Widescreen Funny Books
Wizard World 2002
By Antony Teofilo
Comic books are, on the whole, a healthy exercise in fantasy, a literary escape. There are, however, a few pale-skinned misanthropes who always show up at a con ready to tangle with panelists and creators. These basement purists and armchair editors know that they could do a better job than those who currently hold the keys to the comic book kingdom.
While attending Q&As, discussions could be hilarious, as was one fan's tongue-in-cheek argument that if Spider-Man's web shooters are really organic, his webs should shoot not out of his wrists, but out of his backside.
Talkbacks could also be downright scary. Witness the guy whose well-worn flannel shirt, beefy physique, mutton-chop facial hair, gravelly voice and surly manner clearly represented a slightly unhealthy obsession with a certain Adamantium-ensconced mutant man. The subject of conversation had turned to comics-based movies, a hot topic at many of the talkbacks.
 |
| Antony Teofilo and Joe Quesada |
Our Wolvie- wannabe looked like he was going to pop an aneurysm when Joe Quesada admitted that some of the X-Men's costumes in the books had been changed to mirror those in the very popular X-MEN movie. Quesada explained, very diplomatically, that this was done to give the characters a broader appeal to the new audience that had been drawn back to comics by the movie. Why must the character designs be changed? laments Wolvie. Why can't we see them represented on the screen as they are in the books? In the X-MEN movie, Wolverine's claws don't even come out of his hands in the right place, for crying out loud!
"Because," replies Quesada, "people would run screaming and laughing from the theaters," a sentiment that the Hollywood establishment widely echoes.
With the deluge of comics-based movies coming down the pop-culture pipe in the next few years, (there are over 150 comic-book properties currently optioned by movie studios) fans and artists alike feel passionately about the comic/movie connection.
"SPIDER-MAN's an example of something done well," says Black Bull's Jimmy Palmiotti. "DAREDEVIL looks pretty scary to me. I never trust a trailer that flashes a thousand images real quick. Like anything else, when you start mining everything, you're going to find a lot of crap, and a few diamonds. I think it's great that Hollywood is coming out to look at comics. I understand why: there's not a creative person out [in Hollywood] coming up with anything new.
"[As far as] the upcoming HULK... I love Ang Lee. But I wasn't impressed with the trailer because it's a skinny guy in a mirror turning green. I thought, 'Isn't Hulk supposed to get pissed off before he turns green? Maybe he cut himself shaving.' The Hulk I know would have knocked the side of the house completely out. This Hulk just made about three thousand dollars worth of repairs."
Lou Ferrigno, TV's original Hulk, feels that the excess of computer-generated effects often needed to translate a comic to the big screen is not necessarily a good thing. "I think comic movies today are great, but it's sad that they can't use much live action anymore. When there was more live action, we had better story lines. Special effects are not necessarily negative, but we're losing good stories as the movies are being dominated by special effects. There'll never be another Incredible Hulk like me because it's not live action anymore ... but that's the direction the industry is going."
Ferrigno's complaints are not unfounded. Plenty of comics flicks have been heavy on eye candy and light on story, and they have bombed miserably. The mix required to build a solid comic movie concept can be elusive.
"You can have a great director, and even have a good screenplay, and then get a crap movie like BLADE II," replies Palmiotti. "I sat there and wanted to gouge my eyes out. [Still], it's good for guys like me who want to create because I'm getting calls from people asking about different properties. It's great for us because we need to get rich. Right now we eat macaroni and cheese and...poodles."
Canine cuisine aside, many creators are thankful for the opportunity to translate their creations and characters to the silver screen, not so much for the thrill of seeing their characters in a live-action world, although that's part of it.
Ande Parks of DC's GREEN ARROW says, "I think it's swell. It gives people like my poor friend [Phil Hester] a chance to make some sweet option money. There's somewhat of a talent drain as some of the best comics writers get lured away to write movie scripts because the money is seductive. Eventually you have to hope that when people realize a movie is based on a comic, they might actually go buy one."
Says Hester: "It gives more exposure to comic book characters. People in the general population dig superheroes. If even a small percentage of those people bleed over and start buying comics, it certainly can't hurt."
 |
| David Mack and wife Ahn Tran |
David Mack, creator of KABUKI, has been in development with FOX studios for several years. KABUKI was first planned as an animated flick, but is currently a live-action project. There have been many drafts of the screenplay written by both Mack and established Hollywood folk like John Sayles, who wrote eight to 10 drafts of a screenplay before moving on. Mack reflects upon the fact that comics have already been a heavy influence on popular culture.
"[Comic book movies] are good for the industry. I see so much in popular culture that has come from comics anyway, besides movies. As far back as the '60s and '70s, you had the Pop art movement with Roy Lichtenstein or Andy Warhol. Someone once asked Andy Warhol where he got such far-out ideas, and he said 'I get all my ideas from comic books.' [Warhol] also said that he thought comic books decide what the future will be. The comic-book industry is really the last pirate medium where you can be completely subversive or creator-owned."
While Marvel and DC have many irons in the fire with regards to production, how does the little man fare in the fight?
"All the money [in royalties] will eventually work its way down to even the self-publishers if we're raising the awareness of comics in the public eye. That's a big 'if,' because I'm not sure if we actually are," says Paul Jenkins [writer, PETER PARKER: SPIDER MAN, SENTRY].
"There's nothing that doesn't stand a chance right now," he continues. "But I think that's mainly because they want to own us. I don't have the patience for Hollywood. What I am doing is a few creator-owned projects that are actually set up as storyboards and the story for an eventual film, and we'll see if they want to make that film. I'm not interested in [Hollywood] taking a script and screwing it just because it needs to be changed. The more I tell them to go away, the more interest I get from them."
It's anyone's guess how long the comics industry will continue to do big business for Hollywood. How long can we expect to continue to see comics properties in the mainstream? It won't last forever, according to Joe Quesada:
"It will go sour as soon as we have the first blockbuster disaster. It's like any genre in the movies. You've got gangster movies, gangster movies, gangster movies, until you have a flop, then exorcist movies take over, or horror movies, or whatever. Everything is cyclical. That's one of the reasons Avi Arad is micro-managing our projects out at Marvel West Coast. We know this story well. This trend will continue until there is a humongous flop, and we don't want [the flop] to be on our end. Avi's on the set all the time. We're taking great care with THE HULK. We're making sure that there will be no skinny X-Men."
"What we would like to see is movies like ROAD TO PERDITION stand up and say, 'We're a comic-book movie.' Imagine if Tom Hanks would say, 'This [movie] is based on a comic. You should check it out.' Then again, marketing a movie is a very delicate situation. If I was spending millions and millions of dollars on advertising, I'm not sure if I would come right out and say the movie is a comic-book movie, either. But it would be nice, if maybe after a movie hits, they would say, 'This [movie] was based on a comic book."
Movie studios are high on comics properties right now, and seem to be getting wise to what makes a successful superhero movie not only satisfying for fans, but profitable to produce. There's a fine line between schlock-buster and overly sappy spandex-clad sockfest. Movies like GHOST WORLD and ROAD TO PERDITION may represent the vanguard of a new era for funny books on the silver screen. Whether or not the powers that be in Hollywood, and the short attention span of the American viewing public, can sustain the onslaught of comics flicks blasting their way into your local cineplex is anyone's guess.
Take a cue from The Man himself: "Stay tuned, true believers."
SHOOT-BACK HERE!
