As many internet movie review will tell you: The newest thing is often heralded as the Greatest Thing Evar! By contrast, then, sometimes properties that were well-regarded in their time are retroactively labeled as “overrated” or have their excellence overshadowed by the excellence of that which came later. In college, I had a friend who hated The Beatles because “they sound just like everybody else”, mistaking the group’s influence on the modern music scene for being derivative of it. By the same token, Neil Gaiman’s ‘Sandman’ is seldom discussed these days without a caveat of “It’s not as good as the fanboys of the 90s all claimed it was”, a sentiment with which I heartily disagree, leading us to today’s query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) notes that, for some reason, ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ seems somehow immune to this phenomenon, which is weird considering how very 1980s-punk-dystopia is tends to be, asking: What series, book or movie of the past do you think is unfairly judged in retrospect?
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Its not widely judged or anything, but I’ve heard quite a few of complaints about Claremonts X-Men. “Its too wordy and long winded” is the complaint. They are wrong, its the best X-Men run ever.
The Acclaim-run of Magnus, Robot Fighter written by Tom Peyer is mentioned by few and normally not positively. Partly this is due to the Valiant fans & speculators hating that sales were so low on all the Acclaim titles. Partly because the Valiant fans & speculators hating the line-wide changes. Partly because it is set in modern times and not 4000 CE. The succeeding runs (Acclaim’s Unity 2000, Dark Horse, Dynamite) show no love for this incarnation.
Acclaim’s Magnus is fun. Twisting elements of the Terminator, the you-are-what-you-hate trope, and more. It is not perfect. But go binge-read the Gold Key run and then the Valiant run. The changes in the Acclaim run will feel necessary.
Star Trek: Original Series
It doesn’t have the special effects, or the make-up we have now. Kirk overacts.
Shut up and watch some good storytellin’ you pissant!