I have had a hard time trying to figure out exactly what this blog should be. It started as a way to promote writing, and in many ways it still is. I still plan to talk about upcoming books and the current books I've written. Lately though you've seen my various rants and opinions about comics and then monsters.
This blog you're reading will be the latter by the way.
I'm only stating this because I'm sort of hoping it will give whoever is reading this a look into the mind of a writer. Now I'm no Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, or Mark Twain, but maybe you'll get some insight into why I like to write books about a red headed cowgirl battling monsters in a post civil war united states. Maybe though I can make you smile at musings and possibly look at things in a way you haven't thought of.
Or I can help you burn 5 minutes by reading this. Either way I'm glad I could help.
The topic I wanted to talk about or talk at you about is comics and their adapted movies and whether or not they may be ruining the comics. First off I want to tell you that I love comics, like a lot. They were what first helped me to like reading and they taught me quite a lot. Not only just providing lots of entertainment but through the X-men I learned about segration and the possibilty of what the next step of evolution could be. Spider-man let me know it was okay to be a nerd and that I could still get the girl despite not having awesome powers, but by being a good guy... The powers would have been nice though.
It's been about 20 years since I've been delving into the graphic art form and more than half of that time I spent working for a comic book store. It was by far the best job I ever had. This I feel like gives me some knowledge to both sides of comics. The seller and the reader, and by the way I am a reader, I do collect but I enjoy reading my comics over and over again far more than I do reading once and sealing them away forever. Now that being said I believe I have some valid opinions on the matter.
Like any comic fan any movie adaptation that ever comes out is a big deal. Even today when we can't get through a year without seeing at least 4 superhero movies and possibly 2 or 3 others that aren't superheros but are based off of comics, but growing up it was an even bigger deal. Movie studios just didn't do that. The best we really got was Christopher Reeves Superman and Michael Keaton Batman, which I believe still hold up today. As for Marvel the best we got were some campy Captain Americas, a never released Fantastic Four, and Dolph Lungren as the Punisher. Not really a lot to work with, but as comic fans we ate that shit up and as those movies came out they didn't affect the books we were reading month to month. Sure Batman's costume was completely black for awhile like in the movie but not a big change. Our books continued on unhampered by Hollywood success and leaving us dreaming of possible what if scenarios for the comic book movies of our dreams.
Now fast forward to Robert Downy Jr in the first Iron Man. Holy shit! What a good movie. A million comic fans the world over exploded with joy at this movie. It had most of what we ever dreamed a comic movie should have. Don't get me wrong the first X-men was great and gave us quite a lot as did Spider-man, but Iron man hinted at the start of a new universe. It didn't end there it delivered, so now we're several movies in have two Avengers movies out and Captain America and Iron Man are punching each others faces in on screen, and they're the same actors that starred in everyone of the films. Could it not get any better?
(Just a side not this post is very Marvel centric. Yes DC is doing big movies too but really Marvel is and has been doing it right for awhile. Just sayin.)
If we're talking movies I have to think that absolutely it's going to keep getting better. When it comes to our comics though I'm not so sure. Ever since X-men was first released on the big screen and we saw our favorite mutants in black leather the comics began to reflect that. Don't get me wrong Grant Morrison's run of the leather clad X-men was awesome. I still re-read it to this day but I have to wonder. Did that have to happen?
Now I understand that in order to market your movie that's based off of a property it makes sense to have that property be similar enough that people will want to buy both. Thus the movie makes money and the property makes money. It makes sense I get it. People see the movie want more so they go to comic store and buy the comic. The comic now, because of the movie, looks like the film. New readers come into get more of what they experienced in the movie and because the characters are dressed in the same biker look, the consumer feels good about their purchase and doesn't feel too lost in the storyline that took hundreds of back issues to develop, and old readers get a fresh new story and look at some of their favorite characters.
Some would consider this a win win. This after all was a costume change. The X-men did't go through any event that changed their history or how charcters interacted with each other or themselves. At least not at first...
I have discovered that this particular line of thought is going to need much more than one blog post. I don't want to give you a novel to read on the internet, so this ends part one of "Did comicbook movies ruin comics?" Stay tuned for part two it's going to get deep.
Also if you enjoy this blog give it a follow or follow me on twitter @thebeardedjon. Check my two novels too. If you're in the mood for a supernatural western check out The Wendigo and the Werewolf, or if you want some epic fantasy with DnD undertones check out Child of the Moons. Both can be found on amazon in paperback and kindle. Thanks every one part two coming soon.
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