With the latest Spider-Man animated Spider-Man, “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” concluding its first season recently, this would be the 11th Spider-Man animated series. Now, I like Spider-Man, but I find it annoying that Spider-Man has gotten several animated series and other comic book characters have gotten far fewer animated adaptions and, in some cases, have gotten no animated adaptions.
I think comic book characters who either never got a spotlight in animation or got a very slight spotlight deserve a chance to shine in animation. Characters like Captain America and Thor only got their own animated series in the 1960s and those barely count, they seem more like motion comics than an animated series. Characters like Wonder Woman, Flash and Daredevil never got their own animated series, Wonder Woman got 2 direct to video animated movies with a starring role, Flash got one to my knowledge and Daredevil has been relegated to guest appearances in animation.
All of these characters deserve better in animation. Flash has one of the best rogues’ galleries in comics. Thor and Wonder Woman have interesting takes on ancient mythology, along with their own pathos. Heck, Wonder Woman is the most famous female comic book character of all time, she deserves a bigger spotlight in animation. Daredevil is one of the most consistently well-written characters in Marvel comics, with several iconic stories and he has never gotten an animated series.
Both Captain America and Daredevil have almost gotten animated series, which ultimately never panned out. I understand why some characters are easier to do in animation than others: Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, and the X-Men, tend to be more marketable than other heroes. But the fact that Daredevil, Captain America, Flash and Thor comics were not as popular as Spider-Man or Batman means the creators on those titles can take greater risks than the micromanaged “A-list’’ comic books.
I will say it is annoying that we get a million versions of Spider-Man’s or Batman’s rogues galleries and supporting casts, but characters like Foggy Nelson, Karen Page, Bullseye and Elektra have never been adapted to animation, to my knowledge. Captain America and Thor villains and supporting characters get the occasional guest role in an Avengers cartoon, but they hardly ever get an animated series of their own. Flash and Wonder Woman villains get to have appearances in Justice League cartoons or Batman Brave and the Bold, but outside of something like Justice League: Flashpoint and the first season of Creature Commandos, hardly any of these villains have been given a starring role in animation. Wonder Woman and Flash’s supporting cast is usually limited to appearances in various direct-to-DTV animated films.
Even some characters who have had animated series in the past have never had a spotlight in a while. Green Lantern had one animated series to tie in with his movie, but that series ended over 10 years ago and outside of a few direct-to-video animated films, he never got another spotlight in animation. The Fantastic Four got 3 animated series, but the last one ended almost 20 years ago. I will say Batman, Superman and X-Men are not as overexposed as Spider-Man (there was a sizeable gap between their latest animated series and their previous one), but they have gotten more shots at an animated series than most other comic characters, their supporting cast and rogues gallery have appeared in animation more often than other comic book characters’ villains and supporting characters.
I know Daredevil and Captain America have some pretty dark and serious stories, but that should be less of an issue in the streaming era. Really, I think more animated content with some of these less-used superheroes could help boost their profiles, even if characters like Thor, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Flash and Daredevil have found success in live-action adaptions.
There is also comic book series not based on DC and Marvel superheroes. You have some amazing comic book series like Fables and Saga that are not as well known as the major DC and Marvel heroes, but they tell interesting stories that would not be in the wheelhouse of the major DC and Marvel superheroes. The only adaption of Fables we saw was the Telltale Game in 2013, which at least proved it can work outside of the comics. However, we have recently seen an adaption of the Image series Invincible, and it looks like we are seeing an animated adaptation of the Image Comics series “Nights’’ in the near future. Granted an animated adaption of the comic book “Bone”, by Jeff Smith was killed in the developed stage, but hopefully, we will see more comic books not based on a major Marvel or DC superhero get a spotlight soon. Regardless of whether its an overlooked Marvel or DC superheroes, or a more experimental non-superhero title, it would be nice for different comic books to get a spotlight in animation.
