Cinema Air

The trend for adapting popular comic book/graphic novel characters into celluloid did not quite hit full swing until 1989, when Tim Burton made the dark and foreboding Batman, inspired by the success of Frank Miller's epochal graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns. Adaptations have reached a fever pitch of output and quality in recent years, with a large majority of the list below made within the past decade. Of course, this list is highly subjective, and pertinent graphic novel recommendations (for films not based on a specific book) follow each annotation. Also included are links to reviews by Rogert Ebert (when available; Fritz the Cat and Howard the Duck were not),

Hulk

directed by Ang Lee
2003
This highly anticipated film debuted in the summer of 2003 to a lukewarm response by comic fans and filmgoers alike. While the CGI version of the Incredible Hulk takes a bit of getting used to, Ang Lee of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame has crafted a glorious ballet of action and the inner turmoil of is lead character. Furthermore, it is the closest this author's eyes have ever seen to a graphic novel represented on screen-Lee employs a myriad of split screens to replicate the look and feel of an actual comic book, all that is missing are the requisite word bubbles. The pathos of Bruce Banner's plight is quite heartfelt, and Lee imbues the story with much more drama and intelligence than the subject matter dictates. Recommended reading: Essential Incredible Hulk by Stan Lee, the godfather of the modern comic book/graphic novel form.

Review

Batman

directed by Tim Burton
1989
As mentioned above, the film that really ingrained in Hollywood bigwigs the value of graphic novel adaptations. Burton has always been heavier on style than substance, and his version of the Caped Crusader is no exception. The plot is fairly useless, but the set design and overall bleak mood is unparalled in comic book adaptations. Both Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton do flawless jobs in their roles as the Joker and Batman, respectively. Huge inspiration was taken from the Frank Miller graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, which along with Alan Moore's Watchmen ushered in a new wave of "literate" graphic novel reading in the mid 80's….comic were not just little kid's stuff anymore, and neither were their films.

Review

Ghost World

directed by Terry Zwigoff
2001
Zwigoff was no stranger to graphic novels when he approached this film, based on Daniel Clowes popular book of two embittered teenage girls trying to find their place in a world they find banal, cliché and pointless, having previously directed the documentary Crumb, an expose of the legendary underground comic artist from the sixties (another character who had quite a bit of trouble fitting into the rigors of "normal" society). Zwigoff expertly shows the disillusion of the its two protagonists, as played by Thora Birch and Scarlett Johanssen. Steve Buscemi also does an amazing job as the record collector (highly based of R. Crumb in fact) who befriends the young Birch character, and gives both of its teenage anti-heroes a glimpse of what it means to be truly out of place in the world, to be marginalized straight out of "normal" society.

Review

X-Men

directed by Bryan Singer
2000
Singer took on the daunting task of adapting one of the most popular comic book and graphic novel series of all time, with a cast of revolving characters large enough to fill Texas. He did not disappoint with this, or its sequel, both top notch adaptations with strong social and political import-the stories revolve around a race of mutants who now live in society, each possessing a "special power" that has the ability to both harm and help others (i.e. Wolverine has "adamantium" claws that protrude from his hands in defense; his whole skeleton, actually, is made of the metal. Of course, when the metal emerges from his hands,, you can imagine that might hurt just a tad). Singer sets up the universe well, devoting a good amount of time in developing the myriad of characters, without lapsing into childlike simplicity. Suggested reading: X-Men: Phoenix Rising by Robert Stern.

Review

American Splendor

directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
2003
Not an "adaptation" in the strictest sense, this film is more an amalgamation of several techniques, employing animation, documentary, and fictionalized recreation to tell the story of Harvey Pekar, an underground comic artist and friend of R. Crumb's, who, quite unfortunately, could not draw. He wrote many stories however on the wry observations of his daily life as a file clerk, which others in turn would draw for him. The books entailed the odd characters he meets, the frustration of picking the wrong shopping line,and the definition of a true nerd, amongst others. All the elements of his life made it into his graphic novels, and this film does an exquisite job of representing the curmudgeon that is Harvey Pekar as seen in his extraordinarily realistic graphic novels. It does not get more "down to earth" than this.

Review

Mystery Men

directed by Kinka Usher
1998
An often overlooked film that unfortunately failed at the box-office, this is in actuality a very funny movie based on the cult series Flaming Carrot (the Mystery Men were first introduced in that series) written by Bob Burden. It concerns a city that actually has too many superheroes, and many second rate ones must compete with Captain Amazing, the true "superhero" of the populous. A motley team of characters with names/powers such as the "Shoveler," "Invisible Boy" (who is never actually invisible), and the "Spleen" (whose power is farting) form a "justice league" to attempt a rescue of the kidnapped Captain Amazing, and prevent their city from being destructed, all the while learning the true powers that come from within themselves…..awww. A very dry sensibility combined with enough goofily appealing humor that any junior high viewer would find hard to resist.

Review

Fritz the Cat

directed by Ralph Bashki
1972
***WARNING: There is a rated version of this film available. The original cut of the movie was X-rated. Sorry, kids…..find the edited one, okay?*** Based on R. Crumb's series of comics and novels, Fritz the Cat was a truly psychedelic swinging hero, able to charm all the female cats and throw the wildest parties with equal zeal. Crude and sophomoric humor abound, but the animation style was a revolution at its time, and this often made the underground circuit of midnight showings, attracting a wide array of outsiders looking to trip out to the surreal and bizarre adventure of Fritz through many facets of the sixties counterculture.

animator Ralph Bashki's website

Honorable mention…..

Clerks/Bluntman and Chronic

written by Kevin Smith
2001
Most comics transfer directly to film, and any one that happens in reverse is typically the result of a crass commercial cash in. Smith, however, is a devoted comic book fan, and all of his movies to date refer to them in one fashion or another. Furthermore, each of his films, while not direct sequels to each other, have a continuity between them, with recurring characters, names, and places. Smith took this universe of his (dubbed the "Askewniverse" after his production company) and continued it on through a series of graphic novels, often using the plots therein as direct threads to what would occur in his next film (i.e. Chasing Dogma is the events immediately following his two stock characters exit from the film Chasing Amy leading directly up to their appearance in his next film Dogma). Other sequences in the books represent "lost scenes" from the movies, or in the case of Bluntman and Chronic, an actualization of the comic book the two protagonists in Chasing Amy draw based on Smith's recurring characters Jay and Silent Bob. The novel is even credited to Holden MacNeil and Banky Edwards, the names of the comic book artist characters from the film. *****WARNING: questionable material herein for young children…appropriate for high school ages only….****

Clerks review Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back review Chasing Amy review

And now, some "turds"…..

*Not all graphic novel adaptations are glorious however…..quite a few clunkers have poked on through, not least amongst them the travesty that was Howard the Duck (review)George Lucas of Star Wars fame took a fairly amusing and crude graphic novel series and turned it into one of the well-acknowledged worst films of all time. Unfunny, tacky, and nonsensical, it is no surprise after watching this what Lucas ending up doing with his Star Wars prequels…..
*Judge Dredd (review) was an adaptation of the titular hero, played by Sylvester Stallone, taking a dark and action packed graphic novel and turning it into a mess of a movie, adding in the unnecessary character of Rob ("Copy Guy" from Saturday Night Live) Schneider as comic relief…..
*Also to avoid, the recent Daredevil (review)adaptation with Ben Affleck, a film that yet again took a character well represented in graphic novel form by Frank Miller and Kevin Smith (who actually cameos in the movie…for shame!) to name a couple and loads it up with pitiful montages and a whole host of sub-par modern rock songs…..
*Most distasteful of all however, might be the recent League of Extraorlemendinary Gentlemen (review), based on the comics and graphic novels of the same name by Alan Moore (of Watchmen fame), one of the best writers working in comics and graphic novels today. The filmmakers took a truly literate story (the main characters are all figures from popular fiction, á la Captain Nemo, Allen Quartermain, Jeckyll and Hyde) and turned in a film, that, yet again, never failed to surprise in its ability to resort to the lowest common denominators of entertainment.