Postcards from the Back Row - July 2011

Why does Hollywood love comic books? G.M. Jordan reveals all...

The movie business has always had a hungry eye for comic book franchises. From superheroes to pulp fiction, if publishers can make a line of books work then film producers will be keen to snap up the film rights.

Some of the greatest characters have made the transition to the silver screen, some have done it effortlessly whilst other have left us cringing and praying that they give up and leave us alone. Movies and comic books share relatively the same audiences, not least a desire to push the envelope of what they can do in terms of entertaining.

But movies are tied to the limits of technology, comic creators are only really limited to their imagination, which means that no matter how well a story is told it would be hard to make that transition from the written page to multiplex, although that hasn't stopped film makers from trying.

SWAMP THING (Wes Craven, 1982)

Some of the storylines in DC Comics Swamp Thing story arcs have been thought provoking and very insightful, unfortunately the film failed to capture the audiences' imaginations and the film sank at the box office.

Wes Craven's film did get relatively good reviews and gained cult status, that wasn't enough to warrant a return to the screen for comic creators Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson's swamp dwelling demi-god.

WATCHMEN (Zack Snyder, 2009)

For many years people thought that Watchmen couldn't be adapted, and some fans still think Snyder shouldn't have bothered. Fresh from his success with bringing Frank Miller's 300 to life, Zach Snyder seemed the perfect fit to attempt an assent on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's classic tale.

The producers put together a near perfect cast and crew, the finished film was probably as close as you can get to a perfect adaptation of the original story so what went wrong, why did Watchmen bomb at the box office?

There are a number of reasons people think it failed to impact, one of the reasons could be that the story is very complex. American audiences are made up of people who generally have a short attention span, throw in a couple of plot twists and you pretty much have lost them.

It's a Marmite test of a movie: fans either love it or hate it. I liked it because I am not a purist; I don't care that Snyder changed one little bit at the end, but if I voice my opinion at comic conventions I can hear the gallows being erected outside the hotel as others get ready to lynch me for being a heretic!

300 (Zack Snyder, 2006)

We have looked at some movies that have failed to catch the publics' attention so let's flip that over and see some that you might have gone to see.

300 is Frank Miller and Lynn Varley's telling of the Battle of Thermopylae made a fantastic transition to film thanks to Zack Snyder's groundbreaking use of green screen technology and his cast's dedication (he sent them to boot camp to get fit and the result was more muscle than a Mr Universe competition and more testosterone than the Russian women's shot-putting team).

Varley's rich colour palette made it into the movie and managed to keep the audiences' attention, the film also had copiously large amounts of half naked men oiled up and one or two pretty women (in reality Sparta had the same philosophy when it comes to physical imperfection as Hollywood, only in ancient Greece it was perfectly acceptable to hurl those with any form of imperfection into a big pit, in Hollywood they call that pit The Jerry Springer Show).

SIN CITY (Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller, 2005)

I would dearly loved to have been in the meeting where Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller pitched their ideas for Sin City to studio executives.

Dark Horse has done very well out of Miller's stylish noir short stories but just how would they adapt it for a film audience? There was a very good chance that the risk was going to be too great but like 300 a well used green scene and a fantastic ensemble cast that included Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Benicio Del Toro, Rosario Dawson and Jessica Alba pulled it all together nicely. Quentin Tarantino tagged along as a guest director, add a sprinkling of ultra violence and liberal doses of sexual references and the fanboys must have thought they had died and gone to heaven.

Yes, Sin City isn't for everybody, but it was very cleverly shot in black and white, with the only colour coming from occasional splashes of red and yellow, and used to great effect.

A word of warning, if you like Sin City & 300 do not be fooled into renting/buying Frank Miller's directorial debut on The Spirit, another comic book character adapted for the big screen. It is total rubbish and even Samuel L. Jackson can't save this turkey.

IRON MAN (Jon Favreau, 2008)

Hollywood doesn't just plunder the dark material from the comic book world, they have also taken a stab at family friendly entertainment. Whilst the Fantastic Four films were aimed at the younger audience, Iron Man and Iron Man 2 were perfect for all ages and are good films in their own right. You don't have to be a fan of the comic but if you are then you can chuckle at the in-jokes that litter the scripts.

You are not going to be taxed like you are with Watchmen or Sin City, but you are assured a couple of hours of good entertainment.

So there are several good and bad reasons why Hollywood loves to work on comic book adaptations. The new series of Marvel Comics releases have been well received but it doesn't take much to slip from Captain America - The First Avenger (2011) to Captain America - a straight to video shocker (1990).

Thor was a pleasant surprise; the two Hulk films a disappointment; Batman is good as long as the respective directors retain the darkness and personal torment of the comic character, but move towards Adam West or George Clooney versions and its game over, switch off the lights and return your seats to the upright position.

GM Jordan is a writer and co-founder of the Comic Book Alliance. His latest books Tales from a Warped Mind and Swansong are available from amazon.com

The CBA anthology Spirit of Hope can be purchased from all good comic speciality shops or direct from the official CBA website: (comicbookalliance.co.uk