Stranger Than Fiction: From Comics To Film
...local movie theater saying "Finally! They actually got it right this time!" The movie they just saw was Spider-Man, a movie that was based upon a comic book that defied the seemingly impossible. It actually pleased fans of the comic book and became a box office smash at the same time. The movie managed to keep the look and feel of the characters and the environment of the Spider-Man comic books all the while not getting twisted in the Hollywood machine. So, if this one went right, what exactly went wrong with all those other comic book based movies? Why is it so difficult for the Hollywood "suits" to get it right? It seems, for the fans at least, that for every good "Spider-Man-like" film, there are five terrible "Catwoman-like" films waiting in the wings. The problem is that Hollywood sees comic book properties as easy money. Throw a square-jawed actor of the week in a costume and just like that they think that they have a summer blockbuster on their hands. Comic books are not nearly as vapid as Hollywood would like to have you believe. In actuality comic book plots are all about the story, the characters, and the trials and tribulations they face on a daily basis. Many of these comic book based films lack the wit, the genius, or even the coherence that their comic book counterparts possess. To put it mildly, Hollywood simply falls short in recreating the magic that is printed on those pages.
The early history of the comic book
The earliest known comic book is called The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck, was published in Europe in 1837, but it was not until February 17, 1936 with the publication of Lee Falk's The Phantom, that the public was able to lay their eyes on a bona fide costumed hero. Since he was just a normal man and did not have any "real" superpowers, The Phantom could never be classified as being a superhero (Coville). Two years...
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