Line #19 TheyChangedItNowItSucks/ComicBooks


1	'''Note''': This article lists examples which take place within fandoms, mostly involving over-reaction about minor changes. It's '''not''' about the opinion of Website/TVTropes as to whether a change is for the worse. [=TVTropes=] doesn't have opinions.
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3	* Many ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' fans weren't happy with the removal of Marco's iconic "idiot teenagers with a death wish" line from ''The Invasion'''s ComicBookAdaptation.
4	* The ''ComicBook/New52'' relaunch got "They changed it now it sucks" backlash ''before release''.
5	** As noted by coverage at the San Diego Comic Con, this was mostly due to bad advertising where the main blurbs are "see, we're going back to how it used to be" (aggravating contemporary fans, who weren't reading when it was ''how it used to be'') and not giving out details people actually wanted that weren't very spoiler-oriented (Was Tim Drake still ComicBook/{{Robin}} in his past? What happens to Stephanie Brown? Did you really just say Ma and Pa Kent are ''both'' dead? Does [[ComicBook/TheFlash Wally West]] exist at all? Why does this feel all Elseworlds-ish?? Etc.)
6	** Changes to ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} get a lot of this. Barbara Gordon being uncrippled and deaged while wiping the other Batgirls from history was this. Of course her being crippled in the first place got much the same reaction years prior.
7	** There was some controversy surrounding the decision to retcon ComicBook/{{Cyborg}} into being a founding member of the [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]], with some fans angered by what they saw as mucking around with two teams' history for the sake of [[TokenMinority diversity]] in the League.
8	** A small change, but getting rid of Mister Terrific's "Fair Play" jacket was universally despised for getting rid of something that made Mister Terrific unique.
9	** The alterations to Tim Drake are heavily criticized by fans. Pre-boot, he was an intelligent, nice guy AudienceSurrogate who [[KidDetective figured out Batman's identity at an early age]] and became Robin to [[MoralityPet save Bruce from himself]] in the wake of Jason's death. The new Tim is an arrogant, friendless gymnast who became Batman's sidekick because he wanted a challenge and endangered his family in his failed attempt to prove himself without ever having figured out Batman's identity.
10	** ComicBook/WonderWoman's [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2011 New 52 revamp]] initially to be got this reaction, the general consensus being that the coolest thing about it would be watching the fan's reactions. The first two issues were met with massive acclaim and were extremely strong sellers though. It's been said that it successfully got readers not normally interested in Wonder Woman to check it out. One change in particular that upset many fans was the fact that Diana is apparently Zeus's daughter when before it was key that she had no father and Zeus had no part in her creation. It doesn't help that her mother is Ares' daughter meaning Zeus is now Diana's great-grandfather and her dad.
11	* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'': Back in 2009 DC took steps to correct several issues which had plagued [[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 her Post-Crisis title]], like excessive, disturbing fanservice. Artist Jamal Igle started to drawing bike shorts under Supergirl's skirt, which led to fans [[http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com.es/2009/06/what-more-bike-shorts-talk.html complaining]] [[http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com.es/2009/07/one-last-bike-shorts-post.html loudly]], to the point that Newsrama and other comic sites echoed the "controversy".
12	* The [[http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/09/14/amanda-waller-skinny-thin-reboot/ announcement of slimming up the full-figured Amanda Waller]] resulted in a lot of fans crying foul as they consider her figure to be an integral part of her charm ("Her nickname's 'The Wall'. That's not a wall, that's a fencepost."). Like other characters post-New 52, Waller also found herself significantly de-aged, which also earned criticisms as the original Amanda Waller was a middle-aged widow with grown children.
13	* James Robinson's run on ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' got this reaction, mainly because of his decision to focus on seven second-stringers: Batman (Dick Grayson), ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy, Jesse Quick, Jade, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, Starman, and Congorilla, rather than on the "real" Justice League (defined by those who complain as either all A-Listers or as whichever team they grew up reading about). Robinson himself is aware of it, and has made it known that he considers this league as "real" as any other, yet this did little to stop the sheer amount of complaining on DC's official boards.
14	* Some fans of the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel line of comics are pretty clear about their opinion of the Ultimate Comics line: because it takes place after Ultimatum and as a result of it, all the stories in it are complete garbage and the people who likes it are bribed/tasteless/morons.
15	** Averted however, with Ultimate Reed Richards' FaceHeelTurn and reemergence as supervillain "The Maker". The Ultimate Comics storyline depicting this was met with praise from critics and fans alike, and The Maker is widely considered to be one of the best things to come out of the Ultimate Universe.
16	** Also averted with ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'', which remained popular and well received, even after Peter Parker was killed and Miles Morales became the new Spider-Man. Like the Maker, he's considered one of the best things to come out of the Ultimate Universe, to the point that he was officially brought into the main Marvel Universe after the Ultimate Universe was destroyed. He's made appearances in cartoons and other merchandise, and even has [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse his own movie]]. BreakoutCharacter doesn't even begin to describe it.
17	* The initial reaction to Creator/BrianMichaelBendis' controversial revamp of the ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' franchise, where he killed off longtime members ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}, [[ComicBook/AntMan Ant-Man]], and ComicBook/TheVision, and had Scarlet Witch go insane. The subsequent decision to add characters like ComicBook/SpiderMan, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, Echo, ComicBook/SpiderWoman, ComicBook/JessicaJones, ComicBook/LukeCage and ComicBook/IronFist to the team was also controversial amongst many old-school purists. However, Bendis' revamp of the franchise proved massively successful, at least from a financial standpoint.
18	** To put it into perspective, before Bendis took over, the Avengers were barely selling well enough to maintain one title. By the time his run ended, the franchise was popular enough to support no less than ''three'' different titles (''Avengers'', ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'', and ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers'').
19	* While Brazilian comic ''ComicBook/MonicasGang'' is frequently accused of making unnecessary changes as any other long-running comic, complete with a [[SpinoffBabies Spinoff]] [[NotAllowedToGrowUp Teenagers]] manga, there was once a good in-universe example: Penadinho (in English, ''Bug-a-Boo'') stars various stock monsters. One comic had the title character, a BedsheetGhost, coming by his FrankensteinsMonster friend, Frank, who is lamenting how the creature of ''Film/MaryShelleysFrankenstein'' looked. Then Frank reminds Bug-a-Boo of ''Film/Ghost1990''. Later two other characters, a vampire and a werewolf, complain about ''Film/WolfMikeNichols''.
20	* A general strong reaction by readers of ''ComicBook/AmericanFlagg'' after Creator/HowardChaykin left the book. Neither Steven Grant nor J.M. [=DeMatteis=] could meet fan expectations for the title, and even an (admittedly gonzo) storyline written by Creator/AlanMoore was poorly received.
21	* ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'': A very large proportion of the ComicBook/SpiderMan fandom declared the storyline as its collective BerserkButton, after Creator/JoeQuesada considered dealing with Marvel's answer to Satan (who has since tacitly confirmed that he is Satan) a more realistic way to break up the much loved Spider Marriage than oh, divorce, or something like that. Due to this, the large amount of ExecutiveMeddling and the MarySue new love interest for Peter in the form of Carlie Cooper, it went down like a lead balloon.
22	* Dan Slott's ''M.O.'' is making dramatic changes to ComicBook/SpiderMan, which usually goes over poorly with longtime readers.
23	** The ending to ''Amazing ComicBook/SpiderMan'' #700, which has [[spoiler:Peter Parker dying in Dr. Octopus' body and [[GrandTheftMe Dr. Octopus taking over as the new Superior Spider-Man in Peter's body]] ]], was met with this reaction after it was leaked two weeks before the issue hit the stands. Many who were interested in it before either decided to abandon it or tried to send death threats to Dan Slott. Numbers dropped even further with the apparent end of the HopeSpot in ''[[ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan Superior Spider-Man]]'' #9, criticisms including the plot mandated IdiotBall handling of the Avengers and X-Men, and not noticing [[spoiler: a full blown psychic possession]] in a universe chock full of powerful telepaths.
24	** The Spider-verse event went over poorly with a lot of readers due to the long-lasting effects it had on several universes, specifically characters getting killed off.
25	** Slott's decision to make Peter the CEO of a successful company where he gets to actually use his scientific know-how is disliked by those who think Peter should be broke and desperate, or at least not as well off as he is in this story. Likewise, having Peter travel the world with "his bodyguard" Spider-Man is a hated move amongst fans who feel that Spidey should stick to New York. The fact that Peter left New York in the hands of the new Spider-Man, Miles Morales, rarely gets acknowledged by those complaining. It mainly comes down to those who feel Peter Parker, the guy who pioneered the relatable superhero, is now incredibly unrelatable and is an Expy of Iron Man.
26	** It doesn't help that Slott is one of the champions of "One More Day", and one of the main points of supporters for "One More Day" is that is made Peter relatable again.
27	* The main issue with Malibu's attempt at a ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' [[ComicBook/StreetFighterMalibuComics comic]]. They took so many liberties with the franchise's canon (including killing Ken - who, keep in mind, is one of the main characters of the franchise - in the ''second issue'') that Creator/{{Capcom}} ''literally stepped in and asked them to stop publishing it''.
28	* A lot of what was changed in ''ComicBook/MaxRideFirstFlight'' caused uproar among the ''Literature/MaximumRide'' fandom, including the flocks' wings being mechanical. One of the major ones was Max being given red hair, when in the novels, her hatred for redheads is made VERY clear.
29	* TheStinger of the first issue of ''ComicBook/CaptainAmericaSteveRogers'' is [[spoiler: that not only is Steve now a member of HYDRA, but has been so since the beginning.]] Fans have taken this as a slap in the face and have taken to Twitter and Tumblr to express their dislike and some have vowed to boycott the series or Marvel in general until this is retconned. Some fans believe it's a cheap comic gimmick to be retconned after all the hate, while others see it as a disgrace to the original works of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon and to Veterans and America as a whole.
30	* Spider-Man supporting character, ComicBook/BlackCat, has a few changes that were reacted to negatively by many fans:
31	** During the events of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' Felicia was attacked by Spider-Ock, and she wound up swearing to get revenge. After Peter's return she became an outright AxCrazy psycho who wants to destroy everything about him and doesn't care that he was under someone else's control, attempting to harm anyone and everything else in the process and even joining forces with several past Spider-Man villains to do so, even several that she used to be enemies with. Fans of Felicia in her AntiHero days have not been happy. The not so subtle implication that this was all done primarily to further solidify [[CreatorsPet Silk]] as Peter's love interest didn't help.
32	** The revelation on the post-''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'' that [[spoiler:she somehow managed to convince Silk to be part of her criminal enterprise]] and she ''absolutely loathes'' the latter trying to be the TokenGoodTeammate (and all of her appearances before that having her being a sociopathic harridan that sees [[spoiler:killing Silk's only means to find her parents]] as "a favor" and seriously wants to recruit people by convincing them that NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and Evil Pays Better[[note]]well, it ''will'' with her in charge-she's gunning to become the next Kingpin of New York[[/note]]).... yeah, people are hating the new her very much.
33	** Creator/KevinSmith {{retcon}}ning RapeAsBackstory for Black Cat's origin in ''ComicBook/SpiderManBlackCatTheEvilThatMenDo'' was received negatively by many fans, who saw it as the unnecessary darkening of what'd been a rather light-hearted character.
34	* The ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse has several cases of CharacterizationMarchesOn where fans preferred the original version of a character and disliked the changes:
35	** Recurring villain Flintheart Glomgold is generally used as Scrooge [=McDuck=]'s EvilTwin — as rich and tricky as him, but with none of his redeeming qualities such as work ethics or a genuine love for his family. However, his first two appearances under the pen of Carl Barks[[note]] who is basically to the Disney comics universe what Stan Lee is to superhero comics[[/note]] [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness were very different]]: he was not an EvilTwin but a ''complete'' twin, whose fights with Scrooge were all the wackier because Scrooge was basically being pitted against himself. A small but significant portion of the fan base resents that other authors changed Barks' "richer" original vision.
36	** Another, even more widely accepted change with Glomgold is his nationality. He was originally South African. However, foreign comics (and ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'') had him living in Duckburg and never refer to his origins (or, when he did, he was said to be Scottish like Scrooge). The one thing Barks used consistently whenever he used Glomgold was the fact that the character was South African. A few AscendedFanboy[=s=], such as Creator/DonRosa, have since restored him to his original roots from the 1990's onwards.
37	** Paperinik (who became Phantom Duck or the Duck Avenger in the USA, depending on the translations), Donald Duck's secret superheroic identity, was originally [[GrayAndGrayMorality a self-righteous vigilante who mainly used his secret identity to punish Scrooge or Gladstone for what they put the normal Donald through]]. Due to MoralGuardians intervening, Paperinik quickly became a crime-figthing hero, but many an Italian fan thinks back with fondness to the first "evil" Paperinik storyline.
38	** Eega Beeva was initially a time-travelling Earth man from the year 3000. When editors decided it just wasn't plausible that humanity would evolve ''that'' much in only one thousand years, he was retconned to simply be an alien. Like Glomgold, from the 90's onwards, new authors who had grown up with the original time-travelling version changed it ''again'' and emphasized he was a time-traveller. The authors who preferred him as an alien now say he is [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot an alien from the future]].
39	* With departure of the scenarist, ''Mélusine'' changed the format of the series from 1-2 pages gag to album-length stories with story arcs. Made worse that [[spoiler:fan favorite [[KilledOffForReal Cancrelune is dead]]. Giving that she was one of the main character for nearly 20 years, [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore it signals that the series has changed forever]].]] Fans were not pleased judging from the scores and comments on Amazon.
40	* ''ComicBook/SupermanBrianMichaelBendis'' was met with intense backlash when he revealed that he'd be aging Jon up to 17. Not only did it skip over interesting CharacterDevelopment for DC's newest and most popular KidAppealCharacter, it aged him ahead of his best friend Damian, and the circumstances for it are incredibly contrived (it involves Jon trusting his grandfather Jor-El, who had tried to plunge all of Earth into chaos a scant few months ago). Worse still, the notion of having a teenage Superboy again is entirely redundant, as Bendis brought back Conner Kent in ''[[ComicBook/{{Young Justice\|2019}} Young Justice]]'', which Bendis is also penning.
41	* The ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes going from traveling back in time to meet Clark Kent because he was their inspiration and inviting him to spend a day in their time, to the Legion recruiting Jon Kent because he was the United Planets' inspiration and want him in the Legion because they think they ''need'' him in ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes2020'' has been met with criticism. It makes the Legionnaires come across as genuinely selfish and inconsiderate to the fact Jon spent five years being traumatized throughout time and space and he still hasn't been given a chance to stop and breathe. Contrast to the original Legionnaires, who only invited Clark to join as a way to say thank you for being their hero and ended up proving beneficial because it helped both sides become better heroes. It doesn't help that Jon technically didn't ''do'' anything, yet the Legion acts like he's the future's savior.
42	* ''ComicBook/TheNextBatmanSecondSon'' got flack for retconning that Lucius Fox, who was originally one of the few people in Gotham Batman could trust, was a distant father and [[spoiler:used an ArmyOfLawyers to help his son Jace avoid jail time for accidentally killing someone in a hit-and-run as part of Jace's backstory]] and in the present, Lucius becoming a fascist by being willing to help take the steps that'd turn Gotham into the PoliceState seen in ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'', whereas for some, Lucius and his family having TookALevelInJerkass and turning against the Batfamily after the events of ''ComicBook/TheJokerWar'' was understandable. And even then, there's fans with issues with ''that'', too.
43	* In 1989, Marvel did a tongue-in-cheek ''Marvel Year in Review'' magazine. It was designed like ''Magazine/TimeMagazine'' and detailing events of the last year as they would be reported to people in the Marvel Universe. For example, Iron Man and TonyF Stark were talked of as two different people, the secrets of various events was held quiet, etc. Fans enjoyed it as a fun look at how news in the MU was reported. In 1992, it was transformed into a ''MAD'' style magazine with "humor" stories, losing the "reporting" that made it so good. The final version, in 1994, was just a straight-up recap of various big storylines and events and didn't return the following year.
44	* The German comic ''ComicBook/{{Mike}}'', issued by two bank chains to young customers, used to have a character named Birne, an anthropomorphic lightbulb from Hongkong [[AsianSpeekeeEngrish who always pronounced the letter "R" as "L"]]. This was either deemed misleading or too hard to read for beginners, and so [[ExecutiveMeddling the decision came]] to have Birne learn to pronounce an "R" properly. The many ''Mike'' fans despised this change which took a defining element out of Birne's character so much that [[{{Retcon}} the change was taken back]].

Context TheyChangedItNowItSucks / ComicBooks