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[agamage]

The last three issues are out !!

Quite sad to announce it... but this blog comes to an end. After 2 topics I hope you found interesting, I’m released the last one about comic-books adapted into funny movies. 

For that last row of 3 issues, I will talk about 3 movies I like a lot : 

Kingsman : The Secret Service, Matthew Vaughn, 2012

Deadpool, Tim Miller, 2016

Men in Black, Barry Sonnenfeld, 1997

I hope you had a good time by reading this blog. I don’t know what tomorrow looks like, so maybe this blog can reopen in while, but I’ll take a break for now to work on other stuff. Stay tuned, if you want to know some more interesting stuff about comics and movies. It will be a pleasure to share my tastes and ideas with you ! 

Thank you for your support and see you for some more adventures ! 

- A. 

[agamage]

ISSUE #303 - Men in Black : Aliens and dark humour is a good mix

Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith… If you know those two actors and their alchemy, I think you already guessed the movie I’m talking about. Yes, it is Men in Black. A cult movie of which we all know some references : the music sung by Will Smith himself with his dance, the leading duo costume with their black suits and black sunglasses, and their strict posture of bodyguards. I’m kind of nostalgic when I think about that one... 

For those who don’t have these references, the story depicts a secret state organization in the US that is monitoring alien activity on Earth, while some of them are already hidden among humans. The movie comes from a comic-book series written by Lowell Cunningham originally published in 1990. Two years later, the rights for a cinema adaptation are bought by two producers, Laurie MacDonald and Walter F. Parkes. While the original material is quite dark and includes a large pattern of paranormal elements, the producers wanted to focus it only on the Aliens control and add a black humour sense. So, they brought Barry Sonnenfeld, convinced by his work on the Addams Family movies. Steven Spielberg, who is close to the first two producers, takes a part in the production team involving his company Amblin Entertainment.  

And it became the huge success we know today, creating a whole franchise. After the first movie released in 1997, another one is made in 2002. Between the two, an animation series, novels, videos games and even a park ride are made around the same universe. And the movie franchise still goes on. In 2012, a third sequel is made ten years after the last one and was a good success too. But, the last sequel made in 2019 with a whole new cast and direction team was a box-office failure… Somehow, comic-books are not invincible too.

- A. 

[agamage]

ISSUE #302 - Deadpool : the movie that was always upcoming

The story behind the long-lasting development of the movie is quite funny, and you may find it as a typical situation for that character...  

Deadpool… This one also is a very fun one. From this marginal character located in the X-Men universe, a film was announced by Marvel Studios in 2000. It was supposed to be the first movie from Marvel without the involvement of a major studio… But it never happened. And then, the studio New Line Cinema bought the project in 2004 for development and even announced the young Ryan Reynolds (absolute fan of the comics) to play the main role. This time, the project was to be developed by David S. Goyer but he dropped the idea to focus on the writing of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. New Line drop the project and the 20th Century Fox studio (which was having a large success with the X-Men movies at that time) bought the licences of Deadpool in 2005. But, Fox waited a long, long time before making the movie… First, they announced working on a spin-off from the X-Men universe to be released in 2009 but that was a movie focused on the origins of Wolverine character (played by a talented Hugh Jackman). Ryan Reynolds is announced in the casting of the movie starring the role of Deadpool. Fans was glad to finally a screen adaptation of Deadpool that could introduce him before his standalone movie. Finally, the Deadpool character was not really as he is in the comics : he was a serious antagonist of Wolverine that had nothing to do with the funny anti hero of the comic-books. Reynolds himself hated playing that form of the character. After negative response from the fans, Fox announced in 2010 rebooting the character to make a movie closer to the original comic character. But at the same time, Ryan Reynolds take the role of another comic-book character Green Lantern for the Warner. The development goes on slowly, Reynolds announces staying on the project despite his involvement with the Warner studio. An unknown Tim Miller is announced as director, it’s his first feature film. In 2012, the script is finished and Miller waits that the studio schedules the release. Finally, it’s released only in 2016, Fox leaving place to the other X-Men movies between 2011 and 2014. And Deadpool made a quite good success in the box-office, with a positive critical response. 

The geek community appreciated the multiple references put in the movie and the character was true to himself. As it is the case in the comic book, the character of Deadpool (his real name is Wade Wilson) is conscious that he is a fictional comic-book character and plays with that to address funny commentaries to the audience all along in the movie, especially in the opening credits. Along with that idea, he makes multiple references to other movies, even to his own apparition the 2009 Wolverine movie that was generally criticized. Becoming true to himself, he became true to his own public and found them back offering to Ryan Reynolds the role he always wanted to play, a role that totally deserved to take.

- A. 

[agamage]

ISSUE #301 - Kingsman : the crazy dilemma of the director

Discover the dilemma that the director Matthew Vaughn had to deal with before making the first Kingsman movie...

The story behind that one is quite interesting. In this article, I will focus on the first movie, and not the sequels. Kingsman : The Secret Service was originally a comic-book, before becoming a feature film. The idea of a comic spy movie came to Mark Millar (author of well-known comic-books such as Kick-Ass) and Matthew Vaughn (director of the Kick-Ass movie and X-Men : First Class) when they were drunk in a pub. They were discussing about spy movies both disappointed by the fact that there was no such a thing already made on that genre. They found spy movies more and more serious. So, Millar came up with an idea of a secret service in UK called Kingsman in which a teenager named Eggsy will do an intensive training to join them. Vaughn found the idea really good and ask to do it for real. Millar quickly wrote and published the comics for which we sold the cinematographic adaptation rights to Matthew Vaughn. 

The comic came when Matthew Vaughn just made a successful episode of X-Men in 2011. The studio 20th Century Fox made a $800 millions deal to give him writing and direction of X-Men : Days of Future Past which was set to release in 2014. But the script for Kingsman came to him at the same time, and both movies couldn’t be rescheduled more. So, Vaughn took the craziest decision to drop his deal for X-Men and follow his heart to make Kingsman, “before another one wakes up to make a funny spy movie”, as he declared. So, he made a movie with that same amount of craziness. A movie that gave a new fresh air to British spy movies with some cool sequences such as the sequence-shot fight scene at the end of the movie. 

- A. 

[agamage]

ISSUE #203 - V for Vendetta : the most “Orwellian” comics-adapted movie

Before being the symbol of a group of hackers and so, a symbol of resistance, that mask was bought up to date by a comic-book and its film adaptation...

V for Vendetta is based on a graphic novels limited series written by Alan Moore (yes, the same guy that wrote Watchmen on which I wrote a really interesting article last month). The story is set in an alternative future UK, part of a dystopian world similar to George Orwell’s 1984 totalitarian and freedomless universe where an employee of the state television (Natalie Portman) is chosen by a figure of the resistance to start an uprising. 

The well-known cinematographers duo, the Wachowskis, worked on this project after their Matrix trilogy. They gave direction to their collaborator James McTeigue but worked on the writing, based on the storyboard adaptation they made ten years before, an adaptation that was really close to the graphic novel which is originally set in an hypothetical 1990’s British conflict fascist state and anarchism, in response to Thatcherism. But finally, they decided to make an adaptation reflecting the political situation in the US as a conflict between liberalism and neo-conservatism, set in 2032. Other difference : while the fascist party imagined by Alan Moore in the comics was legally elected by the British people, the Wachowskis decided to introduces the background of a pandemic situation created by the totalitarian political party to led them to take the power. Those differences led Alan Moore to deny the Wachowskis’ adaptation, judging it unfaithful to his original work (like he did to most of the TV series or motion picture adaptations of his comics). 

Personally, I really like the motion picture adaptation which permitted to the editors of the comic book to sell a half a million more copies of the graphic novel the year when the film was released. But the story itself is a genius depiction of what political extremism can turn into if they gain such power. I also give a bonus to that movie where I find Natalie Portman more beautiful than in any other movies, even if her head is totally shaved.  

Fun fact : I just found that a TV series adaptation of V for Vendetta is on development as I’m writing this article and I’m so happy right now by that news, can’t wait to see it !! 

- A. 

[agamage]

Issue #202 - A History of Violence : Maybe violence is the most interesting thing in comics...

This one is adapted from a graphic novel and not from a comic book (yes I’m cheating but I’m the author of this blog, so I can do anything I want to). A stunning character-centered movie about how much violence can affect people, starring Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris and William Hurt. 

The plot is quite catchy : When two men tries to rob his restaurant, Tom Stall, a loving father and husband with no issues, kills both of them with skills and precision. He becomes a local celebrity because of that story of bravery. The media exposure attires to him some old relationship from his past, a past full of violence…

The story is not exactly similar to the original material written by John Wagner and Vince Locke. The context and the relations between characters were modified to amplify the dramaturgy of the plot. For example, the antagonist Richie is transformed the main character’s brother in the movie. In the original material, he is just a childhood friend of Tom. It amplifies the mind voyage of the character through that history of violence.

The film premiered at 2005 Cannes Film Festival where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or. The critical response is very good. Indeed, the French film magazine Les Cahiers du Cinéma put this movie at the 5th position of the best movies for the 2000-2009 decade.  

One of the greatest movie dealing with the darwinism theory of the survival of the fittest. Cronenberg himself declared : “I’m a complete Darwinian”.

- A.

[agamage]

ISSUE #201 - Joker : when the story of a villain become greater than the story of a superhero.

This is the incredible story of a film among the rarest movies adapted from a comic books which received a great critical response. An amazing proposal from Todd Philipps who rewrote the origins of one of the most emblematic DC Comics antagonist’s, Arthur Fleck a.k.a. The Joker.

Warner Bros. announces the production of this movie in August 2017, independently from the DC Comics Extended Universe (DCEU) created around the movies like Man Of Steel, Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice and Wonder Woman. Direction is on the hands of Todd Phillips (director of The Hangover franchise and War Dogs) and with Martin Scorsese as producer (wow!). With those infos, people immediately expected a movie focused on violence. And that was the right bet.

Scorsese worked a little on the project, but quit it early in its development. Yet, the influence of Martin Scorsese’s filmography in the depiction of the violence rise is considerable.

The public reception of the movie, we all experienced it in 2019. Joker premiered at the Venice Mostra where it won the Golden Lion award, the highest prize. It gave the movie an incredible visibility, following many award nominations.

Joaquin Phoenix entered early in the project, so the script was perfectly tailored for him : “the goal was to introduce comic book movies into the Joaquin Phoenix universe”. And his performance was masterful. As a result of it, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a main role. The success in theatres was globally impressive : in France, the movie made more than 5,5 millions of entries in the box office, which is really huge !  

Because of the success of Joker, Warner Bros is now convinced of the power of low-budget, standalone movies with comic books character. And we might see many more films like that coming, less entertaining but with a real cinematographic vision of a director. Warner tried so long to compete with Marvel Studios and its successful extended universe (MCU). With the lately bad critical response that was getting the DCEU always compared to the much more entertaining MCU, Warner Bros. Studios understood that they should complete their catalogue of comic books adapted movies in new genres and ways. With Joker, Warner Bros. seems to have found its way.

- A.

[agamage]

A new series of issues !

Hi everyone ! 

Time for some new articles about comic-books and their movie adaptation. For this new series, I chose to talk about 3 films adapted from comic-books and that became unique masterpieces. You even may not know that they are coming from comic initially... There is the selection : 

1. Joker, Todd Philipps, 2019

2. A History of Violence, David Cronenberg, 2005

3. V For Vendetta, James Teigue, 2005.

Hope you guys will like that selection, these are 3 movies that I particularly love ! 

- A. 

[agamage]

ISSUE #103 : Watchmen

How to deal with the pressure of a cult comics’ fandom? 

When HBO announced in 2015 taking the rights to adapt the universe of the comic-book Watchmen as a TV show, the public went crazy on social medias, especially the large fandom of the comics. Zack Snyder, who made a feature film in 2009 from the same comics, has been approached to lead the series. But negotiations failed with the decline of Snyder’s DC universe movies at the same time. In 2017, HBO approaches Damon Lindelof, the mastermind behind two masterpieces of TV series : Lost and The Leftovers, two big success. HBO wants to keep one of its best showrunner as The Leftovers just ended. Lindelof accepts the offer to write a series based on Watchmen, a comics that he loves since he read it as a teenager. Social medias go crazy once again at this announcement : everyone thinks that this project will be a great series like we’ve ever seen it before. Especially because Zack Snyder made a highly-acclaimed adaptation movie in 2009, a legacy to the comic-book that has been massively approved by the original fandom.

But since the original author of the comics Alan Moore stated that he doesn’t want to be credited in any adaptation of his works for cinema or TV, every project of adaptation of his work creates controversy. HBO tried to reach Moore to get his blessing for this series but the author declined. So there is still a part of the Moore fandom who is totally faithful to him and that will totally reject every single adaptation coming from his work.

Damon Lindelof had the huge pressure of making a product that must satisfy the fandom which will definitely influence the critical response of the series. 

Months before the premiere of the series (that happened on October 20, 2019 on HBO), Lindelof published “an open letter to Watchmen fans” on Instagram. This letter is made to prove Lindelof legitimity to write an TV show based on the comic-books. He genuinely use a raw language in the letter, a style of language typical in the comic-book. He talks about how he discovered the comic-book when he was 12 and how the comics is linked to his relationship with his father, reminding a few memories with him. His death among others. He creates a link between his work to write a new Watchmen and the family spirit, trying to convince that he will care the show as if it was part of his own family legacy. 

He also shows how much he respects Alan Moore and explains why he defies him with his Watchmen series project, even if it appears unethical to adapt the work someone who doesn’t want it to be adapted. To do so, he details his creative intentions behind the project. He admits that we will not “retreat, recreate, reproduce or reboot” the original Watchmen issues that are “sacred ground”. The writers of the series will “remix” the comics. 

“To be clear, Watchmen is canon”. 

He admits that his story will takes place in the same universe but after the events of the original comic series, making the comparison with the New Testament that did not erased what was told in the Old one. He will do so with Moore’s Watchmen and his Watchmen. Yet, he says that it will not be a sequel either. 

“The new story must be original. [...] It must ask new questions and explore the world through a fresh lens. More importantly, it must be contemporary.”

And, in fact, the new Watchmen tries to deal with actual community issues like the fight against racism and the increase of extreme political thoughts around the world. The series has been critically well acclaimed. Watchmen was the most watched series in 2019. 

However, some faithful fans of Moore’s original work claimed that the show was not as good as the comics was, and that it was full of unnecessary references to the comics only to satisfy the biggest fans. Some critics regret the lack of independence with the original comics : the series was really hard to understand if you know anything about Watchmen original story.

Finally, the series appeared to be a real sequel of the comic-books : it shows what happens to three characters from the original work. The promise of Lindelof is not really kept. The reception of Watchmen created a real gap between people who loved the series and people who hated it. For my opinion, it’s to difficult to watch it if you are not familiar with the Watchmen universe. 

Damon Lindelof tried, wanted and promised that he would emancipate from the original work of Alan Moore but he failed. The result is quite disappointing for me because the footprint that this series wanted to make as the Watchmen’s legacy will not leave a mark in several years. We will forget about this series that brought nothing more the original comic series.

Link to Damon Lindelof open letter to Watchmen fans : https://www.instagram.com/p/BjFsj6JHEdq/

Link to HBO Watchmen series’ trailer : https://youtu.be/4PtV2G-UFqs

- A.

[agamage]

ISSUE #102 : Riverdale

The story behind CW’s teen-drama... Comic-books are not only for super-hero stories. 

You may have seen it on Netflix, the teen drama Riverdale, brought to the screen by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, was actually inspired by a comic-book universe. The story of the original comic-books is quite interesting. Let’s go back to 1939... 

1939... Yes that far ! 

In 1939, a new comic-books editor appears, called MLJ Comics and founded by 3 folks (Maurice, Louis and John… oh ya MLJ, that’s why !). In the first years, they made stories like the other editors. With stories of superheroes, they try to take advantage of the popularity of Superman at the time. But, in 1941, the 3 writers (3 is really a magic number for them) will create a new incredible hero, never seen before in a comic-book !! … A teenager. 

Yes, they decided to write about some adventures that a teenage boy named Archibald Andrews and his friends Veronica, Betty and Jughead in their little town somewhere in Massachusetts. And well… it’s quite a success… No, I’m kidding… It’s a MASSIVE success. People loves the character of Archie and his friends. Each character will get his series of comics. The popularity of Archie is so huge that MLJ Comics is renamed Archie Comics to create a real brand of comics. They will publish also a character that you may know that was screenplayed in the 1990’s : Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She was part of the same universe than Archie but the other characters was not present in TV sitcom Sabrina The Teenage Witch that had known a great success in the 90’s, early 2000’s. 

So, let’s come back to 2013. Warner Bros. buys the rights to adapt the comic-books of editor Archie Comics (ALL OF THEM). The first idea was to make a movie around Archie Andrews’ character. They give up the idea and think about making a television adaptation. The project comes to the hand of Greg Berlanti, the successful producer behind Dawson’s Creek and the Arrowverse (adaptations of DC Comics’ characters). He knows everything about adapting comics, so he is the perfect guy for the project. 

And the result is really good ! Riverdale takes all the vein from the comics, added with all the ingredients that makes a good teen-drama : love stories, deception, rivalities, friendships, … The cinematography of the first season is quite interesting with bright colors and steady camera movements. The plot stayed true to the comics. It’s an audience success for US broadcasting channel The CW and for international broadcaster Netflix. The fourth season is currently running. 

An “Archieverse” is actually developed by Aguirre-Sacasa and Berlanti with new series around the characters of Sabrina and Katy Keene. Well, a big universe is created to dominate the teen-drama realm. Developing a universe from one series, it’s something that have been tried by many teen-drama showrunners (Pretty Little Liars, Vampire Diaries) but never became a huge success. Maybe, by using the basis of a comic-book universe that have been successfully developed, Riverdale is going to be the first teen series to successfully create a multiverse combined by several series. 

Link to Riverdale season 1 official trailer : https://youtu.be/HxtLlByaYTc 

- A.

[agamage]

ISSUE #101 : Raising Dion

Netflix’s heart-warming series full of good feelings and actual issues dealing, based upon a comic-book !  

Sometimes, comic-books authors may have the idea of a TV or Cinema adaptation when they write their comic. It’s the case of this one : Raising Dion, written by Dennis Liu and illustrated by Jason Piperberg, published in August 2015. The plot is very simple : it’s the story of a 7-year-old superhero from the point of view of his young-widow mother. 

Author Dennis Liu directed a short movie that was released on YouTube (link at the end of the article) on the same day that the publishing of the comic. First, this short movie was presented as a marketing tool for the book. But this short film is clearly a trailer for a possible direct adaptation of his work. In fact, we can see this trailer like a visual proof that the comic could be make a great cinematographic or TV series adaptation. Liu presents the main storylines and visual ideas that will convince Netflix to make a series with him.

Yes, Netflix ordered and announced in 2017 the production of a 9-episodes season. The TV show is run by Carol Barbee (Jericho, Touch, Falling Skies) as lead writer with executive producers Dennis Liu (who kept an important place in screenplaying project), Michael Green (Smallville, Heroes, Logan, Blade Runner 2049) and Michael B. Jordan (the famous actor in Fruitvale Station and Creed who will have a recurrent role in the show), among others.

The result is really similar to the comic-book and the short movie. The casting is perfect : Ja’Siah Young (brilliant despite his young age) as Dion, the 7-year-old superhero who discovers his power and try to control them with the help of his mother, and Alisha Wainwright as Nicole, the young mom who is still grieving the lost of her husband (Michael B. Jordan) and feels alone when she faces the incontrolable new faculties of her child. This duo is really convincing at each episodes. Some supporting roles are also really good, especially the little Esperanza who tries to become friend with Dion but she’s a paraplegic young child and Dion is embarrassed to be friend with her.

This feel-good story is captivating by its numerous twists and the dialogues are sometimes really funny so we quickly bonds to the characters. The story also tries to approach some actual issues such as the inclusion of children with disabilities, black-american racism or issues faced by single moms. The show takes those issues with a brilliant way, using the point of view of the young Dion or Nicole. For example, there is a scene at the end of episode 3 where Nicole tries to explain Black-american racism with simple words to her child, one of the best scene of the series.

One of my favorite latest comics adaptation I’ve seen on TV. Season 1 was a success from Netflix and season 2 is actually in production. I can’t wait because season 1 finishes with a massive twist !!

Link to original short-film by Dennis Liu : https://youtu.be/dW9EIxEqrJw  

Link to the Netflix Trailer of the series : https://youtu.be/Z6koPaImHzY

The 😍 issue of today. 

- A.

[agamage]

The first three issues !!

Here we are. The day has come. 

I’m about to publish the three first issues of this short blog. Those issues will treat about 3 TV series that are based upon a comic-book or comic series. 

1. RAISING DION (my latest favorite) by Carol Barbee, Netflix (2019).  A heart-warming series full of good feelings and treating about actual issues. 

2. RIVERDALE by Robert Aguirre-Sacasa, Netflix (2017).  Comic-books are not only about super-hero stories… 

3. WATCHMEN by Damon Lindelof, HBO (2019).  How to deal with the pressure of a comics’ fandom ? 

With those 3 articles, I tried to unveil the process behind the creation of those TV adaptations. 

Hope you will enjoy those 3 posts. If you have any comments or suggestions, please write it below the article ! 

- A. 

[agamage]

Hello there !

How lucky you are ! You’ve reached a great page that will catch your attention for a moment (actually it depends on your speed of reading and my capacity to ramble while I’m writing about something... oh it’s happening already, sorry !!). 

I’m teasing you with this little post, because this blog is actually under construction... 

As you might guess, here we will talk about some comic-books and how did they became TV series or feature films. 

Comics are a whole universe, and I will not have the courage to treat about all of its link with cinema and television... I’m so sorry. 

But I’ll try my best to make discover some stuff you didn’t know about comics and their adaptation. I’m making a selection of some comics and subject I can talk about. 

Each post will talk about 1 comic and its adaptation, always by making a comparison of both. I will publish articles by groups of 3 posts in a row. 

Each group of articles will concern one subject, here is the 3 subjects will write about in this blog : 

3 comic-books becoming TV series 

3 comic-books becoming art-house movies

3 comic-books in the comedy genre of cinema 

If you have any ideas, wishes or desires of a comic-book you like, you are interested to or you just want me to treat, please please, DO NOT HESITATE to react and comment below. 

See you in a few days for the first 3 articles... 

- A.