Comic Book Adaptations: A Dying Breed?
Comic books have been integrated into our worldwide society for years now. When the comic strip was born with “Tintin”, the blossoming of Japanese manga (with works such as “Astro Boy’”) to the birth of the superhero with “Superman”, we cannot deny the impact they have played on our lives. The storytelling, illustrations and engaging characters that continue to draw us back have kept this medium afloat for decades.
The surprising in adaptations (good and bad?)
During the past twenty years Hollywood has ushered in a new wave of cinema in the form of comic book adaptations. Is that necessarily bad? Each person has a different point of view depending on their take of a single character. From the Reeves’ versions of Kal-El, the Burton-ized style of “Batman” and the burst of big time mainstream blockbuster with Bryan Singer’s “X-Men”, comic book adaptations have become quite the norm in this generation’s set of movies. Within the past ten years, studios have been churning out loads of comic book and graphic novel adaptations, trying to get their share of the cultural movie phenomenon before it burns out.
There are very popular properties like “Superman” and “Batman” that have shared their ups (”The Dark Knight”) and downs (”Superman Returns”). New ones not expected to be popular like “Iron Man”, and ones that completely divide the masses like “Watchmen”. Still, with careful marketing (for the most part) and the always intriguing lore of the superhero, audiences keep coming. The real question now is, what will be next?
Many have argued that comic book adaptations might have reached their peak. The source material that studios and production companies latch onto are becoming less and less recognizable to general audiences, thus increasing the risk of box office failure. There are exceptions, the main one being Jon Farveau’s ‘Iron Man’, but for every ‘Iron Man’ there are dozens of ‘Elektra(s)’ and ‘League(s) of Extraordinary Gentleman’.
“Watchmen”, the epitome of graphic novels and comics, was the latest big screen adaptation. Its complex story line veers away from the ‘normal’ superhero tale and caught a nice portion of the general audience off guard when they flocked to local movie theaters to check out the feature. Not dripping with the typical action that a comic book adaptation entails, quite a few left disappointed and ripped the film to shreds. This contributed to a quick box office decline during the time of its domestic release.
The disappointing and somewhat flat out bad
Just this morning Marvel Enterprises and Walt Disney Studios merged to form a super mutant of sorts, seemingly ready to take on the competition with DC/Warner Bros. It could quite possibly be awhile before comic book adaptations will loose their box office appeal. Just because a giant studio teams up with a comic company does not automatically mean box office gold. For the past several years, Warner Bros has had to deal with DC (from the fluctuation of the Justice League movie to the disaster that was Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns”) nor does Marvel spew out one hit after another. Case in point, the lackluster performance of “Punisher: War Zone”, the sequel to the somewhat decent film “The Punisher”.
Even adaptations of Japanese manga are already experiencing bouts of box office uncertainty. The Americanized version of the hit Shonen classic “Dragonball Z” was a mega disaster. Its impossible to predict if the upcoming “Astro Boy” will turn a satisfactory profit, despite the action, title, and pre-sold potential. Until audiences turn out in droves, you will never be certain that you have a hit on your hands.
Am I trying to warn production companies and studios about the risk of continuing on with comic book adaptations? Yes and no. Although most comic book adaptations manage to turn a profit, will the solidified fan base of nerds (including myself) help boost ticket sales? If it doesn’t, will studios still push to bring on as many comic book films as possible? At this point studios seem to be getting overly confident with being able to turn any sort of published illustrated graphic material into a blockbuster hit, and therein lies their potential downfall. Given the lesser known material, bigger budgets, and over confidence from these companies, audience acceptance may wane no matter how much flesh and action is on display. Given the lack of imagination inherent in this material, the life expectancy of comic books should flatline within the next five years.
