Rank the Prequel Comic Book Series!

[ShadowDog]

IT IS TV LAW THAT ANY COMIC BOOK TV SERIES MUST BE A PREQUEL!

 

Given that, let's rank the current ones in order of awesome:

 

1) Arrow The gritty, dark tone has been done to death in comics but it actually works. The baddies of the week are generally good and the Big Bads have all been excellent. The action is always fantastic. Only real problem is that Laurel is super annoying.

 

2) The Flash Light where Arrow is dark. Has been as well written and acted as it's parent show and seems to be even more tightly plotted than that one. Also nice to have a show with this writing team not using the flashback formula. Only real issue is Iris is boring and annoying, a deadly combination.

 

3) Gotham Well written and acted but it's all tease. Unlike the other two shows we're not getting any main hero and we never will. That's gonna get old fast. Especially with even more comic book shows coming soon. As good as the writing and acting is, i can see this dropping out of my rotation if Super Girl and this second Arrow spinoff are awesome.

[R.CAllen]

I haven't seen any of these and probably am not going to any time soon and so am probably wrong about this assessment (even though by all accounts the Flash show is heavy on the fun and the choice of Rome's Bruno Heller as showrunner for Gotham makes me wonder sometimes if I'm not missing out on something) and so am probably wrong about this assessment but I think you mean "origin story" and not "prequel". Well, maybe prequel for Gotham but the other two don't sound like prequels to me.

 

Semi-related pet peeve :any tv serieses which feel the need to start at the absolute begin of the beginning. All of the Trek spinoffs get this wrong, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. got it wrong (just start with the secret agents on the airplane, stupid tv show, I don't need a half hour telling me how and why and who Clark Gregg decided should be there), and even a lot of shows that manage not to do this still think they need to have some stupid character have it be their first day at a new job for the pilot or whatever. Stop it tv shows - stop doing this ill-defined thing that for all I know might be the only efficient tried and true method of starting a show in this day and age.

 

[edit - oops sorry forgot to rank the series

 

1) The Flash - there's time travel?!? Gorilla Grodd? Half the Justice League is already on it? Everyone on the nerd internet likes it so far but I'm going to reserve judgment until Ralph & Sue Dibny show up or I get really bored whichever comes first.

 

2) Gotham - there's not a whole lot of interest in stories about Batman from before he was Batman or stories about Batman-adjacent places in the same way there was about Superman from before he was Superman and Superman-adjacent places. Like, before they even did Smallville there were multiple long lasting comics about the adventures of Superman when he was a boy and they did a Superboy show in the 80s/early90s too right? My point is that Superman before he was Superman and Superman-adjacent places are really exciting and interesting places for stories to happen and we know this because even before the big money came along people were already raring to tell those stories, there were tons and tons of Krypton stories for example (I HAVE THE GREATEST IDEA FOR THE OPENING TO A KRYPTON TV SHOW!!11!) but there's a real dearth of material for what Gotham is like before Batman. I think if you ask any random Batman fan what their favourite part of Batman stories is they'd say Batman so doing a story where Batman isn't even Batman yet doesn't sound like a great brainwave to me. P.S. pretty sure Brainwave will show up on The Flash show by Season 2

 

3) Arrow - it looks and sounds like a Batman show in the same way The Flash show looks and sounds like a Superman show. Why have they spent years and years making what the trailers and pictures and news articles from comic news sites makes it seem like a very Nolan-y thing? I don't know you guys I like the Longbow Hunters as much as the next nerd but it seems to me to be that the story of a guy who fights bad guys while dressed up as Robin Hood lends itself more to fun fun fun than dark dark dark.

 

4) Supergirl - again, probably not going to check this out but of all the upcoming comicbookseries it probably has the best chance actually factually the Netflix ones have the best shot of all at grabbing me in tho

 

5) Constantine - hahahaha are you even serious

 

6) iZombie - I hope it runs for a bajillion years and lets Roberson & Allred buy as many houses and hotels as they want but next-to-zero interest here for me in this

 

7) Lucifer - nope

 

8) Preacher - I think the number one obstacle now to the presentation of a certain very special character isn't what he looks like but his age. But, yeah, no this is probably a pass too.

 

9) Powers - this looks horrible. I like Sharlto Copley, I like Noah Taylor, I like Michelle Forbes, I like Eddie Izzard, I like the other guy in the trailer that I recognized, but this is still a pass plus I think you have to watch it on a microwave or a CDplayer or something.

 

10) Walking Dead and Walking Dead : Deep Space Nine - no interest in the main show but a spin-off with Kim Dickens which is about the initial days of the outbreak peaks my interest peeks my int piques my intere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyfdcoocex8 p.s. yes I know I just said above that I don't like it when shows needs to start at the start of the start whatever man I'm large I contain multitudes who could have guessed that literally all of pop culture would decide to showcase my favourite stuff and by the time that process turned into overdrive I would have lost all interest in seeing what that side of things had to offer

 

11) Agents of S.H.H. T.H.E.B.A.B.Y. I.S. S.L.E.E.P.I.N.G. - if you ask Marvel people what they like about Marvel they'd probably say something like "the characters!" and as much as I respect the efforts of the last episode I saw to duplicate the Marvel feel (there was amnesia, unrequited love, aliens talking stilted, conspiracies, fake deaths, superpowers-and-feelings-being-the-same-thing) they still haven't quite figured out the characters here and they hamstrung themselves from the getgo by deliberately deciding to just invent nearly all of these characters from scratch. One guy they don't know what to with has brain damage, sure, one guy they don't know what to do with is a traitor and now missing, sure, a couple of them they don't know what to do with are maybe undercover doublecrossers, sure, they decided at the last minute to make Skype into a minor Bendis character from the 00s, sure. Agents of S.P.A.G.H.E.T.T.I. T.H.R.O.W.N. A.T. T.H.E. W.A.L.L.

 

12) Daredevil - I kind of wish Daredevil and Nightcrawler were best friends.

[Driver]

Apparently the Orphan Bkack comic just shocked the hell out of everyone by selling 500k copies

[ShadowDog]

You're right actually. I meant Origin Story. I share your pet peeve on that.

 

I completely forgot about Constantine because of how much it sucked. I didn't forget about Agents of Shield but didn't include it because of how much it sucks.

[NumberSix]

1. The Flash. Is SO. Utterly. Outstanding. It's the best thing with a DC logo on it in years.

2. Gotham is dark and goofy at the same time, like Grand Guignol clowns. The early episodes were basically CSI: Schumacher, but it's grown by leaps and bounds.

3. Walking Dead is now on probation due to stepped-up grossness and meanness and demented preacher character.

4. Constantine isn't great, but it has occasional moments that get it right.

5. Agents of SHIELD has even fewer right moments, but I keep hanging on because what if they're building really slowly toward something watchable just like they did in season 1? They probably aren't, but I can dream. Also, May is still cool.

I've only see one episode of Arrow because it was a Flash crossover, but I have season 1 on the shelf waiting for me. Might try iZombie sometime if only because of Rob Thomas, even though it just sounds like Pushing Daisies for hipster teens, but the first issue of the comic didn't grab me way back when, and I tend to think there was a reason it was canceled. I'm sure I'll give Daredevil a chance despite the unremarkable trailers. The Powers trailer looked ten times worse, and I'm wondering if Sharlto Copley remembers how not to overact.

[Darth Lohr]

I'm not sure you even mean origin story. If so, I'm not sure how all of these shows fit that description. I mean, there is a beginning. The first episode or two pretty covers that in most cases. That's typical of many shows. The people of Oceanic Flight 815 weren't already on the island for five years when we met them. We didn't join Scully and Mulder eight years into their partnership. So, of the shows we're talking about, I'd say that only Gotham is really an origin tale. Arrow is actually a bit LOST-like, in that we learn more about the past as we move forward from the show's start. Flash's origin was done by the end of the first episode (actually, partly covered before he even had his own series). Constantine is in no way an origin story, as John has been doing this for a long time already when the show begins. SHIELD? Well, we meet new characters in the first episode, but it's also a spinoff from the movies. We know what SHIELD is (or thought we did) from Day One and most of the main characters have been agents for years.

 

 

Anywho, I like (or love) all of those shows.

 

1) Arrow - Dex, I could not agree more with you about Laurel. She is annoying as hell, as has basically served as a convenient plot device to be whatever they feel they need for the current arc. A love interest who can possibly get in danger? Check. A raging addict to feel sorry for? Check. An agree D.A. who somehow still has a job & hates vigilantes? Check. A (very, very unconvincing) superhero/vigilante to join Team Arrow? Check. Ugh. I so, so wish they had killed her off and kept her sister. Still, the rest is good stuff!

 

2) Constantine - Watched the first episode with little expectations and was hooked halfway through. Some bitch about him not being enough of a bastard, but I think he's had his moments and, from what I've read of the New 52, is fairly faithful to that version of the character. I will be very sad if this show doesn't stick around.

 

3) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Has steadily shown progress, especially now that it's allowed to pave the way for the future MCU, instead of having to walk in its shadow. It has some strong characters and got rid of it's weakest (Ward, who's much more tolerable as an occasional villain than regular member). The show has been dealing with big stuff, but it would be nice if they could try to scale back some, return to the organization's roots a bit, and give us some dramatic spy/espionage missions. That sort of thing can (and has) worked well on the small screen.

 

4) Flash - Has had a strong start and could certainly move up my list of favorites, especially if the last episode is any indication.

 

5) Gotham - Too much Penguin and way too much Fish Mooney. The show would do well to simply focus on Gordon more. Not to say they should cut out Bruce and Alfred (I have enjoyed their inclusion more than I thought I would), but the time spent on Penguin and Mooney (who I get less interested in the more I see of them) is time that could be much better spent by going to Gordon and Bullock.

 

 

*Post-Six edit: Oh, if we're including TWD, it would probably top the list. However, I agree that's it's been slipping and it holds that position due to overall success. I watched iZombie's first episode. Not bad. Will watch it again if it's convenient, but probably won't go out of my way next time. Looking forward to Daredevil, cautiously optimistic.

[R.CAllen]

I forgot about Agent Carter. That was a lot of fun. I was dissapointed when neither Enver Gokaj or DaughterOnCoachFromHowIMetYourMother turned out to be secret soviets but all in all a real good show. They should do another season (oh man what if they brought in bradley whitford to play the new boss just like in that dvd short I never saw) and have it really be the Avengers (Jarvis = Steed, Peggy = Peel, Howard = Mother) and make it more globetrotting. just trot all over them globes.

 

 

I'm not sure you even mean origin story. If so, I'm not sure how all of these shows fit that description. I mean, there is a beginning. The first episode or two pretty covers that in most cases. That's typical of many shows. The people of Oceanic Flight 815 weren't already on the island for five years when we met them. We didn't join Scully and Mulder eight years into their partnership. So, of the shows we're talking about, I'd say that only Gotham is really an origin tale. Arrow is actually a bit LOST-like, in that we learn more about the past as we move forward from the show's start. Flash's origin was done by the end of the first episode (actually, partly covered before he even had his own series). Constantine is in no way an origin story, as John has been doing this for a long time already when the show begins. SHIELD? Well, we meet new characters in the first episode, but it's also a spinoff from the movies. We know what SHIELD is (or thought we did) from Day One and most of the main characters have been agents for years.

I know I know. It's not super well defined for me what it means for a show to start too early but it's the sort of thing that I know it when I see it. I like that the original Star Trek begins (both times!) with just the crew out on another adventure. I like that The West Wing doesn't start with their first day in office. I don't like that the Community pilot was Jeff's first day (how else could they have done it, though? Not sure. A lot of sitcoms are really good at just throwing you into a situation ... a dare I say it ... a comedic situation but sometimes that can't happen because everyone needs to meet for the first time or whatever) or that instead of this just being Coulson's regular team we had to see him convincing them to join him (and, again, how else could they have done it? Coulson's dead from the movie so it's not like they can just have him flying around in a plane with his old buddies sans introduction).

 

Just real important 4am question time here between me and the Internet

 

Funny shows and kids stuff tend to do this better for me than others, I think. Broad City doesn't start with the two of them meeting up and becoming friends or moving to New York; the whole appeal of the show lies in that they've been friends forever and have already set roots down in NY. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia isn't about them buying or inheriting the bar or how the gang got together. Brooklyn 99 has the pilot be the introduction of Andre Braugher (could they have done that different? The Office and Parks and Rec didn't do it that way) and Archer starts out with just another day-in-the-life for those people. Adventure Time, too.

 

The Americans has it be their antagonist's first day on the job and in their lives; it's like the show's not about these secret agents just alone but more about how for the very first time they're in actual danger of being discovered. Scandal ahs it be whatshername's first day on the job but that didn't feel necessary enough to me. They could have totally done it a different way and it's not like Gray's Anatomy where having it be that character's first day on the job really set everything up (unless.... what if whathisname Doctor McSexuallyExploitedForHisLooks ..... Doctor McDreamy what if it had been HIS first day on the job instead of Meredith's?). Rebels could have so easily just started with Ezra as the youngest and newest guy on the team; that's an exception maybe to what feels like a general rule to me that kids shows don't really have beginnings/origins in the same way other shows do.

[Darth Lohr]

I think the new Spider-Man movie should be the origin of how Peter figures out how to masturbate without getting stuck to himself.

[NumberSix]

I forgot about Agent Carter. That was a lot of fun.

Whoops! Forgot that one. That'd be at #1½ on my list.

[R.CAllen]

I think the new Spider-Man movie should be the origin of how Peter figures out how to masturbate without getting stuck to himself.

 

 

That's kind of what James Cameron's treatment was.

 

[edit : thanks Six, thanks a lot, just thanks a ton, YOU'RE NOT INTERRUPTING AT ALL]

[ShadowDog]

N6, since you love The Flash I think you'd really enjoy the 3-4 Arrow season 2 episodes that Barry Allen appears in. They serve as an interesting prequel to his series. We get several episodes of what Barry is like before he gets his powers. They take it all the way up to his accident.

 

Later, while he's still in his coma, we get to meet Cisco and Caitlin for an episode but while that has a few series teasers that's optional watching. I do think you'd like the Barry Allen episodes though.

 

I'd completely forgotten about Constantine because it was so bad. I know DL loves it and that's cool. For me the actor just wasn't capable of selling the badassedness of the written dialogue for him. He talks tough because he's written that way but the actor just doesn't have the edge to pull it off. But that's just me.

[Darth Lohr]

I did enjoy Agent Carter. How much? Hmm...I'd say less than Flash (#4) and more than Gotham (#5).

 

It's splitting hairs, really, since I watch all of those shows faithfully.

 

*

 

Six, I agree with Dex. Arrow, as a whole, certainly has a different feel, but Barry is Barry (as are the rest from Team Flash) when we meet them on Arrow. You'd enjoy those episodes - so there's some incentive to bump that show up on your waiting list! http://www.thegreenlanterncorps.com/forum/blackandgreen/smilies/greenarrow.gif

[NumberSix]

At the very least, I can go catch Barry's eps on Netflix and then come back to the rest of Arrow another time. I appreciate the recommendations, guys -- I actually love that idea.

[edit : thanks Six, thanks a lot, just thanks a ton, YOU'RE NOT INTERRUPTING AT ALL]

Happy to help! You were on your way to an interesting theory, vis a vis contrasting "origin story" versus the in media res approach, but then you started talking Grey's Anatomy and I started checking my watch while I was reading.

[The Human Torch]

I'll watch The Flash and Arrow when Barry pulls a cross world run and gets Welling's post S10 Smallville Superman to aid them in a battle against something. Once that happens, it's truly DC and I'm totally in.

[ShadowDog]

You're missing out.

[NumberSix]

I'd rather see the Flash team up with Gossip Girl than see Tom Welling come within 1000 miles of Central City.

 

The Flash was one of the first heroes I followed when I started collecting comics at age 6. I still have Barry's issues #263-350 and the first 202 issues of Wally's series (including the crossover one-offs #0 and #1,000,000). So I'll admit some bias here. Smallville may have paved the way for Arrow and The Flash, but it was first and foremost a WB soap opera. Even during the seasons when it was working, nothing about it ever excited me as much as The Flash does. It's old-school, pre-grim-and-gritty DC heroing done right.

 

Well, okay, sometimes Iris is the new Lana. But still.

[R.CAllen]

Happy to help! You were on your way to an interesting theory, vis a vis contrasting "origin story" versus the in media res approach

 

What? No. That's a different thing. Lost opens in media res (augh no two different reasons for italicizing COLLIDING TOGETHER IN ONE SENTENCE) with Jack on the beach but the whole pilot episodes count as an origin story, I think. Here, let me explain and pay very close attention : Gray's Anatomy is an 80-minute film directed by Steven Soderbergh in 1996 involving a dramatized monologue by actor/writer Spalding Gray. The title is taken from the classic human anatomy textbook, Gray's Anatomy, originally written by Henry Gray in 1858. The monologist film is about Spalding Gray, the main character, who is diagnosed with a rare ocular condition called "Macular pucker". After hearing all of his options, such as Christian Science, Native American sweat lodges, and the "Elvis Presley of psychic surgeons" to name a few, and the dangers of what surgery could bring, he decides to go through the other forms of medicine provided. This in turn takes him on a journey around the world and steers him away from surgery more so because of religious reasons, often in a dramatic and humorous fashion.

 

P.S. I expect that the very moment I press "Add Reply" a post from you will appear, by magic, at the exact same time I post my post but somehow before mine. EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT ME THIS.

[ShadowDog]

DENIED!