Broken Frontier

Just about anyone reading this is very familiar with the term “comic-to-film,” right? You’ve read the comics, and now, in many cases, you’ve seen the films: Batman (& Robin), Superman, Supergirl, Catwoman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Daredevil, Elektra, Punisher, Blade, Hulk (hey, I’m sensing a trend here!), Spawn, Judge Dredd, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I could go on for a while here. These are just the characters most comic book readers, and even the general public, are familiar with these days.

What about Men in Black? Did you see that movie? I bet you did. It grossed $589,390,539 worldwide. That makes it one of the twenty-five top grossing films of all time. Did you see the sequel? Well, fewer of you did, but it grossed $441,818,803 worldwide. More than any James Bond film ever has. (You know, Bond, James Bond?) Now, have you read a Men in Black comic book?

Not many people have actually read a Men in Black comic book. That didn’t stop MiB from becoming a blockbuster movie franchise (and cartoon show—but this is about comics-to-film, comics-to-screen is another column!). I bet I could find a MiB kid’s meal toy in just about every flea market in America , but the search for the comics would yield leaner results. You can trust me; i t r eally was a comic series before it was a film. That series was created and written by...Stan Lee! Noooo. Bob Kane! Uh-uh. Todd McFarlane! Acapulc-no. Neil Gaiman? No, no, no, and no again.

Men in Black was created and written by first-time comic writer Lowell Cunningham. The original black-and-white series was published by Malibu after every other U.S. publisher passed on it. How is such a thing possible? It took decades (not even counting the years lost to legal battles) to get a major motion picture based on Spider-Man made—even though millions of issues were in print and reprint. How does a black and white comic series printed in the thousands (maybe) get made into a huge feature film? It has to be a fluke.

Consider The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Oh, you’ve heard of that, I mean, now you have. The film’s based on a wildly popular comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill. However, when 20^th Century Fox decided to option the rights to that property and go into development on a feature, the books hadn’t even come out yet! The wildly popular part of the equation had yet to be established. Fine, Alan Moore is a known quantity, you say.

What about The Mask? That hit film arguably launched Jim Carrey’s career into the superstar stratosphere—yeah, Cameron Diaz got a boost too (both were unknowns when cast). That hit film based on a hit comic book, right? More like a comic book with a cult following from a publisher (Dark Horse) who, at the time, regularly published their comics in black and white. And speaking of Dark Horse and things cultic, as in occultic, how about a multi-million dollar film based on a comic book character called Hellboy? Hellboy, the book’s central character being red and complete with sawed off horns, a tail, and all that.

I began this article by mentioning the Big Guns of comic books and their comic-to-film adaptations, but I can name just as many relatively obscure characters or titles that have been plucked from the collections of hardcore comic readers and splashed onto the big screen for the entire movie-going world to see.

Dare me? What would Stan say? Double Daredevil me?

Taken! I already mentioned MiB, TLoEG, The Mask, and Hellboy, so I’ll go on to Road to Perdition, The Crow, The Rocketeer, Timecop, From Hell, Mystery Men, Bulletproof Monk, Ghost World, American Splendor (which is as much a comic-to-film adaptation as it is a biopic), and cheat a bit to add Aliens Vs. Predator because it wouldn’t have been made if the Dark Horse comic wouldn’t have come first. I even left a few out.

How many of the films based on the lesser-known comic books were both good and successful? Well, how many of the films based on the household name comic books were good and successful? For that matter, how many Hollywood films in general are good and successful? That’s no t r eally the point.

What’s the point? Where am I going with this? I think you can already see it; the point is comic-to-film doesn’t mean Marvel-or-DC-comic-to-film. Comic-to-film doesn’t even mean million-selling-hit-award-winning-star-powered-comic-to-film. And, if you haven’t already noticed many of the previously “unknown” or “cult” comics adapted to film aren’t cut from the costumed “superhero” mold. MiB, Road to Perdition, and From Hell would be examples of films that the general-public would have no idea—and wouldn’t really care—if the film were based on a previously published comic book.

Comic books are a visual medium storytellers use to create, shape, and mold characters and tell their stories. It’s a unique medium to be sure, but it’s a storyteller’s medium nonetheless.

Film is also a visual medium storytellers use to create, shape, and mold characters and tell their stories. It’s a unique medium to be sure, but it’s also a storyteller’s medium nonetheless.

You can see why these two mediums are intersecting more and more. Storytellers tell stories using comic books. Filmmakers tell stories using film. Often, filmmakers are looking for stories to adapt and look to other mediums, comics being increasingly one of them. (And the reverse is true with comic book publishers adapting films into comic books!)

So, who will the next Lowell Cunningham, comic book storyteller and independent creator of something as well known worldwide as MiB? There is another (I’m mixing genres now). Someone, somewhere, sometime...it will happen again. Could it be you? Maybe that sounds too impossible, but you know, it doesn’t even have to be another MiB global phenomenon. You might have a comic book in you that could be adapted into another Ghost World, a great little film that found an audience and was nominated for an Oscar. Can you imagine stars of the caliber of Paul Newman, Tom Hanks, and Jude Law starring in your comic-to-film adaptation? It’s happened before, it’ll happen again for some enthusiastic and talented comic creator.

So, where do you start? Do you need to get an agen t r ight away and figure out how to get a meeting with a producer or studio exec? No. You start with your story. Like anything else, you begin at the beginning. Craft an outline, write a script...rewrite your script. Find an artist (maybe you are the artist), collaborate on the story (comics are words and pictures after all!). If you are going to partner with an artist for shared ownership of the intellectual property, put this in writing and sign off on it with the other creator.

Before you actually have the entire first issue illustrated, you can opt to “pitch” your comic to another publisher. Some publishers want to see at least five pages of interior art and an outline of your story. Check the official Web sites of the various comic book publishers to see if they accept submissions, and if so, what their individual guidelines are.

Scott will be back in two weeks with the sequel to Comics 2 Film…  

Scott Kinney is a storyteller at heart. The first issue is his full color, four-issue mini-series from Alias Publishing, Killer Stunts, Inc. , available for preorder in the April cover dated Diamond Previews (shipping to stores the last week of January). He has had two of his comic book properties optioned for feature film, and has executive produced the short film FliP  for Spooklight Productions. FLiP was an official selection of twelve national and international film festivals including the San Diego Comic-Con International Film Festival, and has been nominated for a 2004 Rondo Award.