The 5 Best And Worst Comic Book Character Reboots

Whether you prefer to read your comics in the comic strip section of the Sunday paper or after picking up a new edition during Free Comic Book Day, we can all agree that you probably have a favorite character. While some favor the classics like Calvin and Hobbes or Dilbert, others can't get enough of Matt Murdock in Daredevil or Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's take on The Joker in The Killing Joke.

While comic book characters can stand the test of time, their looks often become outdated as artistic styles and trends evolve and change to reflect the current times. Sometimes, an old-school character needs a fresh stroke of the pen to bring him or her back to life.

A character redesign can have two outcomes: either the artist stays true to the character, while giving them a more modern spin that works well, or they miss the mark, making us wonder why they attempted to fix something that wasn't broken.

We gathered together a list of character redesigns you just have to see. Some are bad, and some are worse. Others make you want to stack up all the issues to keep these characters forever. Here are the five best and worst comic character reboots.

The Good: Bazooka Joe

No childhood is complete without having popped big bubbles while chewing on a sugary piece of Bazooka bubble gum. And one of the best parts of buying the gum was reading the mini comic strip that came on the wrapper that featured the face of the brand, Bazooka Joe.

Now Bazooka Candy Brands collaborated with animation artists in a contest to give the iconic character a makeover for this generation. Fans voted the winning design by Victor Intrasombat of Clockwork Animation, which shows the classic character rocking a pair of Adidas look-alike sneakers, a different hairstyle, backwards hat, and overall modern look. What remains the same is the white T-shirt and jeans and, of course, that eye patch.

The original Bazooka Joe was created by Wesley Morse in the 1950s, a design which was also selected through a contest. The new Joe looks more like a real boy compared with the baby face of the original cartoon, so we vote this one as one of the better reboots we've seen.

The Better: Lex Luthor

We all know that Jesse Eisenberg is playing the legendary Superman villain Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but did you know that the character was originally a mad scientist? Lex Luthor tried to take Superman down with strange scientific devices when he was first introduced to the comics. It wasn't until John Bryne's 1986 Man of Steel redesign that transformed the villain from a slightly crazy scientist to successful businessman.

Luthor is now known as the evil head of a corporation, but he uses his money and position to fund science-based technologies to defeat his nemesis. The makeover helped shape the character into who he is today. For that reason, we approve of this redesign.

The Bad: Electric Superman

DC Comics blew it with one of the world's most iconic comic book characters — Superman. How could they drop the ball on such an icon? By making him electric, that's how.

Luckily, this electric Superman reboot was back in the '90s, so we will forgive the artists for trying to experiment with something new. The story surrounding the electric Superman comes from the second round of Superman-Red/Superman-Blue storyline that appeared in 1998.

Listen, you could either sit through a mind-numbing, pseudo-scientific explanation of why Superman all of a sudden got his electric blue suit and new powers, or you could just accept the fact that DC was trying to make a quick buck through a pretty transparent publicity stunt. Trust us, you're better off this way.

His costume and powers fell flat simply because he just didn’t look like the Superman we know and love. Sure, he had an “S” on his chest, but that was pretty much the only resemblance. Fans want to see the blue suit and red cape, not a living discotheque.

The Worst: Sexy Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn first made her appearance in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series back in 1992, but a year later the character was finally introduced in the DC Comics' Batman comic books. With her New York accent and devilish grin, Harley Quinn originally wore a red and black jester outfit. Since The New 52, Joker's sidekick has been getting a sexier makeover in numerous redesigns. Her sexiest look includes a corset with lots of cleavage, tiny shorts, thigh-high boots, and lots of skin for DC Comics' latest Suicide Squad comic book reboot.

There is no denying that this character has over-sexualization written all over her, making this character reboot one of the worst ones we've seen. Because she is an iconic character, DC Comics didn't have to bare all to make this character still relevant.

The Best: Archie Comics

So far we've seen some positive tweaks to our favorite comic book characters, as well as some pretty bad fails. But of course, we wanted to save the best for last. Our favorite on the list has to go to the Archie Comics Archie #1 reboot from writer Mark Waid and artist Fiona Staples in honor of the series' 75th anniversary. We couldn't be more excited to see the relaunch of one of the best comic series featuring lead character Archie and his friends Betty, Veronica and the rest of the gang. With Waid on board, the characters will stay true to who they are, only there will be a more modern, fresh storyline to appeal to new audiences.

Staples redesigned the characters to resemble high schoolers today, with more realistic features compared with the cartoony look of the classic version. Betty is wearing ripped jeans and a crop top, a fashion choice of the times, whereas Archie looks like that cool charmer girls can't resist with his sly grin and guitar on one shoulder.

If you go back to the original artwork, Archie has come a long way. He started off as a nerd in the 1940s. Since cartoonist Bob Montana didn't know much about teens, he created to the characters to pretty much look like adults that attended high school.

It wasn't until the '80s when Archie and gang would finally get their iconic look from Dan DeCarlo (who took over in the '50s). With its more modern, colorful look and funny storylines, Archie comics was in its prime.

Then, in 2007, the comic book series underwent a reboot which left it with a drastically different look. The characters looked more like Barbies and less like the adorable cartoons we grew up with.

While the design of the new Archie reboot does mirror these more lifelike characteristics, they are much easier on the eye, and resemble characters we see in video games.

We wouldn't expect less since the series has the best artist in the industry on its team.

Photo: Sam Howzit | Flickr

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