On Friday, to celebrate the release of X-Men ’97, we asked our readers what other animated comic-adaptation they’d like to see return. As is often the case with these polls, it is satisfying to see the readers truly surprise us with how they vote. I was certain that Batman: The Animated Series, easily the most revered series on this list, would top the list. I was wrong. I thought that Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends would rank highly. It didn’t. I thought that The Maxx, with its mid-90s MTV buzz, would’ve been a choice for fans of a certain age. I was wrong about that, too.
Instead, 24% of our readers went with The Spectacular Spider-Man, a series from 15 years ago that had two seasons and vey little fanfare in the mainstream. I must admit, I have never seen one cel of this series until looking up the artwork to accompany this story, but I love that we’ve tapped into something that our readers are passionate about. Maybe my Spidey-loving son and I will watch it together.
Speaking of Spidey, the original Spider-Man series from 1966 came in second with 16% of the vote. Despite having one of the most recognizable theme songs of all time, this series is, sorry readers, not good. There are some fun moments, but this feels like nostalgia and humor winning out versus trying to bring back an actually good show.
And finally, tied for third place were two DC series. DC tends to do animated series far better than Marvel, which is why these results surprised me, but 12% of our readers want to see either Batman Beyond or Green Lantern: The Animated Series revived.
Check back on Friday for our next Reader Poll!
