Doug: Just a word to the wise -- you will be sent on numerous field trips today.
Doug: A week ago Friday I saw a list on CNN.com (it actually links to a part of the Entertainment Weekly website) touting "25 Greatest (and 5 Worst) Super-Heroes". I especially love the various authors' claims of who brought the character "to life". Heresy, in some cases. Just behind that list was a list of 15 comics that simply must be made into movies! Hopefully these links still work -- first one in who encounters trouble, let me know and I'll see what I can do!
Doug: Also, did you happen to catch the interview with Stan Lee last week, when some young writer (obviously no fanboy) wrote that Stan lamented his writing of A Kid Called Outlaw had he not created the Fantastic Four? Obviously the writer's ears must have been 90 years old, as we all know Stan was talking about KID COLT OUTLAW!!
Doug: Today is sort of a potpourri day around here. Check out the links, and then bring your thoughts back over here for some discussion. And thanks in advance for doing a little legwork today.
13 comments:
I'm willing to cut Stan Lee some slack at this point. I don't blame him for not remembering every comic character he wrote. Hell, I'm half his age and I don't remember what I had for lunch yesterday.
I hope he hangs around awhile.
Anonymous,
Pretty sure you had deep-dish pizza. Doublecheck if you need to. I'm sure Google has it on file somewhere.
James Chatterton
I'm pretty sure this was a case of the interviewer not hearing correctly (plus not being very well versed in deeper background), rather than Stan not remembering. Like Paul McCartney, he does seem to have an almost ridiculous memory for the particulars of his creative heights (and, also like Paul, w/ a hefty dose of creative-memory-license added in). In this case? Ha! Just say "Kid Colt Outlaw" out loud, using an approximation of Stan's idiosyncratic New York (Brooklyn? Bronx?) accent and voice, and you immediately hear how an uninformed reporter could make that mistake.
Yeah, that 25 Greatest list is a fairly hopeless and subjective mish-mosh of apples & oranges & cucumbers, as far as cross-genre' referencing and widely diverse time periods go. Buffy vs.Fleischer Superman vs. the Black Panther vs. the Nolan Batman??? Heck, our own Bracketology exercises seem more legitimate than this! Over the years I've always thought EW failed pretty badly at these attempts, because the "polls" always seemed to be based on little more than the personal tastes of the (maybe) two or three guys on the staff who are conversant in superhero culture and mythos.
I kind of feel the same about the 15 Comics-into-movies list, although I do commend it for not just chasing current trends. But for most of them I find myself unable to answer the first question of, "Why would this make a particularly good film?" Follow that with "Live action or animated?" If live-action, will the character/costumes REALLY translate well into real-life application? (Usually no.) If animated, will the subject matter be appropriate for a PG audience-- since it will be an unavoidable assumption animated=kid-appropriate? (View the unfortunate fate of the truly brilliant "9") Again, for most of these, no-- thus, box-office flop. Myself, for years I've longed to see a computer-animated GROO film, but HBSon long ago pointed out that it would never work, 'cause its visual style and slapstick humor are totally kid-friendly. . . even as the body-counts mount by the score-per-minute. Heck, I'd be the first parent in line demanding my money back. . .
HB
Not sure I necessarily agree with your last point, HB. Personally, I totally agree with the Scrooge McDuck and Bone suggestions (as animated features, naturally). New Gods could be good - the Asgardian scenes in the Thor movie could serve as a guide for how this could be done.
Dr. Strange could also be cool - isn't this actually in the works, or have I just fallen prey to internet rumors?
And I would absolutely love a Power Man & Iron Fist movie. It would probably work best as a period piece, though - set in the mid-1970s.
As for the top 25 list, I totally agree - what a mess.
Yeah, I'd love to see a Doc Strange movie...if it was done right. I think Transmetropolitan and Astro City would make cool movies too (with a lot of care invested) and I haven't read Scaplped, but from what I've heard I could definitely see it as a TV show.
Mike W.
Mike W., like you, I've only heard (good) things about Scalped, but agree that it would probably make a good series. In fact, I think that would probably also be the best way to go for Astro City.
Also, your caveat about the movies being done right is apposite - it pretty much applies across the board.
HB, I liked your analogy of McCartney and Lee... Macca now has license to say pretty much anything.. Who's going to counter him..? Ringo..? George Martin..? Please, like they knew that much of some of the inner workings (Martin perhaps..). That's how the passage of time works, which is why a lot of Beatle enthusiast's loved what George had to say, because he'd still give it to you straight, not the occasional, subtle 'rewrite of history' as Paul's been known to do to suit him.
As for Lee, I agree with the 'first Anonymous' to keep hands off Lee. Let's just be thrilled Lee's still around to talk and entertain, who CARES about the details any more..?
And as for your lunch 'first Anonymous', James was right, you DID have the deep-dish with sausage and olives..
You scarfed that whole thing, too. You may need some 'bromo' after that..
As for our field trips today, hey, no can do. I'm layin' back, drinking a 'white chocolate-creamered' coffee looking out the french doors to my backyard while my wife's yakkin' on the phone to a friend in KC. I'm.. not going anywhere. Probably figure out the 'Hey Bulldog' solo later today..
Lists..? Knock yourselves out, y'all.
- David 'Chillin' just a few thousand miles north of Mike from Trinidad & Tobago'
Ooo- HEY BULLDOG solo is a cool bit o' work. Extremely overlooked song in general, I daresay.
Oy, likin' the deep-dish sausage pizza. . . not lovin' the olives, though! (blickk)
Edo- Yep, Scrooge McDuck & Bone would be solid & notable exceptions to the point I was making. Although I strongly feel that BONE would have to be approached as a proposed film (or video, or television) series rather than a stand-alone. It's just too big a story, and too much condensing would simply rob it of its charm. I think those would both want to have a traditional animation approach, too, as opposed to Pixar-style computer animation, yes? Same w/ Maus, of course-- which could be flat-brilliant, but I can't honestly see it getting enough studio support for wide release. Now, television series-- THAT opens up a whole new world of options! 'Course, network execs would look at the failure of most "traditional" super hero series, and not even pick up the phone (think TICK, THE CAPE). But Astro City would make a GREAT series, IMO. Big ensemble piece like LOST or HEROES.
HB
I agree with Edo--Power Man and Iron Fist movie would be great! Also with HB about the Top 25 list...it's too random to mean anything. For movies--I've read some of Ex Machina, and it already reads like a movie in the art and pace, so sure it would be ok. Savage Dragon movie would be fun, action and humour, and a zillion supporting characters.
Since today's a potpourri, I'll throw in something. I'm reading Superman Secret Origin by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank...enjoyable read, with some great art by Gary Frank. Many nods to the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, and an appearance by the Legion of Superheroes. Nice coloring also. Here's one image:
http://comicartcommunity.com/gallery/data/media/340/Superman_Secret_Origin1-4.jpg
Not finished it yet, but so far it's a thumbs up!
Back to the top, @ Anonymous --
My intent was not to denigrate Stan, and I hope I didn't come across that way. My intent was to continue my discontent with reporters and film reviewers who are not comics fans, and also do not do the proper preparation ahead of fulfilling their assignments. Anyone who'd done any research before the sit down with Stan should have at the least glossed over his body of work.
Liking the suggestions for potential films -- give Bone to Peter Jackson and we could get 10 hours worth of celluloid out of it!
New polls are up, updated bracket will be included in tomorrow's post. And get your "X" on in preparation.
Doug
Deep-dish pizza?! Waddaya you jokers think, I'm made of money?? I think it was probably scrambled eggs.
But seriously, I don't think anybody's dumping on Stan. I never got that impression. This is one of the last corners of civil discourse (and corny jokes about a sweet innocent guy's eating habits) left on Earth.
This listing and the interview reflect the general carelessness which permeates journalism today. There's a carelessness which gets into the mix which frankly should bug reporters much more than it seems to do. Anytime I read a story about which I have primary knowledge, I detect errors, sometimes major ones, and I can only assume that's the case with stories I don't know anything about.
People yell and scream about bias in the media all the time, I wish they'd focus the criticism and demand better fact checking. That would go a long way to making everyone take news a bit more seriously.
Rip Off
Probably so not necessary a day later, but I meant 'George Harrison' when I mentioned who would give fans the straight poop on the Fabs, not George Martin.
Now that he's gone, the legacy's pretty much in Paul's hands.
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