when comic books come to life

By the time I was born, Hollywood had moved way beyond classic literature, recent bestsellers and widely known tales to find resources in other forms of art and literature, one of those forms being comic books and graphic novels. As a child, Superman existed as a comic book character and a film character, immortalized by who I'd later consider to be a real-life superhero, Christopher Reeves. I was able to see him portrayed even more by several different men on the small screen .

The 80's and 90's were filled with such movies, though many of them were actually lesser known comic tales that were originally produced by comic houses that weren't mainstream. Many of these comics were mainstays in the comic book geek realm but not nearly as popular commercially. Ask many film goers from the 90's about movies such as The Crow or The Mask and a good number of them probably didn't know they were first comics. Even if you consider movies created to maintain the comic book feel such as Dick Tracy and Tank Girl, many people were still unfamiliar with those works before they became movies. Despite it being before my time, I am still shocked to hear that many did not know that the three Conan inspired movies were comic books.

With the turn of the millennium came an onslaught of huge blockbuster movies based on comics that were widely known, many of them coming from comic book giant, Marvel. In the past nine years, we've seen 19 movies based on Marvel comics alone. There have been over 50 films inspired by other comic books under DC and other houses.

Among those almost 100 films, we've had some hits and some misses. Some have rocked the mainstream's world, becoming wild blockbusters and catapulting their previously unknown stars into mega stardom, all the while sending the comic fanboys and girls into a hysteria, clawing their eyes out and screaming in agony at how Hollywood raped their most cherished superheroes and villains. Others had the geeks in tantric ecstasy, weeping with elation at how the film industry stayed true to its stories' comic origins while a larger population simply didn't get it, whether it be an excess of gore, amoral stories devoid of humanity, gratuitous violence that only glorifies the acts of sociopaths and terrorists, elaborate tales with over-lapping sub-plots with even more tangents, or computer applications that were wasted on color and light and not simply large explosions or flying people. The few in between were barely noticed by anyone.

Now I would be one of those fan girls. I'd be a geek. In a not so obvious package, I am a fan of more boyish pursuits and a geeky, somewhat awkward boy prone to bouts of fancy, at that. I am annoyingly so. So I'll try not to get too passionate in either direction depending on the company. I can sum it up by saying that the past few years have graced me with a handful of new favorite movies such as Sin City and 300 (if that's not a cliche, I don't know what is). I could spit out all the marvelous aspects of Sin City that had be salivating even over a graphic novel I admittedly knew less about in contrast to such favorites as Tank Girl or the X Men franchise. I could also relate the negative reviews and explain why my opinion differs, finding the strengths and weaknesses of all arguments. I could do the same with 300, adding both to my short list of approved comic book to movie adaptations along side The Crow, another cult classic of a relatively unknown sub-genre, throwing in the prayer that Sin City does not fall into the trap The Crow did with preposterous sequels. They would all merely be reflections of the same things that have been said about all movies ad nauseum.

I should also say that a few movies did have me disgusted and feeling betrayed. With the X Men easily topping my list as favorite comic book stories and characters, I could not join the majority of reviewers who praised this film, even slightly. I appreciated the obvious choice of Patrick Stewart as Professor X and thought that no film maker would be so blind to not cast him in that role. Watching the rest of the cast struggle through the film had me wondering if Stewart was just a fluke. Noting Jackman's extreme attempt and the care with which he handled the character of Wolverine did little to expel the reality that he simply didn't fit the bill. Further reading had me throwing my arms in the air in frustration, finding out that Eric Mabius was passed over for the Cyclops role in favor of pretty boy James Marsden who admitted to being unfamiliar with the X Men before his assignment. With each sequel there was at least one element that was extremely pleasurable, both only attributed to the skill and talent of the actors themselves in Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler and Kelsey Grammer as Beast. Their appointments, again, become just flukes as the rest of the elements were utterly atrocious. And again and again we watched Jackman become more comfortable in his role and start to be believable by the time X Men Origins: Wolverine was released. Or perhaps we just got used to him.

If you think that rant was long and opinionated I should also inform you that it's usually much longer and inflammatory.

So many, still, have been much closer to the center of either extremes. Watchmen, another extreme favorite, had me torn in two directions (the love of the film eventually won). There were above average receptions, both personal and widely, for movies like Ironman, the Spiderman movies and some of the Blade films. There were the not well received movies such as Daredevil, Ghost Rider and Electra. There are many reasons all these movies worked in some areas and fell short in others. To be fair, where only comic books are concerned, much of the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of a handful of people involved with conception if that comic book does not work. Placing it on film becomes more difficult when each character is portrayed by a different actor, each with his own interpretation under the guidance of writers and directors and producers who have their own agenda. In such a cross-over, translation becomes quite a difficult task. It's an undertaking that many would be excited with over the concept and scared shitless when the task becomes real.

The trend does not seem to be ending any time soon. At this point, I don't think it can even be considered a trend. There are countless reasons comic books are a gold mine of film inspiration. They give us ongoing stories that are ready made sequels despite the difficulty present in having to transform something, as opposed to creating them from scratch. There is action. There is drama. There are colorful characters and elaborate situations that are only limited by imagination. What can be created with pen and paper, with a combination of dialogue and illustration, becomes an infinite well of scenarios begging to be put into motion.

Despite a few disappointments and very close calls, I still retain a certain amount of excitement whenever a new comic book/graphic novel to movie comes out. Even in this information age with access to the conceptualization process, with rumors about casting, writing and direction, and the ability to access bad news before I fork over the $8 for a ticket to watch a movie with people I probably don't want to sit next to, I still insist on seeing certain movies in the theater rather than waiting for them to be released on video or, God forbid, having to wait over a year to see on cable. Yes, I even did this with the X Men movies while I plotted an elaborate scheme in my mind to punish Brett Ratner. I spent years talking to fellow comic book geeks of varying degrees of expertise and fanaticism about who would be the best Gambit or Thor and braced myself every time I heard a rumor about the actors cast in those roles. As with so many art forms, I expose myself to the good and the bad. Being able to recognize the good involves some exposure to the bad. And we never know who or what may suprise us. Despite bad experiences I am ready and willing to nose dive into the next adaptation, no life jacket necessary.

Besides, if comic books are not my favorite form of literature, the classics are and I kind of like having something else to distract me from the way movies ruin my high school summer reading lists.

And for the record, Taylor Kitsch was not anywhere on the list of best actors to play Gambit. Recent news tells us that Chris Hemsworth, relative unknown outside of Australia, who played George Kirk, Captain James T. Kirk's father in the most recent Star Trek blockbuster, is going to be Thor. Wildly unfortunate considering the ready-made Thor in Paul Levesque, also known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, the WWE's Triple H.

If that's not bad enough Hemsworth is also supposed to be reprising Patrick Swayze's role in the remake of Red Dawn. I'm not sure which one I fear the most.