Review: Comic-con episode IV: A Fan’s Hope

There have never been any really great documentaries on comic book fandom.  There are many great documentaries on the industry, the medium or specific characters or creators, but nothing about the fans themselves that I can recall.  After viewing Comic-con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope on PPV last night, I can safely say that there still are not any really great documentaries on this subject.

Not so say this isn’t a good documentary, it just does not have that much to do with comic fans, much like many cons today.  THE comic-con in San Diego has been around since 1970, and for most of that time, has been about and for comics and comic fandom.  In the last 10 years or so, that has changed.  Now the con is a platform for the other entertainment media to showcase or preview their genre properties.  Comics have been pushed to the side.  There are many great comic-cons, this is just not one of them anymore.  At this point I should mention that I have not yet been to this convention.  It is one that I one day hope to go to, just for the experience, just not yet.

The film follows a fairly well established and unfortunately predictable formula.  Most documentaries are about a thing or an event either done after the fact, or as that thing or event is happening.  This film is the latter, and to get that on film, much has to be done before hand.   To achieve that, there is a lot of casting for the people who you will follow.  This is the greatest weak point in the film.  The people cast are done for the appearance of variety, but they do not really hit that mark, and the events that we will see are telegraphed and very easy to predict.  Two of the people followed to the con are would-be comic artists, and you know before they get there that one will succeed and the other will fail.  There had to be some pretty tight vetting to preview what would happen to these guys, and it shows to some degree.  You do feel for them and are excited for them, but it falls short of any real human interest or drama.

The only “fans” that they follow are a young couple that met at the previous year’s con and are together for this one.  But rather than show the con experience, we get to see the guy’s attempt to ask his girlfriend to marry him at the Kevin Smith panel.  There is nothing about the con, this could have taken place anywhere.  The guy keeps trying to get away to set things up and get the ring, while the girl is just a cligy pain.  Another instance of the production setting things up to make it camera worthy, is the fact that he actually gets to ask the question with Kevin Smith watching.  The odds of that happening for real to just any guy at the con are low.

Another group being followed is a group of costume designers.  Their story is interesting and well realized here.  You grow interested in what they do very quickly, and the events they experience are shown clearly.  A toy collector is also shown briefly, but the effect created here is that he is there for one thing and one thing only.  He gets to the booth carrying his desired toy, and then his con appears to be over, his goal met.  It comes off as kind of pathetic.

The last person followed for this documentary was Chuck Roganski.  Owner and founder of Mile High Comics, he is one of the most significant figures in the comic collecting world.  He is shown all too briefly preparing for and going to the show to sell books, including the very rare and valuable Red Raven from the early Atlas/Marvel days.  Chuck redefined collecting in the early days with his finding and selling of a pedigree collection collectively known as “The Mile High” books.  The Mile-Highs were a huge collection of extremely high-grade golden and silver age key books.  These books changed the face of comic collecting forever and made Chuck a major player in the comics retail and collecting industry.  None of this is mentioned and he comes off as just a tired old guy trying to make a buck off of fans.  Even the description of Red Raven #1 comes off poorly, as though he is trying to sell some bit of trumped-up crap for far more than it is worth.  Someone of Chuck’s fame (or infamy, depending on who you ask) deserved better.

There are several brief snippets of comic creators and people like Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon (credited along with Stan Lee, as Producers), many stating that comic-con isn’t really about comics anymore, but nothing else of substance.  This film is about Comic-con, and does show an accurate, if cursory view of the show.  There is nothing of any depth here which is a shame as there are some really interesting things to see at this and other shows.  Artist’ alley and the dealer floor can be amazing places to visit even if you are not a fan, and they are not represented at all, the only play the dealers get is through Chuck, and that is not much.

What this film does show is that Comic-con is an entirely different beast than it once was.  Not really for comic fans anymore, it is an all-encompassing multi-media showcase.  It is neither good nor bad; it just isn’t what a lot of the old timers want now.  The movie will feel very much the same.

Why not these comics as movies & TV…?

With all the effort and money being spent on movies and TV shows based on comic book properties, I was thinking about some of the untapped potential out there to convert comic properties into either movies or TV series.

The first one that seems to get the most regular fan service is Sandman.  Personally, I think this would make an awful movie, or at least need to be so changed to translate, that it would offend every fan of the book out there.  Make no mistake, I am a fan of this book, but this is just not going to make a good film.  It would make a great TV series though.  I know they are working on American Gods and I hope that it translates well giving Gaiman and the producers the desire to try it with Sandman. 

Another book I would really like to see done for TV is Mage by Matt Wagner.  The style of this story would lend itself well to the format and be a very fun series.  Despite the need for some serious special effects in the story, they are manageable; the cast would be a relatively small one.  To be honest though, I would just be happy if the final book of the 3 book series would show up before I die.  Wagner’s other property; Grendel would also make for a pretty decent ongoing TV series.

Something that might make a fun all ages film is Joe the Barbarian, by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy.  It could be done as light or as dark depending on what the film makers want.  The story is something that could be very malleable without wholesale changes and is a touching and involving story that can reach any audience.  Another good potential source for another all ages film is I Kill Giants.  This is still one of my favorite books and I cannot imagine this one failing if it were done by someone good.  Hey, Pixar, jump at it!

Why Strangers in Paradise has not been done as a TV show is beyond me.  Terry Moore’s masterpiece has it all.  Drama, complex relationships, sex, violence and plenty of room for melodrama of the prime time soap variety.  It crosses most of the adult target demographics and still manages a very powerful and intense story.  This would most certainly need to be on a network like HBO, as the content would need to be fairly adult, but this show just screams “must watch”.

Paul Chadwick’s Concrete might translate well to either medium, really.  It is such a well told story that just about any way you decided to tell it, could work.  There is the sci-fi/fantasy element and the dramatic aspects that could really set a show based on this one of the coolest offerings in either medium.

Am I the only one out there that would love to see another Rocketeer movie?  Slap Zac Effron or Taylor Lautner in the helmet and that is a movie that makes a pile of cash. (The wife unit agrees strongly on this one)

Since Hollywood is doing so much rebooting, it would be nice to see some of the books that were ruined back in the day, be given a proper treatment.  Dr Strange could be super cool now and Marvel is said to be working on it.  The 1978 made-for-TV movie starring Peter Hooten was so cheaply done that it is actually a little trippy and cool, but with all the play sparkly vampires and young monster hunters get these days, just make him a 20 something (or a very youthful and cool 30) and this film sells itself.

I would like to see another try at Isis too.  The Saturday morning Shazam/Isis Power Hour was fun for the mid 70’s and could probably be well done today.  But that is just me wishing. 

A failed attempt to bring Wonder Woman back last year shows that the mainstream is not ready for this one yet.  Either David E Kelly tanked it or a Linda Carter-less show is just not going to fly .  Speaking of failed tries, Global Frequency had lots of potential but Warner Brothers soured on it when they failed to grasp the viral quality of fans on the internet. At least the pilot is out the to be downloaded.

These and all the great series that have made good cartoons series like FF, Justice League etc; there are piles of worthy material waiting to be tapped.

The 2011 Comic Book Movies.

The summer 2011 movies season is winding down.  At least as far as comic book films is concerned.  Here are a few thought, not that you asked, on the good and the not so good for 2011…

In review, the main list for 2011 is…

1.  Green Hornet–Oh holy God!  Did anyone really take this movie seriously?   Seth Rogan?  Really?  I know the original TV show was pretty camp, but i would think we would be past that and want to make a good adventure movie.  There was a lot of potential for this one that was simply lost once they didn’t take the casting seriously.  You cannot spend $120 million to make a movie and do it as a comedy adventure based on a 40+ year old TV show that few really remember and expect to make money.  This was a bad idea from the start.  Also, it is not a comic book film strictly speaking.  The Green Hornet started life as a radio program in the 1930’s.  Comics came later, but today’s journalists are just plain lazy and like to group this in, so here you go, for what it’s worth.

2.  Priest–Based on the Korean comic of the same name, this one was never going to make much of a splash in the box office.  Having made $76 mil WW, this technically did clear a profit, but not much of one.  Since the cost figures do not always include promotion (it depends on who is doing the math) there is nothing on the face of this Earth that makes this movie a success.  It is on video in a couple of weeks, maybe it can bring in enough money from the overseas markets to make this one a little better for the studio.  My thought was, why go see Paul Bettany in a role that I have seen him do a few too many films now.  Go back to the artsy comedies Paul. 

3.  Dylan Dog–So obscure, most people (even fans of the book) didn’t even know it was being made.  Based on an Italian comic.  This on e looked fun and I do like Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington.  I have yet to see it and plan on at least giving it a rental.  The real fault here was that there was very little marketing on the run up.  Really, I spoke to several comic fans and some were fans of this book, they had no idea that there was a film.  Too bad, this one might have found an audience, had the potential audience been aware of its existence.

4.  Thor–The first big release in the genre and a great film.  (see review posted May 17)  As of this post the film has a WW gross of just under $448 mil.  The US gross was a little low according to some at $180 mil, but a sequel has been greenlit and even without Kenneth Brannagh directing, I will be there.  This film met every expectation for me and exceeded some of them.  This was a treat from start to finish!

5.  X-Men:  First Class–This was the best of the year for me, but only by a slim margin.  (see review posted June 5th)  There is almost nothing I could find to fault this film.  There were some possible continuity issues with some of the other films, but since this is the better film in those cases, I will defer to this one.  I like the casting of the leads and of most of the supporting cast, and I thought this one hit all the right notes.  Somehow though, this film is not being viewed as a success.  At $100 million less in total WW grosses and an opening weekend that was just shy of expectations, I suppose I can see the issue.  But I am willing to be this film does very good business on video.  Come on FOX, give this one another chance!  I would have put the poster up for you, but the posters campaign (all the marketing really) for this film was crap!

6.  Green Lantern–Ugh!  This was a HUGE disappointment.  It wasnt that this film was bad, just that it failed to be what it should have and could have been.  Ryan Reynolds, while good, just was not right for the role.  I know, I know, the studios want the film to skew a little younger, but maybe a better casting choice would have saved this one.  that and a script that committed to the premise instead of skirting around it.  there is a lot of money and talent up on the screen, it just failed to gel into a decent movie.  The money this film has made tells pretty much exactly that.  At a WW gross to date of $154 million, this film will have to rely on its video release to cover the rest of its $200 million dollar cost.  Remember when Titanic was the first film made for $200 mil, and we all thought that it was way too much to spend on a movie and that it would surely fail?  Ah, the good old days!

7.  Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon –IS NOT A COMIC BOOK MOVIE!  I wish all the reviews that think they know what they are talking about would do a little research!  Lazy pricks!  I will see this on video, but only to be a completest.  But that was my thought on the second and third Pirates movies and I regret seeing those crap sandwiches to this day!

8.  Captain America:  The First Avenger–Another winner!  This film did not disappoint in any way, other than that it just left me wanting more!

9.  Cowboys & Aliens–Looks like this one will end up disappointing at the box office too.  Another one with great potential that will be largely unrealized.

10.  Conan the Barbarian–ALSO not technically a comic book film, but almost everyone familiar with the character today either knows it from the Ah-nold movies or the comics so this one I will give a pass to.  (If you have not read the original Robert E Howard stories, you are missing the best Conan stuff available)  When this releases, I would expect about a $35 million dollar opening.  Anything less and the movie will be considered a failure.

This year has been a mixed bag, more than most.  From the varied performance to the movies left standing  like the ugly girl waiting for someone to dance with, to a real lack of fan support in some of the cases, I am left asking if the bubble has not burst for the comic book films.  There was plenty of deserving, quality stuff that failed to perform, so the old chestnut about putting a good product out there will be enough to fill the seats just does not hold up.

Yet to come later this year and into next are…

Deadpool –Don’t really see the point, but whatever.
Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance–See previous note.
Men in Black 3 —Potentially very cool, potentially very bad.

The Avengers–I SO want to see this movie!!!!!!!!

The Dark Knight Rises–I don’t think Harry Potter 7b will hold the record for opening weekend for more than a year.  Sorry Muggles.

Spidey re-boot–Ugh!  Costume looks good though.

In the end, we all need to support the good films and ignore the crud.  Now get out there.

to get you ready, an image of Tom Hardy as Bane…

Captain America: The First Avenger–The review.

I have been looking forward to this film all summer.  My hopes were high, particularly once footage and trailers started coming out.  I have been a Cap fan since I was a kid.  Not always a fan of the comics mind you, but of the character.  In cartoons and movies all through growing up, there has never been a more interesting character to me.

Which is not to say that every bit of it has been good.

In the 1940’s, shortly after the Captain’s debut, a movie serial from Republic Pictures was started up.  Staring Dick Purcell, this series bore little resemblance to even the character in the comics of the day.  The only thing that was the same was the costume.

Dick Purcell as Captain America-sort of.

It really was fun by the standards of the day.  It was popular with audiences, though there were no attempts to make more.  By today’s standards this, along with most of the serials of the day are not much more than harmless fun.

Then in 1979 there were 2 pretty bad TV films starring Reb Brown.  He was not bad and for the day they were made, they were not completely unwatchable.  But the attempt to make them fit into a modern context and change the costume to something that looks a bit disco to me, make these 2 movies more embarrassing than anything else.  I will confess to really wanting that bike when I was a kid though.

Reb Brown as Rod Stewart as Captain America!

Then there was Matt Salinger (son of Catcher in the Rye author J.D.) in 1990.  The film is not as bad as all those people who never saw it say it was.  Really.  It has it’s fair share of hokey, and Red Skull is Italian instead of German, but beyond that, it is reasonably faithful to the core concepts.  There are LOTS of things wrong with this movie, but it is at least more watchable than the Nick Fury movie starring David Hasslehoff, which has to be the very worst comic to film adaptation I have ever seen.  The 1990 Captain America movie will be released on Blu-ray August 2nd 2011.  Any real Cap fans should give it a rental at least.

Captain in the Rye

Now to the reason we are here.  Captain America:  The First Avenger is a great summer movie, and a fine film version of the character.  The film starts with a modern-day setting on a dark ice flow in the middle of nowhere.  After that the body of the film is flashback, set in WWII.  Most importantly, the people who were worried that Chris Evans would not pull this off were wrong.  Dead wrong.  Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern was a mistake, but not this.  He is perfect as the skinny helpless Steve Rogers and every bit as perfect as Cap.  As a little nod to the effects, making him the 90 pound weakling he starts off as was one of the nicest effects I have seen in a film in a long time.  This film is filled with good effects that most people will barely notice.  They are subtle and convincing enough that they do not immediately register in your brain as effect like in so many films.

The story is pretty much in line with the comics, with the notable exception of the modern retconning of Howard Stark into the myth.  But the movie is just following the retcon that the comics have done, so you can’t fault it there.  There are also some light touches, mostly visual, of the Ultimates universe here, but they don’t really detract anything.  The plot references made to the Thor movie are subtle and are just enough to remind you that these films (This film, Thor, Iron Man 1 & 2 and the most recent Hulk film) are in a shared universe that will pay off in 2012’s The Avengers.  But this movie does not suffer from franchise fatigue like Iron Man 2 did.  This, like Thor and the rebooted Hulk are their own films.  The adventure follows Steve’s desire to get into the Army and help with the war effort, failing miserably because he is so small and unhealthy, then being picked by Professor Erskine (played all to briefly by the great Stanley Tucci) to become America’s first Super Soldier.  As it turns out, he will be the only one.  His jump into the role of Captain America: war hero is sidetracked by a tour as a USO poster child selling War Bonds.  As this sequence started, I was cringing a little as I felt it to be a bit silly, but as the montage continues, it starts to really work well and convey that aspect of the time very effectively, if fictionally.  When the chance to become the war hero comes, it is great and the waiting made it work that much better.

There is a lot to like about this movie as a film and as a comic book film.  The story is clear without being over simplistic and it never feels bogged down with exposition.  That is because, at its heart, the character is easy to write if you don’t over think it.  It is never taken too seriously, but it is never a joke.  The balance is very well struck here.

Comic book fans, especially those with a sense of history or a good memory, will find piles of fun fan service here too.  Main plot points like the Cosmic Cube actually work here far better than they ever did in the comics, and blend seamlessly into the Cap story being told.  (The Cosmic Cube was a late 1960’s invention.)  Although its function here appears different from the various ones used in the books.  There are also a couple of cameos and major appearances by other characters that I will not spoil here, except to say, be on the lookout at the World’s Fair type exhibit for a quick cameo by one of Marvel’s (Timely’s) very first super heroes!

There is a button at the end of the credits like all of these films, but this one just takes the form of a tease for the film coming next year, The Avengers.  The tease is great and makes me even more excited for this than I had been.  That said, this is well worth the price of tickets and popcorn, and will fit well in this current collection of Marvel movies.

Captain America: A few things before the movie…

It has been a mighty slow month for comics.  Once the dust had started to settle from the DC “New 52” announcement, things got downright dull.  While the relaunch/reboot/re-whatever is getting more interesting with every last flash of news, that is what is coming, not what is happening now.

2011 looked, at the start, to be a great comic book movie year.  Things look very different now.  Dylan Dog and Priest were flops, but to be fair, there was not much hope they would do well.  X-Men First Class was a great film that just sort of became the red-headed stepchild as far as the press was concerned.  $346 million worldwide in just under 7 weeks and there is no promise that there will be another one.  The standard has really changed in the last few years.  Time was, that would have had a greenlit sequel already, now it is a coin toss at best.  With one month more in theaters, Thor has $445 million WW and already has a release date for number 2.  Some of that may have to do with the studios in the picture.  Fox is slow to jump and cheaper with spending money on what it probably considers and “old” franchise.  Paramount is a little more flush and sees a good franchise just starting up.  I would bet that once the total figures are in after these are both out on video, the theatrical runs of the two will be very close to each other in total dollars.

Green Lantern, on the other hand, was weak at best.  It opened 2 weeks after X-Men and has less than half that film’s total gross.  If it hits $200 million in WW box office, I will be very surprised.

And now we have Captain America: The First Avenger opening this weekend in the US.  I’m excited and hope it is great.  There is talk of it topping Harry Potter 7a, but I don’t really think that is likely.  It MAY take the number one spot for the weekend, but there is very little chance it will break the opening weekend record that HP7a set last week.  I hope that is not the benchmark that the studio is expecting, because the film will be a failure out of the gate.  I really think a reasonable number for weekend opening numbers would be $70 million, but the film is very capable of hitting the $100 million mark this weekend.  It is the most mainstream of the comic book films of the year, and the advance reviews have been positive, so here is hoping.

In advance of the film, I thought a little review of the character might be in order, but if you don’t know anything about the guy, then sod off.  Where have you been for the last 70 years?  He is Captain freaking America!  The name says more than enough.  The movie looks faithful to the myth so far.  The trailers are giving you the origin pretty much complete.  My only fear is this will be more of a prequel  to The Avengers than its own film.  Iron Man 2 felt very much like a set up for next years Marvel blockbuster, as did Thor, despite the latter being an excellent film in its own right.

If you really want to brush up on the character, there are two books I can recommend.  Most current fans will assume I am going to say Ed Brubaker’s run, currently appearing in Marvel books, highlighted by the Death of Captain America storyline, but no.  While a great story, there are 2 reasons that I am not recommending it.  First, it is not done yet.  There is a long way to go before he wraps up his run and I like to plug only complete works when the purpose it to introduce an established character to someone.  As a side note, the new series with Brubaker and Steve McNiven looks very promising, if they can keep it on schedule.  The second reason is that Brubaker’s book is not really a jumping on point.  It is an epic that new or even returning readers will not feel the full impact from.

No, the 2 books I will mention here are War and remembrance and The New Deal.

Starting with the older book, Captain America: War and Remembrance is the classic Cap run by Roger Stern and John Byrne that started in 1980 and ran only 9 issues.  But man, were they good issues!  The book includes many of the classic villains and some of the best and most fondly remembered Cap stories ever to see print. Among these are the “Cap for President” issue and the 40th anniversary issue (#255) with a fantastic retelling of the origin of America’s greatest hero.

This is the cover to the most current printing, I think

The cover to the first printing

 

Stern is as good as ever in this classic and Byrne, inked here by Joe Rubnestein, is the perfect compliment to the story.  Not quite the style of Byrne’s X-Men and FF runs, the art here is perfect for that golden age hero in a modern world feel.  Never looking old-fashioned (gasp!) or too flashy and lacking storytelling skill, like so many modern books.

The other book is one of the more controversial of the book’s long history, Captain America: The New Deal.  The title has been taken by some as a sly reference to the fact that Cap would most likely have been a “New Deal” Democrat, something that tends to bug the crap out of conservatives in this country today.  If there is any deliberate effort here to imply that, I have not heard.  Jon Ney Rieber’s 16 issue run on the character was very divisive among the fans.  Some praised the drama and realism of the stories, while others thought the book was too much a part of the real world to be the fun and light book they recalled.  Sorry guys, but the 70’s and 80’s had some great comics in them, like the above W&R book, but in the early part of the 2000’s, a very different touch was required.  Where a lot of people were scared away was the fact that the very first issue of his run came shortly after, and dealt directly with the aftermath of 9/11 and the effect that day had on America as a whole and New York City in particular.  The New Deal covers that and the rest of the first 6 issues of his run on the book.  Illustrated by John Cassaday (Planetary, Astonishing X-Men & I Am Legion ) the book has a stark and unsettling feel from the visuals and the story.  They deal with great skill and balance, the issue of terrorism, both from an American perspective and that of the people we are quick to label as evil.  Cap is a good guy here, only because he is on our side, but even that is tenuous at the best of times as he realizes that the issue is not a black and white one.  Everyone feels affected by terrorism even when they have no real contact with it beyond what they see on TV.  This book takes the simple view we have generally been encouraged to hold and tries to shed the light of reason and truth on it.  Even Cap’s view of it changes when he finds that, as a soldier in war, he has not always been on the “right” side.

The New Deal by Rierber & Cassaday

Both of these are amazing volumes that are generally still easy to find.  There is also the Marvel Essentials series of phone book size B&W reprints of the early 60’s Cap and piles of other really fun books.  All of these are on line, or better yet, at your local comic shop!