Ah, the reboot. Whenever a character falls out of favor, or a super team gets too hokey, a comic company can break out a reboot, giving the character a fresh coat of paint in hopes of redeeming the hero in the eyes of readers. Sometimes, it works, and manages to completely save a once floundering character. But sometimes, a reboot can fail, pushing a character in the wrong direction, causing fans to turn on the hero. It's one of those situations where it can go either way, and comic-dom has seen plenty of examples of both good reboots and bad reboots.

Whether it's taking a formerly squeaky clean character and giving them the dark-and-gritty treatment, or re-working a forgotten hero to resonate with modern times, a reboot can take many forms. Often, a reboot can better a character, setting the new standard for what readers expect from a hero. But when a reboot fails, it can fail spectacularly, killing the push of a character dead in its tracks. Some of the best stories have arisen from reboots, but the opposite is also true. We're looking at you, Teen Tony Stark. So join CBR as we take a look back through the years at a menagerie of comic reboots to bring you 10 superhero reboots that changed heroes for the better (and 10 reboots that were definitely for the worse)!

20 BETTER: BLADE

Blade

Blade is the textbook definition of "zero to hero." Formerly known as "that one D-list vampire hunter that wears ridiculous yellow sunglasses," Blade would receive a drastic overhaul after the release of the smash hit 1998 film Blade.

In the film, Blade was re-worked into a leather-sporting, quip-spouting butt-kicker, portrayed with panache by Wesley Snipes. Subsequently, Blade was rebooted to better resemble his cinematic counterpart, swapping his dumpy green jacket for a sleek leather ensemble. Gone were the days of the jive-talking joke of a hero; instead, Blade was repackaged as a hot headed anti-hero of the night, as quick with a one-liner as he was with his swords. Blade has retained his rebooted look ever since, and remains a cult favorite among dedicated Marvel fans.

19 WORSE: NEW 52 STORMWATCH

Martian Manhunter leads Stormwatch

Back when Wildstorm was a force to be reckoned with in comics, the publisher's Stormwatch team regularly cracked the top 10 best selling list. Created by the iconic Jim Lee, the team was a vast departure from the standard super group, preferring a brutal, take-no-prisoners approach to crime fighting. When Wildstorm was snatched up by DC and the decision was made to incorporate Wildstorm characters into the DCU, excitement was high. But one of Wildstorm's most popular teams ended up getting the short end of the stick when the time came to jump to DC.

A debut title in DC's heavily hyped "New 52" relaunch, Stormwatch was rebooted into a shadowy cabal of crime-fighters that rejected the title "superhero," opting to label themselves "soldiers." What followed was a messy story in which Stormwatch was shown to have existed since the Dark Ages, being controlled by a group known as the Shadow Lords, only for this revised origin to be scrapped in issue #19 in favor of another reboot that repackaged Stormwatch as a new team. The re-reboot was too little, too late, and the series was canceled at issue #30. Stormwatch subsequently dropped off the face of the Earth.

18 BETTER: NEW 52 BATGIRL

batgirl rebirth

Once upon a time, Batgirl was boring. As a member of DC's venerated Bat-family, Barbara Gordon served to pop up occasionally to fight alongside Batman and friends, only to slink back to her own solo title for a series of lackluster stories. While Batgirl is a beloved character, the heroine was stagnating. Batgirl was ripe for a shake-up, and a soft reboot in 2014 managed to bring her back into the spotlight.

Gone was the mousy, milquetoast book worm; now, Batgirl was a hip, young woman pursuing her PhD in the trendy Gotham suburb of Burnside. With stylish new duds that saw Batgirl ditching spandex in favor of a rad motorcycle jacket, Gordon became Burnside's resident vigilante, trading blows with deranged artists and motorcycle-riding anime enthusiasts. While this reboot certainly has its detractors, the newly-hip Batgirl managed to breathe new life into the character, and essentially saved the heroine from fading into the background.

17 WORSE: NEW 52 HARLEY QUINN

There's an old adage that goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Never has this adage been as applicable than when it was applied to DC's resident Joker-loving wackadoo, Harley Quinn. But DC seems to prefer a "If it ain't broke, break it and figure it out later" approach, if the New 52 interpretation of Quinn is any indication.

With the launch, Quinn ditched her famous costume and took to wearing a generic punk-esque ensemble, replete with tattoos, dyed hair, and corset. This rebooted Quinn was given a solo title that distanced her from Batman and the Joker, turning Quinn into a Coney Island landlady that leaned more towards antihero than villain. Since the reboot, Quinn has continued to morph into a misunderstood hero, further removing this rebooted Quinn from the villainous roots that made the character so popular.

16 BETTER: 2015 ULTIMATES

2015 Ultimates

Once upon a time, Marvel's Ultimates line was the hottest comic book line in the land. Taking iconic Marvel characters and reworking them into grittier interpretations free of years of cannon proved immensely popular. But then Marvel's Ultimate titles began to flounder. When the Ultimate Universe ended in 2015, fans figured this would be the last of the Ultimate name. And then along came a brand new team called... The Ultimates,

Unrelated to the previous team to bear the name, this Ultimates was a group of highly capable superheroes, working to stop cosmic threats before they reached Earth. With a roster consisting of heavy hitters such as Blue Marvel, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and even Galactus, the Ultimates were the ultimate team for the galaxy's ultimate problems. This ambitious reboot took the Ultimates name in a bold new direction, and proved to be a breath of fresh air for Marvel.

15 WORSE: SECRET AGENT WONDER WOMAN

Secret Agent Wonder Woman

Say you've got a beloved character that could use a bit of revitalization to get back into the spotlight. Say that character is Wonder Woman. Would you emphasize Wonder Woman's warrior roots? Would you focus on Wonder Woman's strong feminist identity? If you were DC Comics in 1968, the answer you'd opt for is "Just rip off that TV show The Avengers."

Yes, the swinging '60s saw Wondy lose her Amazonian powers and be repacked into a mod secret agent, a la the debonaire spies in the popular TV show The Avengers (no relation to Earth's Mightiest Heroes.) In this reboot, Diana Prince ditched the Wonder Woman title and embarked on secret agent missions. This odd reboot was not enough to revitalize floundering sales, and Secret Agent Diana Prince would be dumped by 1972.

14 BETTER: AGENT VENOM

agent-venom-header

No one is denying that Venom is a classic Spider-Man villain. But since debuting in 1984, Venom has primarily alternated between slobbering and threatening to eat Spidey's brains. What we're saying is that the character didn't exactly grow over the years. But then Agent Venom was introduced, drastically shaking up the story of the symbiote.

In this reboot, Iraq War vet Eugene "Flash" Thompson bonds with the symbiote to work black ops missions for the US Government. While Flash struggles with the bloodthirsty nature of the alien goop, he used the symbiote to fight for good. After a decade of villainy, it was interesting to see Venom on the side of angels, and fans ate it up, making this unexpected reboot a rousing success.

13 WORSE: GUY GARDNER, WARRIOR

Hal Jordan may be the most revered Green Lantern, and Kyle Rayner may be the most creative ring slinger, but Guy Gardner is most definitely the surliest Lantern Corps member. A hot-headed wise guy, Gardner revels in pushing buttons and picking fights. But even someone as obnoxious as Gardner didn't deserve a reboot as terrible as Guy Gardner, Warrior.

After his Lantern ring was destroyed, Gardner discovered he was descended from a race of aliens known as the Vuldarians, and soon developed a new range of powers including shapeshifting and energy blasts. With a ridiculous Ultimate Warrior-esque new costume and silly powers, fans ignored the rebooted Gardner in droves, leading DC to ditch the whole thing and eventually give Gardner his ring back.

12 BETTER: NEW VALIANT ARCHER & ARMSTRONG

Archer & Armstrong

Rocketing to prominence in the mid-'90s, Valiant Comics brought an avalanche of new characters into the spotlight, including popular heroes such as Bloodshot, Ninjak, and Shadowman. While Valiant's titles sold well, not every book put out by the publisher was critically acclaimed. Case in point: 1992's Archer & Armstrong, a story about two mismatched miscreants fighting an evil evangelist church. But when Valiant returned in 2012, Archer & Armstrong were given a reboot that turned the title into one of the publisher's best comics.

In this new interpretation, Archer is the wide-eyed, naive son of an evangelist cult, on the run from his family, who teams up with a hard living immortal named Armstrong. Together, the unlikely duo fight killer nuns, a hippie cult, aliens, and all manner of madness. With its manic energy and fun interplay between the protagonists, this reboot managed to revitalize a once disregarded comic, and take the title to new heights.

11 WORSE: NEW 52 TEEN TITANS

Tim Drake leads the New 52 Teen Titans with new Superboy and Kid Flash

Sometimes, a comic can do everything right, and it still ultimately fails. Such was the case with the New 52 reboot of the Teen Titans. Highly anticipated by fans, the comic brought new characters to the team, delivered high stakes stories, and peppered in twists that shook the Titans to their very core.

With a core lineup of Red Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash, the team would expand to include new characters Bunker, Solstice, and Skitter. Problem was, the new characters failed to make an impact with readers, and the team's roster was shuffled so frequently, fans barely had time to connect with members. Compound this with critically panned stories and dull characterization, and you've got one serious misfire of a reboot.

10 BETTER: IMAGE REVIVAL PROPHET

Prophet

For all of his popularity in the '90s, Rob Liefeld left a legacy that could at best be described as divisive. But leave it to writer Brandon Graham to take a mostly forgotten Liefeld character and transform it into one of the best books of the year.

While Liefeld's Prophet had been a generic sword-wielding hero of the future, Graham transformed the titular character into a futuristic barbarian that discovers he has been cloned, and that the fate of the galaxy may lie in his countless duplicates. Filled to bursting with stomach-churning organic future technology and eye-popping psychedelic visuals, Prophet is the kind of reboot that never should have worked, but somehow totally did.

9 WORSE: SUPER-POWERED MOON KNIGHT

There are two ways to explain Moon Knight: one short, one long. The short one is that Moon Knight is Marvel's Egyptian-themed Batman. The long one is that Moon Knight is a possibly schizophrenic man with multiple personalities that works for a long-forgotten Egyptian God named Khonshu who may or may not actually exist. If this wasn't confusing enough, Marvel decided to use a reboot to add fuel to the confusion fire.

In the mid-'80s, Moon Knight was given an overhaul, complete with new origin, new ankh-adorned costume, and new super powers that manifested when the moon was out. Problem was, these needless changes drew the ire of fans. The reboot was ditched almost as quickly as it appeared, and Moon Knight was back to basics in no time.

8 BETTER: DENNIS O'NEIL'S THE QUESTION

The Question

When The Question first appeared in 1967, he was a generic mystery solving vigilante who's whole shtick was that he didn't have a face. The character was, to put it bluntly, unremarkable. But when The Question was given a reboot by writer Dennis O'Neil, Question went from "bland and forgettable" to "the most zen superhero ever"

This 1987 series saw investigative reporter Vic Sage splitting his time between covering the news and protecting the city as The Question. Inspired by the classic book Zen and the Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance The Question became a healthy mix of super heroics and an examination into spirituality, the importance of Zen, and the mind-expanding qualities of hallucinogenic drugs. O'Neil's The Question took the character in a bold new direction, and stands tall as one of DC's most ambitious reboots.

7 WORSE: SUPREME POWER

Taking a series that was not grim and gritty and making it grim and gritty can often be a recipe for disaster. Sure, it can work on occasion, but taking a squeaky clean franchise and dressing it up with sex and violence can make the resulting mish-mash reek of cash grab and try-too-hard. Case in point: Supreme Power.

A gritty, R-rated reboot of Marvel's Justice League homage team, the Squadron Supreme, the series saw the Ma and Pa Kent stand-ins being gunned down by the government, the Wonder Woman knock-off sapping men of their energy between the sheets, and the Green Lantern wannabe and Aquaman homage bumping uglies. Despite strong sales, the series received a mixed critical reception, and remains a divisive run to this day.

6 BETTER: DOOM PATROL

doom patrol

In the '60s, the Doom Patrol were DC's resident strange super team, fighting villains with names like Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man. But the team was pure C-List, and was mostly overlooked in favor of DC's bigger super teams. The Doom Patrol floundered in relative obscurity for years, before Grant Morrison came along, saw Doom Patrol's definition of "strange," likely remarked "that's cute," and concocted a reboot that was really, truly strange.

To call Morrison's Doom Patrol wild would be the understatement of the century: this was a team that contained an ape-faced woman with super-powerful imaginary friends, a muscle man who could alter reality by flexing, and a living roadway named Danny the Street. The title featured heavy usage of Dadaist elements, and regularly delved into psychedelic, mind-bending strangeness. Morrison's run is not only a triumph of a comic, but one of the most successful reboots of all time.

5 WORSE: PRETTY BOY LOBO

New 52 Lobo

Lobo rose to prominence in the '90s, stabbing, shooting, and generally maiming his way into fans' hearts. A smart-mouthed, take-no-prisoners bounty hunter, Lobo was as huge as he was mean. But then the New 52 came along and completely stripped the Main Man of everything that made him popular in the first place.

Dubbed "Pretty Boy Lobo" by fans, this Lobo was a well-read, soft-spoken anti-hero, and, as insult to injury, was presented as the one true Lobo, while the previous Lobo fans had grown to love over the years was said to be a pretender who simply stole the name. Fan outrage immediately followed, and DC quickly put the kibosh on the rebooted character, with the OG Lobo returning in DC Rebirth.

4 BETTER: ABNETT AND LANNING'S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Abnett and Lannings Guardians of the Galaxy

A good reboot can pluck even the most obscure team from obscurity and rocket them to super-stardom. Such was the case with Guardians of the Galaxy, who went from being an oft-forgotten F-grade cosmic team to one of the most popular teams in pop culture, and it's all thanks to writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

Using the name of an obscure super-team composed of heroes from the future, Abnett and Lanning re-purposed the Guardians of the Galaxy into a ragtag collective of oddballs and underdogs, brought together to protect the universe from all manner of cosmic threats. With a roster featuring a trigger-happy raccoon and space Jesus, the team seemed too weird to catch on, but Abnett and Lanning's group of misfits quickly gained a cult following, which would later bring the Guardians to the silver screen, making this reworking perhaps Marvel's most successful reboot.

3 WORSE: TEEN TONY STARK

Iron man teen tony

An inherent issue with comic books is that long-running characters tend to get bogged down with cannon. After all, when a hero has been fighting evil for years and years, that hero will have experiences and failures that help to define the character. But what if you want to take a long running character and purge them of that cannon baggage? If you're Marvel in the '90s, the answer is simple: make the current version of the character evil, and pull the teenage version of that character forward in time. Which brings us to Teen Tony.

In 1996, it was revealed that the Tony Stark fans knew and loved was actually an evil plant being manipulated by Immortus. To stop evil Tony, the Avengers plucked a teenage Tony from the timestream and brought him to modern times. The Avengers and Teen Tony would defeat Evil Tony, and Teen Tony would take the mantle of Iron Man. Fans hated the story, and Teen Tony would be merged with OG Tony in Heroes Reborn, never to muddle the timeline again.

2 BETTER: GRANT MORRISON JLA

Grant Morrison's JLA poses in DC Comics

Once upon a time, the Justice League of America was synonymous with "campy," embarking upon wacky adventures against bizarre alien foes and ridiculous threats. But when the '90s rolled around, DC's premier super team was overdue for a face lift. DC turned to writer Grant Morrison, who rebooted the JLA and managed to completely save the once-ailing team.

After a string of less-than-well-received runs with rosters choked with forgettable heroes, Morrison opted to focus on the Justice League's core roster, focusing the book on the trials and tribulations of DC's biggest heroes. The rebooted Justice League, debuting in the sparsely titled JLA, dealt with world-threatening issues with stone-faced seriousness, and it was this rebooted team that would set the precedent for the JLA for years to come.

1 WORSE: DEMON HUNTER PUNI1SHER

Demon Hunter Punisher

The Punisher is a malleable character. He can be grim-and-gritty, a la Punisher MAX, or he can be a pastiche, as he was in Super Hero Squad. But it turns out that character's flexibility has its limits, and apparently that limit is "making the guy a demon hunter."

In the four issue mini-series The Punisher: Purgatory, Frank Castle ends his own life and is subsequently resurrected by an angel to hunt and punish demons. With ridiculous slowing guns and glowing red eyes, this reboot was a vast departure from the classic Punisher. The reboot was widely ridiculed, and Demon Hunter Punisher would only stick around for one more story arc before being dropped altogether, allowing Frank to resume punishing the old fashioned way.