Spend any amount of time on the internet, and you’ll find hundreds of people who misinterpret the influences of a pop culture work with “ripoffs.” ‘Star Wars’ is a ripoff of ‘Flash Gordon, so the logic goes; ‘Star Trek’ is a ripoff of ‘Captain Video’, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ is a ripoff of ‘Friends’, ‘My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic’ is a ripoff of “Apocalypse Now: The Director’s Cut.’ Still, today’s Retro Review reminds me that there are those premises and characters who ARE just photocopies of other characters, and yet it can be possible to see that knockoff done right. Alan Moore’s ‘Supreme’ serves as tribute, analysis and critique of Silver Age Superman stories, and as such, makes for a fascinating read, leading to today’s serial-numbers-filed-off query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) reminds Faithful Spoilerites that a knockoff can be a good thing; after all, Batman’s creation was a calculated attempt to make another Superman, asks: What not-entirely-original bit of pop culture is the best example of a knockoff done right?
6 Comments
Batman
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They started off as this loose parody of a combination of favorite comics of the time (X-Men for “teenage mutant” and Daredevil for “ninja”) and evolved into something special, as well as spawning a whole slew of knockoffs all their own.
I also have to say Astro City for being so beautifully well done, taking so many often obvious homages of well known characters and making this whole compelling world with twists and turns that set it apart from the source materials.
The Prisoner
Star Wars is pretty good example. It took ideas from several places and mashed them together while adding some original ideas. 40 years into it and looks like it worked quite well.
The Venture Bros. works pretty well as a knockoff/satire of 70’s & 80’s Hanna Barbera-style adventure cartoons.
Irredeemable.