but iffy on Countdown.
  • RickMRickM Posts: 407
    My Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow are the Neal Adams-Denny O'Neil versions. I started reading a few years after Adams left comics, but when I got my hands on the reprints I was floored.

    I'll take classic Lee-Kirby FF and Lee-Romita Spider-Man any day.

    My Justice League is Dick Dillin illustrating Conway, Wein, Pasko, Englehart and lots of others.

    I like my Avengers drawn by a young George Perez and my Legion of SuperHeroes by a young Mike Grell. Superman by Curt Swann still seems definitive.

    My favorite Daredevil is relatively recent (Bendis and Maleev), as is Captain America (Brubaker). Also love Greg Pak's Hulk.
  • SolitaireRoseSolitaireRose Posts: 1,445
    hauberk said:

    hauberk said:

    Torchsong said:

    Got to thinking as I was writing in another thread. We've all grown up in different eras of comics, and may have different iterations of characters that we consider "our" version. Maybe not your favorite. Maybe not the "best" (whatever that is) version of the character...but the version of the character that got you on board and made you a fan of the character, perhaps for life.

    Example: For all the different version of Batman there have been, Jim Aparo's version of Batman will always be "my" Batman. He was as much the detective as the crimefighter, and lordy those pointy ears! :)

    Example: While I think the Peter David run on Supergirl was one of the best takes on her story, and I've been reading her exploits as long as I've been able to read, the 70s hot-pants (I'll give the nod to Carmine Infantino here as he started her look in Daring with it) version of Supergirl is "my" version of the character.

    Example: Mike Grell's take on Green Arrow. I'll say no more. Shouldn't have to. :)

    So howzabout you guys? I'll put more in here as I'm thinking about it.

    Not sure that I really quantify this by creator so much as by characteristics:

    Dr Fate - Kent Nelson - full face mask.

    Legion of Superheroes - I was going to say anything other than the Jugheads, but that would allow for the most recent incarnation. Let's go with pre-Zero Hour plus Lightning Saga instead.

    For me, the Legion ended with the "five year jump" and then came back during the "Legion/Legionnaires" run. Waid and Kitson did a good series, but it didn't feel like the Legion to me. It's a shame that DC has buggered it all up so badly, as the Legion was the first Team book at DC I read, thinking it was their Avengers and was excited by the idea that they were a 1000 years in the future. Kinda Sad the Geoff Johns went to all the work of fixing everything only to have it Floashpointed away before they did anything with it.

    As for Dr Fate - Steve Gerber's version was my favorite because it was Steve Gerber.



    RE: Dr Fate: Are you referring to Immortal Dr Fate or the more recent Countdown to Mystery. I'm with you on Immortal, but iffy on Countdown.
    Countdown. It was to be the pilot for a Gerber Dr Fate series, but he passed before the final issue came out. The final issue was an incredible tribute by other writers writing their version of what Steve would have done.

  • hauberkhauberk Posts: 1,511

    hauberk said:

    hauberk said:

    Torchsong said:

    Got to thinking as I was writing in another thread. We've all grown up in different eras of comics, and may have different iterations of characters that we consider "our" version. Maybe not your favorite. Maybe not the "best" (whatever that is) version of the character...but the version of the character that got you on board and made you a fan of the character, perhaps for life.

    Example: For all the different version of Batman there have been, Jim Aparo's version of Batman will always be "my" Batman. He was as much the detective as the crimefighter, and lordy those pointy ears! :)

    Example: While I think the Peter David run on Supergirl was one of the best takes on her story, and I've been reading her exploits as long as I've been able to read, the 70s hot-pants (I'll give the nod to Carmine Infantino here as he started her look in Daring with it) version of Supergirl is "my" version of the character.

    Example: Mike Grell's take on Green Arrow. I'll say no more. Shouldn't have to. :)

    So howzabout you guys? I'll put more in here as I'm thinking about it.

    Not sure that I really quantify this by creator so much as by characteristics:

    Dr Fate - Kent Nelson - full face mask.

    Legion of Superheroes - I was going to say anything other than the Jugheads, but that would allow for the most recent incarnation. Let's go with pre-Zero Hour plus Lightning Saga instead.

    For me, the Legion ended with the "five year jump" and then came back during the "Legion/Legionnaires" run. Waid and Kitson did a good series, but it didn't feel like the Legion to me. It's a shame that DC has buggered it all up so badly, as the Legion was the first Team book at DC I read, thinking it was their Avengers and was excited by the idea that they were a 1000 years in the future. Kinda Sad the Geoff Johns went to all the work of fixing everything only to have it Floashpointed away before they did anything with it.

    As for Dr Fate - Steve Gerber's version was my favorite because it was Steve Gerber.



    RE: Dr Fate: Are you referring to Immortal Dr Fate or the more recent Countdown to Mystery. I'm with you on Immortal, but iffy on Countdown.
    Countdown. It was to be the pilot for a Gerber Dr Fate series, but he passed before the final issue came out. The final issue was an incredible tribute by other writers writing their version of what Steve would have done.

    I'll have to take a look. I'm not sure why I missed it.
  • aquatroyaquatroy Posts: 552
    Ramona Fradon will always be my Metamorpho & Aquaman artist.
  • batlawbatlaw Posts: 879
    Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, dick giordano, George Perez, Neal Adams= DC
  • ChrisBeckettChrisBeckett Posts: 535
    My Superman:

    image

    warrior27.net/2016/06/this-is-my-superman-art-edition.html

    Had many opportunities to meet Bogdanove when he was drawing Superman: Man of Steel - both of us living in Maine at the time - and his version just stuck for me.

    -chris
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