There are a lot of arguments on the internet that I don’t get. Aside from the usual logical fallacies and hateful remarks, there are entire WEBSITES devoted to explaining how one version of any given iconic character is the only one that REALLY matters. For my money, this just seems like more nerd-on-nerd hate, especially since I enjoy the smiling Dick Sprang 50s version of Batman as much as the Frank Miller Dark Knight. Still, as a fan of the Five Year Gap Legion of Super-Heroes, I can understand an inexplicable preference for one iteration of a given property…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) was rocketed from the dead planet Quipton, asking: Is there any specific version of a given character that you prefer above all others?
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Not sure if it counts, but I usually prefer Super Sentai over Power Rangers (although there are a few specific instances where PR has a version of a character I like better).
I’m also quite fond of the Batman Beyond version of Batman and the older Bruce Wayne as a mentor/grouchy old dude.
I like Sinestro as a villain.
I really like the Juggernaut as a villain as well. In fact, I feel like there could be a fairly long list of face and heal turns that I wish had not happened.
Beyond that, although Ultimate Marvel had some nuanced characters that basic Marvel Universe did not, or could not, have, I for the most part did not like those individuals and skipped Ultimates as a result.
In my mind’s eye, Superman has always been the Man of Steel from the Fleischer cartoons, but I would take pretty much any superman.
As for characters I really feel strongly about… none are readily apparent.
I like the Ultimate Marvel Universe version of Thor (a more left-wing/radical Thor), Captain America (a metaphor for American xenophobia post-9/11), and Hulk.
I also prefer Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing if that counts.
I’ve said this a few times, but my favorite Hal Jordan is the white sideburns, hitchiking hero.
It seemed like the best progression from hard living hero test pilot, and I thought his return as Earth’s GL made for some excellent stories.
I am completely unimpressed by the Geoff Johns’ run.
Batman the animated series version of Batman and Harley. It’s not quite so dark and gritty as things are now, and there’s more humor to it.
That’s the original version of Harley, which makes it even better.
I also prefer Mark Hamill’s Joker portrayal. Whenever I read something with the Joker, it is Mark Hamill’s voice that I hear.
Ditto. Any other Joker voice just feels wrong to me (aside from Heath Ledger, who I liked but it isn’t his voice I hear when I read Joker dialogue).
Howark Chakin’s original version of American Flagg… after a few years HC got bored with it and brought in other artists to ink his pencils. Then he brought in other artists to pencil it. Then he brought in other writers to write it and I quit buying it at that point because Howard’s art and writing were integral to the character and what other people produced was just garbage compared to the original.
Voice-wise, Cal Dodd will always be Wolverine. I love Hugh Jackman (especially without his shirt), but Dodd’s voice is the one I hear in my head to this day when I read the character.
Characterization-wise, I always preferred the aloof elegant Rei/Sailor Mars in the manga to her more annoying tsundere anime counterpart (and don’t get me started on her outright jerk dub personality). Her more mature attitude that was never nasty was a good counter to the others’ personalities and made her more interesting, at least to me.
When I read a DC comic I always hear Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamil, Tara Strong and Tim Daly as Batman, Joker, Harley and Superman. So I guess they are my favorite versions subconsciously because i do that without thinking. The same with X-Men animated series (90’s version) of Wolverine, Cyclops and Beast.
I prefer just about all the Young Justice animated show versions of characters (including their version of the DCU) to the NuDCU.
The Dini/Timm Batman & JLU Batman to just about all the other versions.
And Rex Smith Daredevil over Ben Affleck.
Psych! Just seeing if you were paying attention! Though Smith wasn’t bad with what he had to work with, I really enjoyed the Affleck Daredevil.
Rex Smith is awesome…
Englehart’s Green Lantern, Captain America, Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Defenders. Or for that matter, Night Man and Strangers. And Batman.
Gruenwald’s Quasar.
Starlin’s Thanos. And Warlock.
Karl Kesel’s Daredevil.
Martin Pasko’s Superman.
The original team’s Runaways.
As others have said, Bruce Timm’s Batman is and always will be the definitive version for me. As far as I’m conerned, his Batman: TAS is the best of all Bat-worlds. In a close second, his JLU is very close to my definitive Justice League, though Mark Waid and Alex Ross captured it more clearly for me in Justice. The DC Universe as a whole, though? Timm-verse every time. All of my own little efforts with my mods have pulled from that world, but I created my own version because I couldn’t find anything that really fit me:
http://bentongrey.wordpress.com/mods/
I’m not usually a fan of Emma Frost, but I liked her in Generation X. Mostly because her villainous nature was downplayed, and she displayed genuine concern for her students. Plus she and Banshee made a great couple.
And then Gen X started to suck, and it ended on her reverting to her old, bitchy ways that have remained up to the present. Sigh.
I tend to like the Dini version of characters. Particularly Batman.
Those animated versions of Batman always had an appreciable humanity about them. It was an interpretation that said, Yes, I’m Batman, but I’m not just throwing away Bruce Wayne. Batman without his more noble sentiments and, dare I say it, compassion, is just another violent psycho.
I always feel that too many authors show too much of an uncaring, unsympathetic hero. And believe it or not, Batman is a Hero. He is not an Anti-Hero, despite how some people like to cast him in that light. It is somewhat open to interpretation, but basically, a Hero is a ‘good guy’ and an anti-hero is a ‘bad guy’ in a good guy role. (Not to be confused with the role of the protagonist who are often, but not always, also the hero. Same goes for the antagonist.)
If Batman loses his humanity and morality, then he does become an anti-hero. Anti-hero Batman is not my preferred Batman, which brings me back to Paul Dini. I feel Paul Dini portrays my preferred humanized, heroic Batman most consistently.