Line #9 DependingOnTheWriter/ComicBooks


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6	Examples of characterization changing dramatically DependingOnTheWriter in ComicBooks.
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8	Comics as a medium are heavily subject to this trope, especially when they run for decades and necessarily have many different writers, some of whom are cavalier about consistency.
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10	!!The following have their own pages:
11	[[index]]
12	* DependingOnTheWriter/TheDCU
13	* DependingOnTheWriter/MarvelUniverse
14	[[/index]]
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16	!!!Other
17	* The ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' are famous for this:
18	** Is Archie a nice guy, or a {{Jerkass}}? [[BettyAndVeronica Does he chase Veronica and ignore Betty, or does he treat them both equally?]] His obliviousness or ditzy nature has been the subject of the laughs for years, but exactly ''how'' stupid he is depends on the writer - sometimes he's flat out TooDumbToLive, but other times he's the OnlySaneMan.
19	** How much does [[BigEater Jughead]] eat? Does he really hate girls, or does he have secret crushes? [[spoiler:Or is he gay? Wait, best not answer that.]] Then Chip Zdarsky and Ryan North added ''another'' new interpretation by running with an explicitly [[UsefulNotes/{{asexual}} Jughead.
20	** How rich is Veronica? For that matter, how much of a RichBitch or SpoiledSweet is she?
21	** Is Reggie a {{Jerkass}}, a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, or just a nice guy? How well does he get along with Archie and Jughead? Is he the TokenEvilTeammate or just a DeadpanSnarker?
22	** Is Moose BookDumb, TheDitz, TooDumbToLive, or [[SmarterThanYouLook Smarter Than he Looks]]? Does he [[BerserkButton go crazy]] when other guys so much as look at Midge, or is he kind and accepting?
23	** Is Chuck madly in love with Nancy, or does he ignore her for his art?
24	** Is Betty a [[{{Tsundere}} sore loser]], or a sad loser, or even a loser at all? Does she have a crush on Archie, or is she [[StalkerWithACrush obsessed with him]]? Are she and Veronica content to "share" Archie, with only a {{Friendly Rivalry}}, or does each one go ballistic whenever he eyes the other?
25	** Is Ethel [[{{Gonk}} completely repulsive]] or HollywoodHomely? (Also a case of DependingOnTheArtist too)
26	** How smart is Dilton, and how socially awkward is he?
27	** Is Mr. Lodge completely on edge, or is he a JerkWithAHeartOfGold?
28	** Is Ms. Grundy crabby and grouchy, or is she kind and caring?
29	** How heavy is [[FunetikAksent Mr. Svenson's accent]]?
30	* When Creator/ReneGoscinny was writing ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'', he kept Asterix himself as a fairly bland StandardizedLeader IdealHero character who was almost never wrong about anything, and gave the CharacterDevelopment to TheLancer Obelix, who was a sweet, profound and adorably [[TheDreaded frightening]] take on a ManChild. When Creator/AlbertUderzo took over, Asterix got a lot of CharacterDevelopment and became more complicated and sympathetic, developed weaknesses and was no longer infallible, but at the same time Obelix was severely {{Flanderized}} into being significantly more stupid and selfish, and usually TheMillstone to boot. This is most noticeable in ''The Magic Carpet'', where Asterix almost fails on multiple occasions because he has to constantly babysit Obelix. On the bright side, Uderzo introduced a lot more memorable female characters than Goscinny managed to do (Bravura, Melodrama, Orinjade, Latraviata...) and fleshed out some of Goscinny's SpearCarrier and SatelliteLoveInterest female characters (like Fulliautomatix's wife and daughter, and Obelix's perennial love interest Panacea) into more well-rounded human beings.
31	* Portrayals of ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' vary from writer to writer, to the point where it's not consistent whether they're the Wildstorm Universe's greatest force for good or a bunch of sociopathic fascists. Also doesn't help that they get used as punching bags in series other than their own.
32	* ComicBook/{{Diabolik}} has been handled by different writers and publishers, and he can vary from a ruthless assassin who will pre-emptively kill anyone who might interfere with his plans (this is usually in books where he is TheGhost), to a thief who plans around not killing his victims and only does so as a last resort, to having a twisted sense of justice in rewarding those who help him, or (as in the LighterAndSofter cartoon) almost a Robin Hood figure.
33	** His partner Eva Kant usually has a similar competence and outlook as whatever he is, to the point where they can be TheDividual, but in some older books would be reduced to a damsel in distress rather easily. In others she takes on a vigilante role to bring down particularly heinous criminals.
34	* The comics made of the various {{Creator/Disney}} icons. Such as WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck.
35	** Scrooge himself: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive heartless bastard tormenting Donald for the sake of a few more cents, perfectly willing to exploit workers, destroy the environment and let his own family die in the name of profit?]] Franchise/IndianaJones-style treasure hunter? JerkWithAHeartOfGold who prides on having made his fortune "fair and square" and deeply cares about his family and his friends? Complete and utter badass? An eccentric old man who's not really good or evil?
36	** [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Scrooge's]] money bin may be a simple box made of stone or a blue and red dome; it may be his residence, or just the place where he keeps his cash while he actually lives in a mansion; the Beagle Boys may frequently hide out in an old trailer or a shack or under the very foundations of Duckburg; Flintheart Glomgold may live in South Africa or in Duckburg as a member of the Billionaires' Club (or alternatively, he may not exist at all, with John D. Rockerduck in his place); Donald may range from being an average chef to a LethalChef; Magica de Spell may be a real powerful sorceress or a normal person who dabbles in sorcery; Granma Duck may be Scrooge's sister or not related to him at all; Gladstone Gander may be really lucky because a Triple Distelfink sign was painted on the barn door on the day of his mother's birth or because the goddess of fortune is in love with him.... The list goes on.
37	** The Beagle Boys' competence (and numbers) also seem to flip-flop (from as few as three to as many as eleven). And do they use guns, or are they simply too poor to even afford those?
38	** Even Rockerduck himself, despite not even existing in most writers' minds, has flip-flopped between honorable businessman Scrooge likes to screw with for fun, slightly crooked bastard who enjoys spying, swindling and bribing to get his way, white-collar criminal, and murderous gang leader.
39	** For a while, European stories had what effectively amounted to an alternative continuity, with the largest change being Scrooge being American-born with Grandma Duck as his older sister and a younger brother named Gideon. An epic-length Italian story even detailed it in its last part. Nowadays this is completely ignored, with some products of that time (namely Paperinik with his comprimaries, Dickie Duck, Brigitta [=McBridge=], Jubal Pomp and Gideon) still around but included in the standard continuity (Gideon being Scrooge's brother is quietly ignored, [[WildMassGuessing with fans taking him as Scrooge's younger half-brother from his father's supposed second wife or mistress]]).
40	*** Even Paperinik's backstory as [[LegacyCharacter heir of Fantomius]], the GentlemanThief, has two different versions. The original version, shown through various details in Paperinik's stories, presents Fantomius as a GentlemanThief active in the Twenties, operating as "a gentleman masquerading as a thief" with his fiancee Dolly Paprika to humiliate the arrogant rich people of Duckburg and sometimes [[JustLikeRobinHood giving part of his loot to the poor]], before ''dying'' (as stated in Paperinik's debut story) at some point in the Thirties, with his manor becoming the property of the City of Duckburg and won by Gladstone in a lottery before being destroyed and the land ultimately ending as Scrooge's property. The Dutch series "The Legacy", however, shows Fantomius as still alive (he just retired and disappeared), having operated strictly by [[JustLikeRobinHood stealing to the riches to give to the poor]] with an accomplice named Ireyon, and the land of his manor still being Gladstone's property. The Italian series "The Amazing Adventures of Fantomius-Gentleman Thief", detailing Fantomius' adventures, completely ignores the Dutch version.
41	* John Constantine in ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' suffers from this trope. Is he just an ordinary blue-collar bloke who happens to attract a lot of supernatural attention and who learned some magic in order to deal with this, or a master sorcerer who can casually bend the laws of time and space at will? A more or less decent guy at heart who struggles with his conscience like anyone else would in his situation, or an utter and unrepentant bastard who'd throw anybody under the bus without a second thought? Is he in fact sane, or isn't he? Some of his writers have tried to explain away the changes they make to his personality (like externalizing all his guilt into a demon infant and tossing it off a cliff) and some haven't.
42	* The team formerly known as the ComicBook/{{Micronauts\|MarvelComics}} has kept reappearing occasionally since 1996 revealed that Arcturus Rann, Mari, and Bug were somehow still alive. They've appeared in Cable, Captain Marvel, Earth X, Realm of Kings, Son of Hulk, and Alpha Flight. Rann and Mari have had different personalities in each. In the Cable appearance, Rann was rather genial and avuncular, Mari was taciturn and humorless (along with sporting a lesbian look). In following appearances, they've ranged from having no personality other than a sci-fi plot device (Mari technobabbles like a Star Trek episode), to Realm of Kings, where Mari acts like a ditzy motormouth amazon and Rann acts bored. Admittedly, since Bug is no longer part of the team, the comic relief falls of the shoulders of Mari and her android sidekick Carl.
43	* The original ComicBook/PhantomLady, between cosmic reboots, has gone from a superspy goverment agent to a bored senator's daughter with a gimmick - and personality-wise from a delicate Ice Queen who's impossibly ace to a tough talking bruiser.
44	* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'':
45	** Doctor Robotnik's characterisation initially swapped between a cartoonishy evil coward (who [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere fled at the possibilty of having to fight both Sonic and Tails]]) and a sociopathic tyrant who openly enjoyed seeing how miserable Mobius' population were under his rule, before settling on the latter, although still with some moments of bumbling under some writers.
46	** Just how much of a {{Jerkass}} Sonic is also comes down to this, with the main writers settling on a JerkWithAHeartOfGold persona that was common in UK media, while some {{Filler}} strips ramped it up to pure {{Jerkass}}.
47	** Tails swaps between "competent enough to fight for himself but is a bumbling hero" to such an example of TheLoad that both Sonic and Robotnik are openly surprised when he's the one who saves the day.
48	* ''[[ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio Spirou]]'' changed writers many times over the years. Aside from being very visible, the storylines vary, too. ''Rob-Vel'' started Spirou being an actual bellboy, ''Franquin'' turned him into an journalist adventurer, ''Fournier'' made him run into more surreal stuff, various other writers had their own stint before ''Tome'' and ''Janry'' made the series return to the ''Franquin'' era, with the stories getting progressively DarkerAndEdgier, while starting a SpinOff about Spirou in his youth, and, after a commercially failed attempt at a (sort of) realistic story, ''Morvan'' and ''Munuera'' took a more Manga-style take at it, the stories no longer stuck to the present day. The current team, ''Yoann'' and ''Vehlmann'', have been leaning heavily on surreal sci-fi elements.
49	** While Spirou usually remains a NiceGuy who is either clueless with women, ObliviousToLove or simply not interested, Fantasio alternates between being a ChickMagnet, ChivalrousPervert, CasanovaWannabe, and a [[HoYay closet gay in love with Spirou]].
50	* In most ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' adaptations, Raphael is portrayed as a brooding loner who frequently breaks from the group and fights with his brothers -- particularly Leonardo, who has a much more commanding presence as a leader. In others, like the original Fred Wolf animated series, Raphael is a good-natured albeit sarcastic jokester while Leonardo seems more toned down and unofficial in his leadership role. Michaelangelo and Donatello remain constant for the most part.
51	* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
52	** In [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel the original Marvel Comics' series]], most of the stories were written by either Bob Budiansky or Simon Furman, who often had sharply different depictions of key characters. To pick but one example, Grimlock was a vain and power-mad DesignatedHero under Budiansky, whereas Furman writes him as a NobleSavage of a ProudWarriorRace.
53	** In general, the Marvel comic, the toy bios, and the cartoon tended to have somewhat variable takes on the characters, which are usually thought of as simply different versions, but many writers have ended up tug-of-warring back between different "iconic" takes. A particular example is Soundwave: he spoke normally in the comics, but used a stiff RoboSpeak tone in the cartoon. This can lead to Soundwave using complete sentences under one writer and going "LASERBEAK: EJECT. OPERATION: DESTRUCTION" under another.
54	** Blaster is particularly noticeable for shifting under different writers, since his cartoon and comics takes were very different: the cartoon one being a goofy, music-loving party animal working in communications, the comic one being a haunted, introverted rebel. Because of this, in general, if Blaster is a major player in the story, he'll be the latter; if he isn't, he'll be the former (though there may be some attempts to marry the two).
55	** The large number of writers working on ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries'' caused a lot of characters to shift heavily. Soundwave (again) hops between a conniving, treacherous bastard (Furman) to a cartoon-inspired emotionless robot ([=McCarthy=]) to a soulful, empathic AntiVillain (Barber), with the wiki jokingly describing him as an "untrustworthy loyal silent verbose villainous hero." Drift in particular changes almost completely depending on whether he's being written by Shane [=McCarthy=] or James Roberts, with the latter being almost a parody of the former.
56	** Caminus's portrayal in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' (as a reasonably prosperous place that can afford to focus on social and performing arts and has at times played host to Cybertronian renegades) is very different from the resource-starved theocracy of ''ComicBook/TheTransformersWindblade''.
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Context DependingOnTheWriter / ComicBooks