Comic Book Movies: (EW) Simply The Best?

In anticipation of the release of Iron Man, Entertainment Weekly provided a selection of the best comic book movies here. The list, seemingly in no particular order, is as follows:

Batman Begins and Batman Returns
X2: X-Men United
Akira
From Hell
American Splendor
V for Vendetta
Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2
Superman II
Oldboy
Blade II
A History of Violence
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance
Hellboy
Ghost World
Persepolis
Ghost in the Shell

For once, this is a list that is actually rather good; I only have a few complaints (naturally), which I am compelled to reveal.

Firstly, the positives: resounding yes to Spider-Man 2 (with special honorary status to the first film) and X2: X-Men United, hell yes on the non-superhero front to Oldboy and A History of Violence. Respect to Blade II (although there should be a special mention of the opening scene of Blade where he attacks the vampire rave club with the blood showers – the rest of the film isn’t as good), and I’ll accept Hellboy for everything about it being so right without it being a particularly great film.

Now, to my qualms. Although Batman Returns is a good film, I don’t think it deserves to be in the category of ‘best’ – I can’t help but think that it is remembered for Michelle Pfeifer in a catsuit more than anything else (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

From Hell should be in a separate category because, although technically a film adapted from a comic book, the film itself is a normal (if well-made and interesting) police procedural based around some of the ideas and characters in the book but without actually being like the book at all. I enjoy the film (apart from Heather Graham and her accent) but it’s like saying that South Park is an adaptation of the New Testament because it has Jesus in it …

In a similar vein, V for Vendetta is an enjoyable film but not in the upper echelons of comic book films, and it loses points by completely missing the point of the source material, which is really rather important.

Personally, I wouldn’t have any of the Superman films in the list – III and IV are awful, the first one had the ridiculous ending and the second one was just silly (yes, it was) – but I could be biased by the fact that I don’t like them.

I haven’t seen American Splendor, Lone Wolf and Cub or Persepolis, so I won’t comment (how very noble of me) so I will console myself with pointing out the glaring omission: Sin City – a more faithful adaptation it is impossible to have and it is also a damn good movie in its own right. Not only has it stopped Frank Miller going near an actual comic book, but its green screen approach has allowed the Watchmen movie (however awful it may actually be) to be made, and we even get to see a translation to the silver screen of Will Eisner's The Spirit. But then perhaps they left it off the list to spark debate – or because it committed the faux pas of having a stripper, in the form of Jessica Alba, not actually stripping because of her no-nudity clause …

Comic Book Commentary: Animated Wolvie Is Not Legendary

I don’t usually comment on the many, many press releases that end up on CBR or Newsarama. There’s simply not enough time in the day to even look at them, let alone develop a reaction to them AND write about it. However, a certain number of key words that cross the threshold of my interest will cause me to read about something that somebody wants to pimp.

In this instance, the combination of ‘animated’, ‘X-Men’ and ‘Wolverine’ were enough on a quiet day to click on this link that appeared in my Google Reader. It is for a new animated series from Marvel, called Wolverine and the X-Men. The name alone makes my inner fanboy twitch with righteous (yet impotent) indignation. You see, Wolverine is one of the X-Men; that’s how he started out, before he got all famous and guest-starred in other people’s books, or everybody swooned over Hugh Jackman. He’s part of the team – do we have Robin and the Teen Titans, or Captain America and the Avengers, or something equally stupid that I can’t think of right now? (Batman and the Outsiders doesn’t count – he created the team and he was famous before them.)

But it gets worse, with this line from the press release:

‘the most legendary of all X-Men, Wolverine’

Oh dearie me, no. No, no, no. Now, I was a big X-fan growing up, and obviously I liked the short, hairy Canuck as much as the next fanboy, but Wolverine is not the most legendary X-Men of all. You can try to persuade me all you like, but you won't change my mind. I know he’s got the claws and the healing factor, and he’s been around a long time, but that does not equal ‘legendary’, not by a Longshot (that was an in-joke for X-Men fans). I can understand why the makers want to make him the lead and the draw for a new series – he was, is and will always be the coolest mofo on the mutant team – but, please, tone down the ridiculous hyperbole. I know, it’s just a press release, but we should have standards, you know what I mean? And let's not get into how he's so not a leader …

Anyway, the trailer itself seems to be an X-fan’s wet dream – it seems that there is going to be an entire series based around the Days of Future Past concept, and trying to prevent it. Look at all the people and stories that turn up – you have Wolverine in his yellow costume (and a reference to Weapon X), as well as Emma Frost (in diamond form), the furry Beast, Iceman. There’s Rogue, Gambit, Angel (the feathered version), Wolfsbane, Domino, Maverick, even Morrison’s Dust. On the flip side, there’s Magneto, Polaris, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Mystique (and did I see Vertigo from the Marauders in there?). We have Genosha and the Sentinels, and there’s even room for Mojo and Spiral for crying out loud. And is that Forge with the goatee at the end? Talk about a kitchen sink mentality; no wonder they’re going to need an entire series … which it is unlikely I will ever get to see, except possibly via YouTube, seeing as all those lovely superhero cartoons don’t make it onto terrestrial or free-to-air digital channels.

To sum up: Wolverine should not be the star or the leader of an X-Men cartoon. However, my inner teenage X-fanboy really wants to see it. I am so conflicted …

From A Library: Batman and The Mad Monk

Batman and The Mad Monk Issues #1–6 by Matt Wagner

(I'm exhausted after the bank holiday weekend, Iron Man and the site redesign. A short post only today)

Matt Wagner is a fantastic visual stylist; he draws a great Batman in the black and grey, a solid figure yet fluid, and the covers for this series are beautiful (which is a shame that the first interior page of each issue is a close-up of a human face that doesn’t look very good in comparison). He has also written some great stories (Mage, Grendel, Sandman Mystery Theatre). However, this tale feels fleshed out and rather thin – a man who seems to be a vampire (an actual vampire, while a thematically natural choice for Batman, doesn’t feel right in the Batman world, especially written and drawn by Wagner – the early scenes with narrative from Gordon watching Batman in action really captures the power of the idea of the Dark Knight, of a man who has made himself into the ultimate crime fighter). Mix this ‘villain’ with the continuation from the previous storyline to do with Bruce Wayne’s girlfriend and her father getting drawn into this arc, and this suffers from the accusation of ‘writing for the trade’. The action scenes are superb and superbly drawn but it doesn’t really engage. Apart from the technical excellence of Wagner’s craft, it makes you think there should be a moratorium on Year One tales.

Film Review: Iron Man

There is a lot of sense in Marvel producing their own film versions of the superheroes. There have been some excellent films based on Marvel characters (step forward X-Men 2 and Spider-Man 2) but there have also been some awful films (Elektra and Blade: Trinity). Also, and more importantly to Marvel, the comic book film is the perfect summer blockbuster: family entertainment with special effects and comic relief, based on tested characters which have had years of fine-tuning to work out problems. Now, the only job is to deliver on the film itself, which is something that Iron Man does to almost near perfection.

This is the first Iron Man film; therefore, it has to have the origin, with a villain thrown in to show off the special FX and the coolness of a man in a flying suit of armour. This is what we get, albeit with the updated version introduced by Warren Ellis in his Extremis graphic novel: Tony Stark gets kidnapped in Afghanistan after a test of one of his new weapons, he builds the first Iron Man armour to escape and then he improves it and uses it for good, to make up for the misery his weapons have caused.

These are the details, but they are handled very well by director Jon Favreau. In this, he his helped by the presence of Robert Downey Jr on screen. He is absolutely perfect as Stark – smart, sharp, funny, slick, sexy. There has never been such spot-on casting. He has to keep you entertained on his own, such as the funny scenes where he is working on the improvements to the suit, and he makes you believe the transformation due to the realisation of what being a weapons manufacturer actually means. Favreau, being a former actor himself, allows the actors to enjoy their dialogue – the scenes between Stark and his secretary, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), sparkle with chemistry and snappy banter.

The next stage of the film is the villain for the ‘super’ fight scenes. The recent animated film tried to connect the origin story with the villain and failed (as I mentioned already); this film wisely separates the origin and the villain, using Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), Tony’s business partner. He wants the arc repulsor technology that Tony created to make more Iron Men to sell to the military, and doesn’t mind killing Tony to do it. Bridges is great in the role, playing two-faced sneakiness and the shouty bombast of a good villain to full effect without hamming it up.

An aside: the choice of Iron Man villain was always going to be difficult. They need to be something believable and grounded in the hyper-normality that the good comic book films use (thereby eliminating many of the fantastical and outré villains that Iron Man has). Also, the most renowned villain for Tony is alcohol, so using the business contemporary who wants to make money by making weapons to contrast with Tony’s new-found desire to do good is an excellent choice.

With Stane creating his own suit of armour, this leads to the big showdown, where the CGI is excellent and the spectacle of seeing two men in flying armour beating each other senseless is thoroughly entertaining. Thus, Iron Man performs as an excellent summer blockbuster AND you want to see more – this is brought home by the final line in the film from Stark (that had me smiling at its bravery and ballsy-ness) and the scene after the credits, with the perfect cameo and a line that makes me want the film that has been announced for 2011 to be ready NOW. Because, if it is going to be as good as this film, then it can’t happen soon enough.

This is a thoroughly entertaining and fun movie; there is a lovely blend of action and characterisation, where you want to see more of both the actors essaying sharp and funny dialogue AND the explodo superhero action. This film delivers it and delivers it well. It can join the likes of X-Men 2, Spider-Man 2, Sin City and Batman Begins in the pantheon of very good and enjoyable comic book movies. Now, can we please have the sequel with the same people very soon?

Rating: DAVE

From A Library – Wolverine: Enemy Of The State

Wolverine #20–25 by Mark Millar & John Romita Jr

Here’s the thing: I think JRJr is a great artist but I think his art can be really ugly sometimes. I know that sounds contradictory, and I can’t fully explain or produce examples – it’s just a feeling. This is one of those occasions. There is spectacular action, superbly staged and choreographed, and excellent storytelling. But I don’t like the details of the artwork. It just doesn’t look appealing. Obviously, there is something wrong with me, but there you have it.

This is blockbuster comics – things don’t necessarily make sense but you go with the flow and enjoy the ride. Wolverine has been captured by Hydra and brainwashed into a double agent sent to kill … well, everyone. Nick Fury and Elektra are on the case, and we get to watch all the fights that occur: versus Elektra, versus an entire SHIELD aircraft carrier, versus sharks (sharks?! Are people just writing stuff for Chris Sims?), versus the Fantastic Four. All this to get new superagents for Hydra so they can be killed by the Hand and revived in a brainwashed capacity. Surely there are easier ways? (Although, the Miller quote suggests there is plenty of material: ‘Official SHIELD estimate is 4,700 costumes in the US as of last summer.’)

Being the best he is at what he does, he kills lots of people – Hornet of the Slingers is killed off panel (which is a little harsh), served up to the gods of ‘this is serious; look, we’ve killed a named hero’. Throughout, all the characters talk the same, which is typical Millar tough guy dialogue – Elektra doesn’t sound the tortured soul where are accustomed to – but it’s all part of the style and you roll with it. You let him do the nice jokes, such as the conversation between Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost: Kitty – ‘Are you talking telepathically?’ Emma – ‘Sorry. Touch of laryngitis.’ Kitty – ‘Maybe you should cover up a little more.’

The bizarre aspect is with the villains behind Baron von Strucker – his third wife, Elspeth: 175 years old, fourth richest person in the world and a satanist. It’s very silly, even for a comic. Anyway, Logan goes to get Matt Murdoch (with some funny jealousy monologue about how he can’t understand how Murdoch gets all the ladies), and they fight, but it’s all a front so that Gorgon can kill Elektra (again – she has the most pitiful, turntable, revolving existence she has in the Marvel universe).

Finally, Logan fights the X-Men (because everyone else has been in the series, so they have to make an appearance) and he gets to kill Northstar before he gets beaten down by Captain America (with the line, ‘Heal this.’ – were all people in the 1940s so quippy or is it just his Captain America?). And so the this first six issues ends satisfactorily but it sets it up for the next six issues – entertaining comic books in the hands of people who know what they are doing.

Books From A Library: Neil Gaiman

Not only do I read a lot of comic books that my local library is so kind to stock for me, I also read the 'normal' stuff (you know, without pictures) as well. Apparently, they have a lot of those sort in the library too … An I reviewed Eternals yesterday, it made sense to talk about some of Neil Gaiman's books I've read recently.

Fragile Things
This is another collection of fiction pieces from Gaiman; poems, very short stories, longer pieces – the highlights are the first and last stories. The first tale is A Study In Emerald, in which the world of Sherlock Holmes meets the world of HP Lovecraft (and won the Hugo Award in 2004) in delightful combination and a lovely twist. The final story is Monarch of the Glen, a novelette about Shadow, from American Gods, featuring Mr Alice and Mr Smith from an earlier story in the collection, which is inspired by Beowulf.

Messrs Alice and Smith feature in Keepsakes and Treasures, about Mr Smith meeting Mr Alice for the first time and the Treasure of the Shahinai, and is an interesting little story that makes me look forward to the future story promised by Neil about how they part ways. There is also The Problem of Susan, which are Gaiman’s thoughts on the Narnia stories and Lewis’ attitude to one of characters, an interesting if unsatisfying diversion. Sunbird is a nice story Gaiman wrote for his daughter’s birthday about a club for people who have eaten everything except for the delicacy of the title. This is an unusual collection of the many different fictions of Gaiman, with some true gems.


Coraline
The story of a young girl, Coraline (definitely not Caroline), who enters a world on the wrong side of a door in her new home where her other parents want to keep her there forever. This other world is similar to the real world, but different, with strange counterparts to the inhabitants of the flats in the converted house in which Coraline lives happily with her real parents. However, she is too smart, determined and resourceful to let that happen. Accompanied by the unusual yet strangely appropriate images of Dave McKean, this a book for children the same age as Coraline who will see adventure in the world which might be seen as scary and know that being resourceful will win the day (and not strength).

Gaiman brings his talent for making a world seem so real through his prose and parlays into a younger reader world without losing his clarity or gift for storytelling. This is quite a gift – to be able to tell tales no matter the age of the reader, and stay free to oneself as a writer and the reader. Coraline is a thoroughly engaging heroine in a scary-exciting world.


The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish
This is how much I enjoy the storytelling of Neil Gaiman: I read a children’s book that he wrote. And, seeing as the library had a problem when they reserved it for me (the wrong code had been stuck on the wrong book, meaning they had reserved another author’s book about teddy bears or something, and I had to go to the trouble of getting it all sorted out, in the children’s section of the library), it goes to show the strange kind of person I am.

This is a wonderful premise for a story – only a child would think of it – and the simple, clear prose and strangely appropriate art of McKean (odd, angular but slightly otherworldly, mixed with a strange realism: for example, there is a drawing of a boy thinking while sitting on an improportionally high-backed chair, with Da Vinci-style diagrams in his brain) come together to provide a thoroughly charming book.

It is funny and true and unreal all at the same time (Lines like ‘She only calls me Young Man if she’s very, very mad.’ or ‘‘‘Oh-oh,’’ said my little sister.’ had me smiling and nodding my head in agreement). As the title states, the boy has swapped his father for two goldfish; his mother forces him to get his father back, only to find he’s been swapped for other things along the way: an electric guitar, a gorilla mask, a white rabbit. Dad hasn’t noticed; he’s been reading his newspaper, which is all dads do all day, isn’t it? The only thing he does is say, ‘Children’, in the fatherly way, to the children when they are arguing. I wish I had had a book like this when I was young.

From A Library: Eternals

Eternals #1 – 7 by Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr

Well, I say that the book is by the two artists, but the hardcover title seems to suggest it was only Neil Gaiman responsible for it. Ah well, marketing types know what they are doing, right?

JRJr is a very important contributor to the book – just look at pages 2 and 3 of the first issue, a double-page spread of the Celestials: a fantastic sense of the cosmic, the size, the dimension. It must be hard to follow Kirby on a Kirby creation, with all the devotion people have to him, but JRJr brings his own sense of the idea of Kirby’s grandiose, larger than life art – it is still Romita’s work but it is bigger in scale and idea, which is the whole point. Be inspired but don’t imitate.

Romita is a strange mix – he is undoubtedly a talented comic book artist: his sense of page composition, panel choice, movement, anatomy and storytelling are all top notch. However, to me, there is a ‘compository’ quality to his figures – you can almost see the circles/cylinders/guidelines that people starting out use to guide their drawings. His faces have a similar shape to them; kid’s eyes and heads are huge; the men have the same tubular shape to their limbs. However, here this fades into the background and the storytelling takes over, which is perfect for this story, alternating between big and small, cosmic and human scale.

Mark Curry is an ER doctor in training; Ike Harris tells him he is an Immortal being put there to safeguard the Earth; Sersi is a flaky party planner; Thena works on weapons for Tony Stark. What is it that connects these characters? Ike gets beaten and blown up, and ends up in the hospital where Mark works. He tells Mark a story – about the Celestials, giant cosmic beings who may have seeded the Earth with life, and took proto-humans and used them to create the 100 Eternals and the countless Deviants (who bred into the millions and took over the world). The Eternals had to stop the Deviants – luckily, the Eternals can’t be killed and have superpowers, which is handy. There were too many, however, so they called the Celestials back (the Second Horde), who killed the Deviants except for a few survivors. Eternals then helped humanity to grow but, about 30 years ago, the Third Horde returned to judge humanity – and that’s when things start to get cloudy for Ike …

Mark allows people who he thinks are doctors to take Ike away – they turn out to be Deviants who try lots of different methods of killing Ike. Mark meets Sersi and feels a connection, and starts to feel some sort of connection to Ike, who he hears asking him for help. Sersi invites him to a party for Druig, the Deputy Prime Minister of Vorozheika (fictional former Russian state) where he has secretly organised a hostage situation only for it to go wrong – this causes Mark to move at hyperspeed to save the hostages, triggering a reappraisal of Ike’s story. He goes to see Sprite, a child television and film star who Ike said was also an Eternal. (There is also a nice nod towards the Civil War situation, as Iron Man, who helped deal with the hostage situation, recognises Sersi, a former Avenger, and confronts her on registration, something she knows nothing about.) Meanwhile, Druig discovers he is aware of the vulnerable spot of everyone around him, something he uses to find out why his junior betrayed him and to find the kidnapped scientists from the party.

Sprite has tricked Mark into running into the Dreaming Celestial (there is some nice Kirby crackle on the two-page spread of the Dreaming Celestial) – Sprite is revealed as the villain of the piece: being: being eleven years old for a million years has messed him up (even inspiring JM Barrie to write Peter Pan wasn’t a positive) and he wants to finally be an adult. His power of illusion, amplified by the unconscious Celestial, caused the Eternals to believe that they were human.

Another Eternal, Ajak finds Zuras, the leader of the Eternals, but now a tramp, and explains the situation – under orders of Zuras, he had hired Deviants to kill Ikaris to help him, and to wake the Dreaming Celestial, which will bring the Horde to cleanse life from the galaxy. So Ikaris, Thena and Sersi go to the Dreaming Celestial – who turns golden: Uatu can’t watch and even Galactus feels afraid. They can’t stop it, and the Dreaming Celestial awakes, in yet another phenomenal double-page spread from Romita. Ikaris, Zuras, Ajak and Druig form the Uni-Mind, but the Celestial turns it off; instead, he talks to Makkari (the Celestial states that he created Makkari specifically), telling him to let the humans, Eternals and Deviants know that the Celestial will wait, listen, absorb and judge before the Horde returns, which will be some time yet.

The final issue, which happens after all this, feels tacked on – the Deviants come to Olympia in Antarctica (home of the Eternals) but they don’t fight because they believe that Makkari is a prophet of the Celestials, who they treat as gods; Zuras kills Sprite for his own benefit; the scene is set for a future ongoing series by having Ikkaris and Makkari searching for the remaining 90 Eternals who are still in human form before the Celestial Horde returns. The only problem is that isn’t going to happen – the series only existed, and did well, because Neil Gaiman wrote it. And he certainly isn’t going to do an ongoing series of any sort anymore. So, the reader is left with part of a story and the promise of more, but no author is going to touch it after Gaiman has been there. (Well, except for the news ongoing series they've decided upon.)

This is an enjoyable story, especially for an almost superhero story from Gaiman. Admittedly, there is a very mythological feel to the whole concept, which is perfect for Gaiman. He does a great job of integrating the story with the Marvel Universe, both previous and current, and, except for the extra endings, it is a satisfactory narrative. It was so good, it made me forget about Kirby (philistine that I am, I am not a fan) and think that the Eternals are not just an embarrassing Kirby remnant.