Exceptions to the rule...

[Bored at 3:00AM]

In general, most superhero fans prefer the version of the character they were first exposed to when they were kids. So, if you grew up with a lighter, brighter Batman influenced by Adam West, you tend to prefer the character to be less serious, whereas if you were first exposed to the grim n' gritty Batman post-Frank Miller, that's the Batman you prefer. This is particularly evident in the various Flash and Green Lantern factions, who are each loyal to whomever held the mantle when they first got into the character, be it Barry or Wally, Hal, John or Kyle, and, most recently, Jessica.

However, there are exceptions to the rule. There are always characters out there that somehow don't fit into that idea.

For me, it's Lex Luthor. I grew up with the green and purple jumpsuited Luthor of the Legion of Doom who appeared in Challenge of the Super Friends back in the day, who later adopted that badass power armor from the Super Powers line.
e32673d107bfb908b3e169b6aedba4a3.jpg

I still adore this version of the character, but I fully acknowledge that the current billionaire entrepreneur version is vastly superior to the old power armored super villain version, particularly once they started incorporating more and more of his old "mad scientist" elements back into his character.


Are there any characters who are exceptions to the "when I first fell in love with them" rule for you?

[Tzigone]

In general, most superhero fans prefer the version of the character they were first exposed to when they were kids. So, if you grew up with a lighter, brighter Batman influenced by Adam West, you tend to prefer the character to be less serious, whereas if you were first exposed to the grim n' gritty Batman post-Frank Miller, that's the Batman you prefer. This is particularly evident in the various Flash and Green Lantern factions, who are each loyal to whomever held the mantle when they first got into the character, be it Barry or Wally, Hal, John or Kyle, and, most recently, Jessica.

I first started reading DC in 2014 or 2015 (read Marvel prior but had quit). I'd been familiar before through movies and Batman: TAS and Justice League and so forth. First exposure was probably Reeve movies or reruns of '70s WW - too young to really remember which. Saw '60s Batman later, once we had a satellite dish. But if was watching the first two seasons of Young Justice that made me interested enough to read fanfic, which made me discover Stephanie Brown, which made me check out '90s issues of Robin and I grew from there. So we'll call animated YJ my starting point? Kon, Jaime, and Bart are so different than their original selves. Vastly prefer the comic versions ('90s for the Kon and Bart, 2006 for Jaime) to their cartoon counterparts. Same could be said for toon Teen Titans. But I do like the comic versions I first read best. There was Wally - looked into old silver age Flash comics just for him, and fell in-love with Silver-Age Barry as my preferred Flash...but I do still prefer that Barry to modern Barry. Well, I like bronze age Batman better than the '90s one I first read. Early-Rebirth Superman more than the one I first read. Golden Age Joker much more than the one I first read (though I'm not a villain person). But yeah, first-read, first-loved wins over for most of mine. I can think of some that didn't make much impression that I liked later changes on, but none that I loved and then loved so much more on reading a different version later. Closest comes to Dick Grayson in Dixon years, then Dick Grayson in Wolfman/Perez (not just Wolfman) years, where I like both very different versions.

My first exposure to Lex actually was the movies, but I never cared for that. First one I got into was Lois & Clark, then JL. I much prefer the scientist version these days - businessman Lex is too LexGod for me and makes less and less sense the more any of evil deeds have been revealed President Luthor never should have happened). At a certain point it doesn't make sense anymore that anyone doesn't perceive him as he is. Worse, I really hate the "Lex should be good" thing that has been going strong for a while now. Even if he's debonair or sympathetic doesn't make any of the horrible things Lex did less horrible. But I'm not a fan of "sympathetic" villains anyway (I think they have about a two-adventure limit before I no longer have sympathy). Lex as a businessman in and of itself isn't a problem to me - it's the aspect he's way smarter than Superman and can manipulate everyone or that he's really a poor baby who wants to protect the world/be respected/etc. that bugs me. Earlier post-COIE Lex was still slimy - respectable at a glance, but easily seen rotten to anyone that spent personal time with him. Brilliant, but petty and vindictive, and sometimes losing control of his emotions and revealing himself. I liked that better.

[Gaius]

Introduced to the Green Lantern concept through the DCAU but I prefer Hal Jordan over Kyle Rayner and John Stewart.

Also introduced to Wonder Woman through the DCAU but vastly prefer the more compassionate version in the comics (Perez, Jimenez, Rucka, ectc) than the Xena/Artemis clone that was on the show.

[Lee Stone]

Dick Grayson/Robin - introduced through Super Friends and the '66 Batman show.
Prefer the Wolfman Titans' version more.

[Ascended]

Agreed on Dick Grayson; I first discovered him as Robin through Super Friends and Adam West, but Nightwing is superior in all ways. But since that's a pretty major change and we still have Robins running around I dunno if it counts.

For me, it's Superman. I started reading in the early 90's, and for a long time I was all about that post-Crisis version of Superman. Used to argue with pre-Crisis fans on the old DCMB worse than anything we see here. Then in the early 00's when the quality dropped, I dropped the books and grabbed some Golden Age collections to scratch my Superman itch. And those blew my mind. Then I started reading the Silver Age stuff. And in a real short amount of time I went from being "post-Crisis or bust" to the complete opposite.

Great idea for a thread, btw.

[Marvell2100]

Hawkman. I loved the Katar Hol from Hawkworld by Tim Truman and Alcatena. Prefer him over any version of Hawkman.

[superduperman]

I grew up with the Superman from the Donner movies and the eighties cartoons but I would say Smallville is probably one of the best versions of Superman. It's probably my second favorite version. If not tied for first. And it didn't come on until I was in my 20s.

[Icefan]

Barbara Gordon as I was introduced to her...

Batgirl.jpg

Barbara Gordon as I prefer her...

Oracle.jpg

[CellarDweller]

My first exposure to DC heroes was the Super Friends cartoon.


My faves were the Wonder Twins. I really prefer the versions from the recent maxi-series on Wonder Comics. The twins were portrayed as competent and dependable, and as two young adults who wanted to make a difference in life. While Zan was still less series than Jayna, he came across with better adult view, when compared to his TV counterpart. Jayna was always willing to challenge the adult heroes in the JLA, and with all these improvements, there was still a touch of sibling rivalry between them.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Barbara Gordon as I was introduced to her...

Batgirl.jpg

Barbara Gordon as I prefer her...

Oracle.jpg

Oh, absolutely. As much as I love the classic Batgirl, Oracle is a vastly superior and more inspiring character than yet another Bat-themed vigilante running around Gotham.

[Ascended]

Oh, absolutely. As much as I love the classic Batgirl, Oracle is a vastly superior and more inspiring character than yet another Bat-themed vigilante running around Gotham.

I agree so very much. Babs used to be important. Unique. Inspiring. I miss that.

She's not *bad* now that she's back as Batgirl, I didn't hate Simone's run, and I thought Burnside was fun. It was nice seeing Babs in action again, I admit. But I cannot think of her returning to Batgirl as a overall positive for the character, or the DCU.

[Gaius]

Generally introduced to, beyond pop culture osmosis, Batman through the Justice League cartoon and the Nolan films but I generally prefer a less dark take on the character more akin to Adam West/Brave and the Bold.

[BohemiaDrinker]

I don't think I follow "the rule".

Started reading at the end of pre-crisis, and yet, my favorite Blue Bettle is Jaime, fav bat-person is Cass and fav Green Lantern is Jo Mullein.

Actually, in general, I tend to favor the newer versions, with some exceptions (I love Connor, but he is no Ollie, and I didn't care for OYL newbie Aquaman).

[The no face guy]

In general, most superhero fans prefer the version of the character they were first exposed to when they were kids. So, if you grew up with a lighter, brighter Batman influenced by Adam West, you tend to prefer the character to be less serious, whereas if you were first exposed to the grim n' gritty Batman post-Frank Miller, that's the Batman you prefer. This is particularly evident in the various Flash and Green Lantern factions, who are each loyal to whomever held the mantle when they first got into the character, be it Barry or Wally, Hal, John or Kyle, and, most recently, Jessica.

However, there are exceptions to the rule. There are always characters out there that somehow don't fit into that idea.

For me, it's Lex Luthor. I grew up with the green and purple jumpsuited Luthor of the Legion of Doom who appeared in Challenge of the Super Friends back in the day, who later adopted that badass power armor from the Super Powers line.
e32673d107bfb908b3e169b6aedba4a3.jpg

I still adore this version of the character, but I fully acknowledge that the current billionaire entrepreneur version is vastly superior to the old power armored super villain version, particularly once they started incorporating more and more of his old "mad scientist" elements back into his character.


Are there any characters who are exceptions to the "when I first fell in love with them" rule for you?

I'll second that and add a few more...

Aquaman: Although they have gone back to the traditional uniform, I liked the hand hook look, with the long hair and beard far better. The superfriends orange and green jumpsuit with short cropped hair never appealed to me.

Red Arrow: I think the Roy Harper is a vastly better look than the Arsenal costume, and the traditional Speedy outfit, though I like the latter.

Donna Troy: I think her character has evolved quite a bit, since her Teen Titan years.

Starman: I thought Jack Knight was a vast improvement over the Golden age Starman.

Mr. Terrific: I feel the same way with Michael Holt, far better than the Golden age hero

I'm generally against replacement heroes, but if they don't have a big fan base, well then...

[sunofdarkchild]

With many of these characters I honestly have no idea what was the first version I was exposed to. Most of the time I'd assume it was something on television. With Batman either reruns of the Adam West show or reruns of BTAS. BTAS would still be my favorite version of Batman, but I think I was exposed to the 60s version first since that was a show my mother was willing to watch with me when I was in kindergarten.

With X-Men and Iron Man it was definitely their 90s animated series I saw first. Neither is anywhere close to my favorite version now. Spider-Man I think my first version was the Sam Raimi movies, which are definitely not my preffered Spider-Man. Give me The 70s and 80s comics, the Ultimate comics, and the 'Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon.

With Superman I have no idea if it was STAS, Lois and Clark, the comics from that time, or collections of older comics we had which I saw or read first. Triangle era is my preferred Superman for the world-building, large cast, and tight continuity, but I enjoy all the other versions I listed and others like Smallville.

Robin, I preferred Tim Drake even though my first experience with the concept was Dick from the 60s show and BTAS.

There are characters I like now who I read specifically because I don't like their 2010s incarnations. It was only in the aftermath of the Nu52 that I became a fan of Stephanie Brown and even later that I became a fan of the Linda Danvers Supergirl. I only started reading about those characters because I really did not like what was being done with Barbara Gordon or Kara Zor-El.