Like Father Like Son

    In 1979, comic book superhero Plastic Man made his first live-action appearance in the Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show. It was a cartoon show that was presented by the live-action Plas, much like how the Cryptkeeper presents Tales from the Crypt. He's played by Mark Taylor who is super charming in the role, wearing one of the BEST live action superhero costumes!

    There's real charm to how his super powers are portrayed. Some of it is done through simple visual effects, and some of it is done practically through props that are painted to look like Plas.

    In the second season of the cartoon, Plastic Man gets married to a woman named Penny, who is a cartoon original character. They have a son, Baby Plas, which spawns two new segments in the show: One focusing on the whole family, and one focusing on Baby Plas' own adventures.

    This was in 1980. Around that same time, other heroes like Superman and Batman were also getting married and settling down. Superman and Lois got married in 1978, Batman and Catwoman would get married in 1981. But Plas' original marriage predates these.

    Plastic Man didn't originally belong to DC Comics, it was being published by rival company Quality Comics. DC would go on to buy out Quality and then cancel Plastic Man in 1956. They would then proceed to sit on and do nothing with him for a whole decade. In 1966, they finally put out a new series for Plastic Man, with an all new side cast of characters. Why the change? Because it's not the same guy! It's his son, Baby Plas!

   

    Another case where this phenomenon happens is with Dennis the Menace. Now, when I say Dennis the Menace, you may have thought of a little blond boy annoying the hell out of Mr. Wilson. That is the Dennis from the USA. The one I'm talking about is the Dennis from the UK.

    Dennis gains his menace status through simple mischief. In contrast, Dennis is a malignant agent of chaos. What's more, both of the Dennis comics were first published on 12 March 1951, on the same day, with no coordination. Two menaces, bound by fate. Perhaps Dennis is an evil reflection of Dennis, or maybe Dennis is a good reflection of Dennis.


    Both comics are still running to this day. And while the American Dennis has not changed much, the British Dennis is not even the same person as the one from 1951. That Dennis grew up, got married, and had a child: The current Dennis the Menace.


    Donkey Kong is another example. He first appeared in the 1981 arcade game, which had a sequel the next year that focused on his son, Donkey Kong Jr. as the protagonist. DK Jr. would go on to appear in games like Super Mario Kart, Donkey Kong '94, and the virtual boy tennis game. But then, the whole Donkey Kong series was relaunched in November 1994 with the release of Donkey Kong Country. Here, the game opens with an old and frail ape playing the NES Donkey Kong theme on his vintage gramaphone. That's him! That's the original DK! He's a GRAND DAD now! And the Modern DK is the son of DK Jr.!


    The Modern DK sort of overlapped with a period where Nintendo was still using DK Jr. for sports games and such. This lead to a scenario where the Modern DK can play tennis against a baby version of his own father. It's like Back to the Future if it was about apes.

     In his first arcade appearance, Donkey Kong Jr. was the protagonist of the game and had to survive Mario's traps and save his dad from captivity.

    In a way, Donkey Kong Jr. is like the reverse of the game Ape Out. Ape Out is CRAZY. You play as an ape and must escape capture in a variety of levels. Escaping from boats, zoos, buildings etc... It's an extremely stylish game that explores its concept really well. It's like an extremely violent jazz concert. Great concept, perfect execution. There is one level where you must first break into a science lab. Halfway through the level, the ape you play as is revealed to be a papa! Now, you have to take your baby and break out! One ape saves his father, another saves his child.


    Donkey Kong Jr. is also the earliest game I can think of where the perspective is switched. In the first game, Mario has to rescue someone from being captured by DK. But here, Mario is the captor, and poor DK is the captive, and you must save him! Donkey Kong Jr. puts us in the shoes of the child of someone we previously only considered to be an obstacle, and forces us to view the world from their perspective. In this regard, Donkey Kong Jr. is like a proto-The-Last-of-Us-Part-2.




image sources:
Action Comics #484
Superman Family #211
Plastic Man vol. 2 #7
Dennis The Menace From A to Z (1966 Giants)
Dennis the Menace Annual 1966
I don't know where the beach cricket one is from I found it on twitter
DK Jr Vs DK




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