“Is he strong?
Listen bud,
He's got radioactive blood.
Can he swing from a thread?
Take a look overhead
Hey, there
There goes the Spider-Man”
~ ‘Spider-Man Theme Song’, by Paul Francis Webster and Robert Harris
from the cartoon “Spider-Man”, 1967
During my formative years in the eighties, my older brother used to read comic books. When the opportunities presented themselves, I would often have a read myself, and allow myself to be caught up in the magical fantasy worlds they portrayed, of square jawed heroes with abs chiseled from rock, ludicrously proportioned women, and twisted, evil villains bent on world conquest. My brother’s predilections were the super-heroes of both major rival American comic book companies, Marvel Comics and DC Comics, often referred to in industry circles as the ‘Big 2’. I remember tentatively starting my own collection after Big Bro moved out of home, reading and buying comics in the early mornings spent frequenting the local newsagent before I attended my daily paper round.
I believe very firmly in comic books as a storytelling medium. Each different way of telling a story has implicit weaknesses. Oral story telling lacks a visualisation other than that which is conjured by the listener. Similarly, prose allows no visuals other than what the author describes, and fast paced action is difficult to write as it often reads more slowly than the action unfolds. Film obviously allows for visuals and action can be seen to unfold in real time, but backstory is difficult without often clunky expository dialogue or voice-overs. Emotion and thought can usually only be shown through word and action. In addition, while the advent of CGI means filmmakers are limited only by their imaginations, it can get very expensive to bring those imaginings to life.
Comic-style stories can show anything that can be imagined without budgetary considerations. In addition, displaying a character’s thoughts is just as easy as dialogue, even though ‘thought balloons’ have not been fashionable in comics in recent years. Where comics can sometimes struggle (especially if the artist is a weak storyteller) is in its choosing of which static pictures it uses to adequately show what may be a complex sequence of actions.
Stan Lee, arguably the father (or perhaps the demented uncle) of modern American comics and creator of Spider-Man, Captain America, Thor, Ironman, The Hulk, The Avengers, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, once told a story of meeting a supposed patron of the arts at a painting exhibition in gallery for fine art.* When the gentleman Stan was talking to suggested comic book artists were not in the same class as fine artists whose work hangs in galleries, Stan retorted “You’re blinkin’ right they’re not in the same class. Your so-called ‘fine artists’ do what they please, when they please, answering to no-one and with no deadline hanging over their heads. Their work, if and when it’s finally seen by anyone, might bring pleasure to a select few. The comicbook artist, on the other hand, must work under pressure, must meet the approval of his editor, publisher and countless readers...”
He goes further to add “The comicbook artist must compose scene after scene, depict a story clearly and dramatically, create a never-ending series of characters, poses, locales, and perspectives, and do all that and more in the length of time it usually takes a ‘fine’ artist to set up an easel and mix some paints!”
Of course, Stan is very much the comic book apologist, but he makes some sound arguments. Many comic artists also have their work hung in galleries, because it is often that good. Most comic artists are serious about their craft, and are capable of creating some stunning visuals. Obviously, the visual storytelling of comic books is reminiscent of the storyboards used in the creation of movies, so it’s no surprise that there has been a glut of movies starring many of the heroes of Marvel and DC. This is especially so since the exponential growth in the use of CGI special effects in movies. Film technology has finally caught up with the imaginations that comic book writers and artists have been exercising for decades.
Movies have been using special effects for as long as there has been movies, but CGI has provided a level of realism seldom before seen. These improvements have not necessarily lead to better quality movies of course; stunning CGI effects are incapable of lifting a movie out of the mire of mediocrity without a decent plot, engaging stories and interesting, fully realised characters. It is truly astonishing that movie producers and creative folk don’t seem to always get that, and continue to churn out bombastic bits of nonsense. Perhaps this is because film goers are often sucked in by the hype and marketing that often surrounds such films, lending them undeserved success.
I’m glad that for every dog’s breakfast like Batman and Robin (1997), Daredevil (2003) and Ghost Rider (2007)**, there is an Iron Man (2008), The Dark Knight (2008) and X-Men: First Class (2011) to balance the quality ledger. The fact that those ledger-balancing films are brilliantly conceived and masterfully created movies first and super-hero movies second means more movies of similar quality have a good chance of being made in the future.
What many may find surprising is the number of mainstream movies based on comic books that don’t feature superheroes. Movies such as The Crow (1995), Men In Black (1997), Ghost World (2001), Road To Perdition (2002), American Splendor (2003), A History Of Violence (2005) Sin City (2005), Constantine (2005), 30 Days Of Night (2007), 300 (2007), Surrogates (2009), The Losers (2010), and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), to name just a few from recent years. It seems to me that comic books have much more to offer than just superheroics. The reasons why they seldom do are interesting... and a discussion for next week.
*This tale was recounted in a ‘Stan’s Soapbox’, a semi-regular editorial found in many Marvel comics of yesteryear. This particular ‘Stan’s Soapbox’ was found in all the Marvel Comics released in December 1993.
**Incidentally, the Daredevil and Ghost Rider were both written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson - any chance Hollywood will stop allowing him to make super-hero films? Please?
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