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Shop talk with a comics geek
Hollywood’s been cranking out comic book movie after comic
book movie lately (as if you haven’t noticed). Marvel
Comic’s recent hits included the X-Men series, Blade (starring
Wesley Snipes), Spider-man, Daredevil and, soon, The Incredible
Hulk. What’s fueling this recent onslaught of superhero
exploits? When looking for information on why your car won’t
start, all you need to do is pop right on into an auto shop or
dealer and ask the experts. When looking for information on the
world of comics and all things of that genre, one only need to
pop into your local comic book store.
That is exactly what I did.
Kurt Wood is the manager of Collector’s Edge North comics on
Burleigh St. and an expert on the comic book world. Kurt was
introduced to comics from the action figure heroes he got as a
kid, some that had comics associated with them. He was instantly
hooked and started collecting. Now, his hobby has turned into a
job, with access to all the comics he could possibly read.
I learned a few things from Kurt. For one, the character Captain
America has been around for over sixty years. His book started
in 1941, the first cover being Captain America punching out
Adolph Hitler. After World War II, super hero stories started to
waver off and the Captain was canceled. They didn’t have those
war stories to stand on, Kurt says, and comedies and romances
were the big post-war hits. It was not until the early 1960s
that Captain America was permanently revived as the Marvel age
began with The Fantastic Four, Thor, Daredevil, Spider-Man and
The Incredible Hulk. (Before that the company was known as Atlas
or Timely comics).
Kurt’s first introduction to the Hulk was from the
“Incredible Hulk” TV shows he saw in syndication. He feels
Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno really brought out the duel
personality and the torment of the character.
“The Hulk did come out and do some good, but we always see
David Banner on the road never settling down,” Kurt says.
“The great thing about ‘The Hulk’ show was you got a sense
of how incredibly strong this character would be in real
life.”
He goes on to say “The Hulk” TV show is one of his favorite
comic book adaptations of all-time. The Hulk character is cut
from the same cloth that Superman, Batman and Spider-man comes
from. There is something in each character we can all see, latch
on to and understand. With Spider-man we understand that with
great power comes great responsibility. We understand the scars
Batman bears after the murder of his parents. With Superman,
he’s the lone survivor protecting his new home. With Hulk, we
all know what it’s like to have that darker side we try to
suppress.
Comic books-to-movies seems like a perfect leap, according to
Kurt.
“When you look at the way movies are made and you see they
have to go through story boards, it’s a perfect fit,” he
points out. “Basically a comic is like a story board,
sequential art without the in-between motions which we fill in
with our minds.”
Comics-to-movies goes back a long way. Kurt likes to trace it
back to the old serials like “Flash Gordon,” with Buster
Crab, in the 1930s. From there, you get your Supermans and
Captain Americas. The big rebirth in the 1970s of the comic book
movie was with Christopher Reeves Superman. Still one of the
all-time greatest adaptations to date, Superman, is what fanboys
measure the comic book movie by.
Then came Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989, with Michael Keaton and
Jack Nicholson as The Joker. The comic movie was in vogue once
again. Michael Keaton gave a great performance as a subtly
disturbed Bruce Wayne, and Jack Nicholson was a creepy
over-the-top Joker. Tim Burton’s gothic atmosphere seemed to
fit the story flawlessly. Unfortunately, that didn’t last. New
director Joel Schumacher brought in new atmosphere … camp.
Batman and Robin flopped and DC Comics, owned by Warner
Brothers, lost interest in bringing its characters to the big
screen.
According to Kurt, the comic movies in that period, Sly
Stallone’s Judge Dreads, and Todd McFarland’s Spawn missed
the mark because the movie audience didn’t recognize the
characters enough to deal with the faithful adaptations of those
films.
Five years later, a once again newly invigorated Marvel Comics,
led by Avi Arid, took a long shot and launched the Wesley Snipes
vehicle, Blade -- about a rather minor character from Marvel’s
Tomb of Dracula. Kurt says they took Blade, got rid of most of
his comic book origins, and tweaked it for a new audience.
Marvel scored. Later Spider-man would go on to earn over $800
million at the box office. Marvel seems to have the right
formula now: six number one movies with two Blades, two X-Men, a
Spider-man and a Daredevil, with a Hulk on the way.
So I asked Kurt what’s next?
Well, there is certainly going to be a Punisher movie with John
Travolta providing the villainy. Fantastic Four and a new
Superman and Batman are slated for production. “X-Men two
illustrates that if you do these stories correctly and make them
believable, people will come back,” Kurt says. “... And
that’s the new breed of comic book movies. You have to make it
believable that a kid can swing from webs or a guy can pop claws
out of his hands.”•
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