(from Amazing Comics That Should Never Be Made Into Movies by Brian Steele, April 2017)
These days, you can't toss a tub of popcorn at a movie screen without hitting some superhero saving the world. Comic book movies are in, and Hollywood is desperate to keep the gravy train rolling. If you're a minor Marvel character with an easy to digest backstory, chances are you're going to be getting your own franchise soon enough.
But, while capes and tights might make up most of your local megaplex's showings, there's still a whole world of comic book stories that Hollywood wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.
Whether because they're too complicated, too niche, or just plain too weird, comic books have never been better, but that doesn't mean they're all destined for Hollywood glory. Here are just a few great titles that you should read immediately, because you're never going to see them on the silver screen...
But, while capes and tights might make up most of your local megaplex's showings, there's still a whole world of comic book stories that Hollywood wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.
Whether because they're too complicated, too niche, or just plain too weird, comic books have never been better, but that doesn't mean they're all destined for Hollywood glory. Here are just a few great titles that you should read immediately, because you're never going to see them on the silver screen...
...Cerebus is about a talking aardvark, and if Howard the Duck taught us anything, it's that movies starring anthropomorphic animals can be a hard sell for adults. Written and drawn by Dave Sim, this title has been going strong since the 1970s, with no end in sight. Over the years the titular Cerebus has been a barbarian, a prime minister, and a Pope, exploring our political and social mores through the eyes of an aardvark.
With over 300 issues, divided into 16 drastically different storylines, the plots reach from swords and sorcery all the way to the last days of Oscar Wilde. It is as bizarre as it is massive. To do this story justice would be a herculean task that few outside of the obsessive Dave Sim would be up for. This is an idiosyncratic masterwork, full of its author's frustrating foibles and illuminating ideas. For anyone else to try their hand at it would be to obscure what makes this series worthwhile.
Alan Moore once said, "Cerebus, as if I need to say so, is still to comic books what Hydrogen is to the Periodic Table." And take it from the master, comics is where it belongs...
With over 300 issues, divided into 16 drastically different storylines, the plots reach from swords and sorcery all the way to the last days of Oscar Wilde. It is as bizarre as it is massive. To do this story justice would be a herculean task that few outside of the obsessive Dave Sim would be up for. This is an idiosyncratic masterwork, full of its author's frustrating foibles and illuminating ideas. For anyone else to try their hand at it would be to obscure what makes this series worthwhile.
Alan Moore once said, "Cerebus, as if I need to say so, is still to comic books what Hydrogen is to the Periodic Table." And take it from the master, comics is where it belongs...
2 comments:
But on HBO it could be done to perfection. Just think of how low the budget would be for seasons 15 and 16!!! Ha!
Credited as having been posted in April of this year, Mr. Steele's article states that, "[Cerebus has] over 300 issues" and has been "going since the 1970s, with no end in sight". There is also no mention of the Cerebus 3D Movie project.
He also asserts that Cerebus has 16 different storylines. I guess so, if Church & State I and Church & State II count as "different storylines", or if Going Home and Form & Void count as "different storylines".
Deep and diligent researcher, that Mr. Steele.
--Jeff Seiler
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