Category: DC Media (DCEU, DCU)

Outraged by how Hollywood has treated comics, various True Believers are looking to make a fan-directed unauthorized comics film that doesn’t suck. Their primary target, to correct the horrors that have been done to the franchise?

Spider-Man.

Huh?

I mean, isn’t this the movie that folks have been lauding as The Greatest Comics Movie Ever?

Well, yeah, but it’s not perfect, and therefore it’s an example of why Hollywood Sucks.

Sam Raimi made a valiant effort, but in terms of comic loyalty, he and Columbia pictures failed. They underestimated the audience, they made changes that didn’t need to be made just to simplify the story. They altered the history Spider-Man the comic, and in doing so they have created an entirely new and misinformed legion of comic fans who now believe Spidey shoots webs organically. This might not seem like a big deal in the scheme of things, but we look at it as just the beginning. It’s only going to get worse. With 20 new comic films in development as we speak, other studios will see that box office doesn’t depend on authenticity, but rather on celebrities, special effects, and glitz. The history of all comics are at great risk!

In other words, a trivial (it doesn’t actually affect the story, or the character) inconsistency between the movies and the comics (even if there’s an arguably good reason for it) means that “in terms of comic loyalty” the Spidey movies “failed.” Because of continuity differences (and completely disregarding the functional distinction between film as a medium and monthly comics as a medium), the Spidey movies “failed.” Ignoring the difference in continuity and inconsistencies introduced over four decades of Spider-Man comics, we’ll just say the movies failed.

Yeesh.

Okay, I count myself a fan-boy of the first water, and I rail against continuity issues and inconsistencies, too, but damn, people, get a life.

(Parenthetically, one thing I noticed at the Con was an increase in fan-directed comics films, or at least trailers for same. Some interesting stuff going on out there. And more power to them. But I digress.)

Compatriots of the comic book community, there is a time for change and that time is now. We need to show the studios how much better these movies would be if they would just follow the original comic stories. We are going pick up where Spider-Man 2 leaves off and make a short version of Spider-Man 3 that is completely loyal to the original Spider-Man series before Columbia Pictures goes into production next summer. We are then going to take our film to Marvel and show them how compelling even a limited budget film can be when that film stays true to the original story. Once they see that they can fulfill their duty to protect the sanctity of comics and make money at the same time, they will force Columbia to also stay true to the comic and save the franchise before its too late. If Spider-Man changes its ways, so will the rest. [emphasis mine]

To be the contrarian here, there is no “sanctity of comics.” There’s a tension between previous continuity and present story-telling demands and desires, but let’s face it, you’re already talking about (a) implausibly fantastic myths of someone who bitten by a radioactive spider and thus can cling to walls, (b) stories told by dozens, hundreds of writers in slightly (or greatly) inconsistent fashion over four decades, and (c) tales of someone who was in high school in the early 60s but is still in his 20s today. Comics readers choose to suspend disbelief to varying degrees, and while there were elements of the most recent Spider-Man movie that were imperfect, I could say at least as much about any given comic issue of Spider-Man.

Never mind, beyond that, Marvel actually has very little say in how Columbia pursues the project, let alone any way to “force” them. You think the creative folk at Marvel were thrilled by some of the craptastic comics adaptations in the past? You think they didn’t care?

The folks at the site have come up with a list of Worst Comic Book Adaptations, Worst Moments in Comic Movies, and Worst Casting Choices. That at least some of this is simply artistic disagreement is clear (since they include Hugh Jackman as Wolverine on the last list). And that is, of course, part of the problem. But this is not a Hollywood vendetta against comics alone. How many novels have been “ruined” by adaptation to the silver screen? Heck, how many TV shows have suffered that fate? Or, conversely, how often have people hated a movie — perfectly good in its own right — because of a casting choice that didn’t fit their own internal image of how the character should be? (I raise my hand here.) Hence, the folks who hate Jackman as Wolverine. I’d argue that multiple of the folks on that particular list were either good in their own right, though not consistent with the character from the comics — Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin, for example — or were perfectly capable of portraying the character, but were written or directed poorly — Jones as Two-Face or Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze.

I’d love Hollywood to crank out a lot of Perfect Comics Movies — if such a thing could be acknowledged to exist. But who gets to decide what’s faithful to the sacred canon (or what the sacred canon is)? Who should Spidey really have a love interest with? MJ? Gwen? Betty? Felicia? Should we have had Spidey facing the Chameleon (AS #1) and the Vulture (AS #2) before he faced Doc Ock (AS #3), let alone the Green Goblin (AS #14)? Should we have a Spider-Clone series of movies? Surely we need to acknowledge the Black-and-White Spidey costume — though that means we need to explain (or, worse, show) the Secret Wars. And shouldn’t Peter be wearing a cardigan sweater more?

I have no problems (obviously) bitching about changes in continuity, or tweaks to character history that seem an attempt by a producer to put their own stamp on the character — though how that differs from what some of the best comics writers have done (see Warren Ellis on X-Men, or Joe Straczynski on Spidey ) is unclear to me … unless it works. But I think the fanboys would have a much better effect taking an unsuccessful movie property, one that seriously (in their mind) trashes a character, and show how it could be done well. Make a better Hulk, or Batman, or Daredevil, or Howard the Duck. Don’t go up against a major commercial (and critical) success — not only do you lose credibility, but it’s pissing in the wind. It’s like claiming that Hollywood can’t do decent adaptations of novels — and making your own fan-directed Gone with the Wind to prove it.

(via BoingBoing)

Some news from the world of movie/comics cross-overs …

• Brian Singer has jumped ship from the X-Movie franchise, to direct (the latest among many) the new Superman flick — with yet another script, too (tossing the one by Alias‘ J.J. Abrams). Bad news on the X-front, since Singer’s done an amazing job with the first two movies, but it might actually be what’s needed to get the Supes movie off the ground (heh).
• An Avengers direct-to-DVD animated flick (one more more)? Ah, but based (to some degree) on The Ultimates. How PG-13/R are they going to let it be? How edgy/teen/tween are they going to target it?

While I’m overall not thrilled over the expanded team line-up in the new Justice League Unlimited cartoon — more bodies and no multi-parters mean less characterization — I have to admit to a geeky fanboy love for seeing the update takes on Green Arrow, Supergirl, Captain Atom, Zatanna, the Atom, Booster Gold, Hawk & Dove, and (!!!) B’wana Beast.

And if memory serves, that 7 August ep is based on an Alan Moore story that was most excellent …

JLU premieres on Cartoon Network on Saturday, 31 July, at 8:30p, ET/PT.

(More on JLU here and here.)

Since I wanted them I though Katherine would enjoy them, I picked up the other two Justice League DVDs out there, Justice on Trial and Paradise Lost.

Great fun, of course. Each DVD has two arcs in it, each of two episodes:

• In Blackest Night: GL is arrested by the Manhunters for inadvertently destroying a planet — something he confesses to doing. His JL pals try to prove his innocence — and uncover the Deep Dark Plot about to be unleashed. Good action, good characterization, good continuity. Best moments: Hawkgirl wipes the floor with snarky GLs; Manhunters chanting their motto; GL reciting the oath.
• The Enemy Below: Atlantis decides it’s had enough, and Aquaman and the Atlantean army is ready to prove it. But there’s deeper conspiracy going on, and Aquaman may have to make a substantial sacrifice to protect his kingdom and preserve the peace. Decent action, decent characterization, fair continuity. Best moments: Aquaman’s sacrifice; the assassin’s capture and interrogation.

• Paradise Lost: Felix Faust (Robert Englund!) blackmails Wonder Woman and the JL into gathering up pieces of an artifact that will free Hades (John Rhys-Davies) from, well, Hades. Decent action, decent characterization, horrible violence to DC continuity — but who cares? Best moments: Supes and WW duking it out; Batman dressing down Flash for playing with unknown mystic artifacts in Faust’s house (“Don’t touch anything!”) while, in the background, Supes, WW, and Martian Manhunter quietly put down the trinkets they were playing with. Also,

• War World: Supes and Martian Manhunter get kidnapped, and Supes becomes a new star gladiator on Mongul’s War World. Meanwhile, GL and Hawkgirl set out to rescue them. Decent action, fair characterization, decent continuity. Best moments: short-fused Type As GL and Hawkgirl playing the interstaller Bickersons.

The two DVDs are the same price as the premiere “pilot” — but at almost 90 minutes, rather than 60, they’re a better deal. The “extras” are better, too. Both feature enjoyable brief intros to each episode part by Bruce Timm. Justice on Trial has another segment where Timm describes the decisions about which JL members to use, and what went into their animated design, while Paradise Lost has a similar (but less interesting) vignette on villain design.

Both discs have games. Justice on Trial has an “identify the hero” from narrow glimpses of their costumes (Katherine got all of them, except for WW’s blue, starred shorts — “That’s her underwear,” she opined). Paradise Lost has a rather pointless maze game.

Finally, Justice on Trial has a data file on each JLer, including a brief music video. Paradise Lost has similar data files on the bad guys.

Interestingly, Katherine finds it easier to call him “J’onn J’onzz” than “Martian Manhunter.”

Anyway, I’d recommend both DVDs to folks who have enjoyed the animated series (or has kids who do). Good stuff. I hope that they similarly collect the other episodes out there, including the multipart WWII saga, and the Injustice Gang. (The Morgan LaFey and Metamorpho episodes are less memorable, but I wouldn’t mind them being collected, too.)

(For more info on the JL series, JLToonZone is a good start, as is JLAnimated. The second season kicks off in October, and a third season has been all-but-officially-confirmed.)