WORLD'S FINEST - Fresh Question #90: Team or Solo

[Nightwing]

Wake up fans. I need those brains working since it's New Fresh Question time. Roll it!


To me, stories mean characters which also mean conflicts. That's what we do and that's what works. More characters means higher stakes, so it's therefore harder to write, but not at all impossible. And since the likes of Batman The Animated Series have similar proportional success ratios to the likes of Justice League and Teen Titans, tell me:


Which animated superhero story dynamic do you prefer?? Solo story or team?? Why?

[adoptedBatpuppy]

I prefer a Team story only if the camera gives every superhero a chance to shine!
With the Justice Legaue there were a lot of superheros who didn't even got a chance to talk on the show! :(

I think for a T.V series a Solo story works better because you have more time dealing with a single character and a single villan to develop them! :)

I hope that answers your question, Nightwing! :sweat:

[Batman Fan]

I prefer team stories with a lot of characters in action scenes, because the people on JL/U and TT did great with staging fight scenes with large amounts of characters and it makes it seem more chaotic and hectic with more characters.

But for deep stories and stuff, I prefer solo appearences or just a few characters because usually you'll spotlight 3 or 4 characters and the others seem tacked on as if they have to be there and it doesn't fit well into the episode and they don't feel needed.

[Kris]

It's conditional. For a solo story to work, you've gotta have a great voice actor in that leading role and one hell of an interesting/engaging character (although a solo superhero's supporting characters and villains can really make or break a series as well). Done well, I'd prefer to watch a solo hero's series.

I guess I've liked more superhero team shows though. There've been more of them, seems like, so the chances of that happening were good.

...Or maybe it just seems like there've been more team-superhero shows...yeah, I think it's just that even most of the non-superhero action/adventure toons I've watched have focused on team dynamics (much of the `80s material like Transformers, Thundercats, GI Joe, Inhumanoids, etc...Gargoyles, PoDW). If you're strictly confining this question to superhero material (which I know, your question above does), most of 'em have been solo, haven't they? A few Superman shows, a few Batmans, a few Spidermans, a couple Hulks...Compared to really just X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, Justice League, and Teen Titans, right?

[tjrad815]

I prefer teams. More heroes opens up possibilities for betrayal, more powerful villains, higher stakes, and inter-team conflicts.

I think there have been equal numbers of solo and team TV shows. You are forgetting about Fantastic Four and that several of the Spidermans were groups. I don't really understand why you don't consider the 80's stuff to be superhero shows.

[Whhhaaat]

I agree with the person above me. Many characters add more conflicts, relationships, and depth to the story. Also, the fight scenes are better, since there's more going on.

[Two_Face]

I like stories with a single character, which is why after robin came into the picture in Batman the Animated series I didn't watch it anymore. I mean, before robin batman did just fine for himself, but after robin became his partner, it seemed like batman could not live without him.

I'm glad my partner in crime, The Joker did away with ol' Jason Todd.