Comic Book TV Show Fall 2015 Power Rankings: Week 1

One week down! The first week of Fall 2015 Comic Book TV has come and gone, with the debut episodes of Gotham and Heroes Reborn. The two shows both debuted to a mixed response.

For Gotham's season two premiere, PopMatters gave it an 8/10 saying it "skillfully picks up most of the narrative threads from last season and introduces exciting new directions for the characters," while ScreenCrush says it's "the worst show on television" and vows to stop writing about it. Other reviews gave it a "C" or a "3.5/5" or "7.5/10." Basically, some people really liked it, some people really hated it, some people fell right in the middle, and reviews still and forever are reflective of personal taste and experience. It had 4.5 million viewers and was down slightly in the ratings from its season 1 finale.

Heroes Reborn resurrects a show after several years off the air, and likewise comes in with a review set that spans the entire range. 9.1/10 from TV.com, but EW says "it's just not good enough," giving it a C-. Placed up against NFL football and the Shonda Rhimes "TGIT" set of hits, it did pretty darn well, with 6 million viewers and a 1.9 rating, though.

This week will see Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debut on Tuesday, with the start of the "Secret Warriors" arc and Daisy Johnson embracing her shakier side. Next week the CW hits on the DC side of the fence see their new seasons begin.

Here then, are your week one rankings. There aren't a ton of major changes, since only three of these shows are airing so far. In the next month, we'll start seeing bigger jumps, I'm sure.

Focusing on the criteria of ratings, fan feedback, and critical response, plus a bit of our own expert knowledge of intangibles from interviews, set visits, and more, we present to you the ComicBook.com Comic Book TV Power Rankings. We'll be updating these throughout the season. Bear in mind a couple of caveats: 1, we're only including shows on the air in Fall 2015 in this initial set. That means that while there are some really incredible comic book shows coming back this spring, they're not on this list. This isn't the NFL, and not all the teams start (or play) at the same time. The good news is, once this gets working, it'll eventually add on those spring returning and new series, and be a year-round ranking of all things comic book TV. Check back each Saturday for a new edition.

1 The Walking Dead - Even This one doesn't start until October 11, but until then, something drastic would have to happen to knock it out of the top spot. If the Avengers show up on S.H.I.E.L.D. this week, then maybe we'll see this guy out of #1 before its debut. Otherwise, don't expect this to drop until the season begins, and even then only with something major happening on another show.

2 The Flash - Up 1 The Flash goes up a spot despite not-yet-having debuted thanks to some big Earth-2 hype. This show embraces its comic book nature like none other on TV, and the new featurette with Jay Garrick and continued "Flash of Two Worlds" promotion made it overtake its CW big brother.

3 Arrow - Down 1 In a week full of The Flash hype, Arrow only had relatively tiny teases. Still, Mr. Terrific's debut and Vandal Savage/Legends of Tomorrow early sneaks are enough to keep it close to the top. Only a week and change until we see if this season starts as strong as it sounds.

4 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Up 1 It's just about judgement time. After a slow-starting season 1 that turned things around at the end, many critics said season 2 was just the opposite, with a strong start that petered out a bit toward the finale. Now a firmly established new status quo brings with it more superpowers and an ever-changing Marvel Cinematic Universe landscape. The premiere is Tuesday, and we're hoping for something special.

5 Gotham - Down 1 Mixed reviews and medium ratings mean Gotham drops by 1. It's not a catastrophe, and the show can still bounce back (and I think it will), but the promise of the show needs to be seen sooner than later to bring some of the more ... skeptical viewers around.

6 Fear the Walking Dead - Up 2 The biggest jump of the week, Fear the Walking Dead
got a much better response from critics (and slightly better response from fans) this week as they introduced more zombie action into the drama. Who knew people wanted zombies on their zombie show?

7 Supergirl - Down 1 Only dropping because of an already-airing show, Supergirl continues to build hype. A new trailer brought smiles, and a new character reveal brought some "huh?s," so it evens out in the end. Still a series we can't wait to see and have high hopes for. Wouldn't be surprised to see it crack the top 5 or higher when it starts up.

8 Heroes Reborn - Down 1 The season premiere drew a strange reaction. The so-called "fan" community, including geeks of many stripes and fans of the original show, became vocal about the show saying it didn't meet their expectations (though usually with more vitriol). However, polls that reach a wider, more varied base like the one on TVLine showed an overwhelmingly positive response: 70% rated it above average or awesome, while only 10% had it in the two lower ratings. With Zachary Levi's breakthrough performance and an intriguing mystery, Heroes Reborn could still shoot up in the rankings as the season continues.

9 Jessica Jones - Even A very short teaser trailer left fans wanting. Why hasn't this show given us more previews and started building more hype? We don't know, either, but we're starting to wonder about this one.

10 iZombie - Even The DVD release of season 1 might give this show a boost before the October 6 debut (after The Flash). It's just one that needs more people talking about it before it can move up in the rankings.

Spring Shows to keep an eye on: Lucifer, Marvel's Agent Carter, Legends of Tomorrow, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Powers, Other notable future shows (no timeline): Outcast, Preacher, many more.

Biggest Jump: Fear the Walking Dead up two spots.

Next Week's One to Watch: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the season premiere drops.