Which comic book *should* be made into a movie?

[jducoeur]

It was occurring to me this morning, as I reflected on the rash of (mostly surprisingly good) comic-book movies coming out this summer, that there were some I've always wanted to see. And that seems like a good topic for a conversation.

So: what comic book(s) do *you* think would make a good movie? Feel free to assume that it's a competent adaptation, not a hatchet job, but assume that it has to fit into the usual constraints of a movie: about two hours, and has to be able to make enough money to be worth its budget. (If it doesn't require as many special-effects, it doesn't have to make as much money.) Obscure is fine -- some great blockbusters have been made from little-known comics.

I've got a couple of favorites, but I'll provide my own answers in comments, so as not to bias things too much upfront...

Comments

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

I am gonna toss a question back:

"Girl Genius?"

How would you do it?

"Preacher" would be cool, but they would have to emasculate it to get it down to an "R."

There's certainly always sequel potential, too.

[tashabear.livejournal.com]

Heckle and Jeckle! Wait. No. They already did that.

(Sorry. I didn't read superhero comics growing up.)

I am not the demographic

[cristovau.livejournal.com]

Marvel's Longshot limited series was a pretty decent once off story. It would have to be revamped and edited and ideally directed by Guillermo del Toro. He would do a good job making the Mojoworld scary and make Longshot's amnesia interesting. I also simply like luck as a power. Ideally, few Marvel cameos.

[jducoeur]

Okay, here's two ideas offhand from me:

Oz Squad -- one of those obscure classics that are much-loved by the ten of us who remember them.

Oz Squad takes the L. Frank Baum books very seriously and literally, but assumes that the real world gradually intruded after them. The portals from Oz to Earth, numerous enough in the books, finally got discovered by the mundanes, and all hell broke loose. The backstory is never fully explored in the issues that got published, but it's clear that there was a truly grim alliance between Nazi Germany and the wicked witches, with the result that Oz has had to change a lot.

The story takes place in the present, as a relatively grown-up Dorothy (20-something in physical age) and her friends from the books have wound up as part ambassadors, part agents in the now-complex relationship between Oz and Earth.

For those who know Fables, this is one of its precursors, and has much the same flavor. And I suspect you could turn it into a truly excellent movie: it has enough relationship to the well-known classic to intrigue people, while having all the elements of a good action story.

Nikolai Dante -- this isn't precisely a comic unto itself; rather, it's a long-running story in the British magazine 2000 AD. But it's my favorite in that book, and I've been following it for well over a decade now.

It's probably best described as the role that rickthefightguy was born to play. The setting is a far-future version of Tsarist Russia, mixing aircars and nanotech with sword duels and chests covered with medals. At the beginning of the story, our "hero" Nikolai is the classic young rogue: a scourge of polite society, thieving his way across the land and bedding every woman he can. He is the bastard son of the Queen of the Pirates, strictly out for himself. The comic is the tale of his life after that, as things get complicated.

To be fair, this isn't *one* movie -- it's actually a fine series of them. Act one is the story of Dante discovering that his father is the patriarch of the rebel Romanov clan, pretenders to the throne. In a series of misadventures, he winds up with a Weapons Crest, a powerful AI that binds to members of the clan and grants each one a power appropriate to them. Nikolai gains a limited touch of shape-shifting: in a pinch, his arms become swords, sort of like the the T1000 from the second Terminator movie. Eventually, the Romanovs grudgingly accept that, while he might not be their kind of people, he is family, and he becomes the black sheep of a *very* black brood.

In the second major arc, the Romanovs declare war on the Tsar, and Nikolai starts becoming a hero despite himself. He is granted a tiny principality to defend; unlike the rest of the family, he finds himself defending the people more than the land, and winds up a small-scale peoples' hero. In the meantime, he begins to develop the relationship that will define him, a love/hate affair with the Tsar's daughter Jenna.

In the third story, the war having been lost, Dante is on the run, and hooks back up with his mother. This one is a pure adventure tale, as Dante confronts a rather terrible monster and is forced to take over the pirate fleet himself. (There are actually a whole bunch of little adventure stories in this phase; that's just the most important of them.)

In the fourth arc (which we are still in the middle of), the Tsar decides that killing Dante never seems to work, and he is dangerously popular. So the clever old bastard co-opts him instead, naming him "Sword of the Tsar". The now older, sadder and wiser Dante (probably mid-30s at this point) is walking a tightrope of trying to undermine the despotic ruler without doing anything quite overt enough to get himself executed, as he gets sent off a variety of missions, generally with automated cameras tracking his every move.

It's great stuff: adventure in the most classic sense, well-executed, showing a man who is, despite himself, slowly turning into the hero that the populace desperately needs. There's enough adventure and action for a good blockbuster, combined with enough arc to provide real depth. Well worth reading, and tops on my list of items I'd like to see Hollywood notice...

[vairavi.livejournal.com]

Too many of the comics I read have story lines too lengthy to lend themselves to movies. Strangers in Paradise would fill several seasons worth of an HBO drama, but I digress...

I love Bendis' work, so I'd say that Alias or selected storylines from Powers would be awesome.

I'm also eager to see Warren Ellis' work in film. I'm sad the Global Frequency pilot didn't take off. I suspect almost anything else he's done would be too dark for most audiences. :( Which is a sham, because I think he's brilliant.

And as for comics that have already been optioned for film, I'm omg-get-a-fire-extinguisher-my-pants-are-on-fire excited about We3, and I really hope it doesn't die on the vine.

And of course while researching this, have discovered that two other favorites, both by Brian K. Vaughn, have also been optioned: Y: the Last Man and Ex Machina. Hold me down. Seriously.

[gyzki.livejournal.com]

Strangers in Paradise occurred to me, too; but too much of what I like about it is in Moore's art--I'm not sure I'd trust it to live actors, no matter how good their intentions.

Failing that, the story where Flash and Spectre fight the German ghost pilots from WWI? And what was that DC comic from the '60s, with the WW2 tank fighting dinosaurs?

[pale-chartreuse.livejournal.com]

Marvel/Gaiman's 1602. (too hard, I know, but that is the one that makes me swoon)

[cellio]

PS 238 could be lots of fun. (Animated, not live-action.)

I find myself wanting to nominate Sandman but being unable to identify an arc that would be likely to translate well. This is probably due to faulty memory; there's got to be something there, right?

[its-just-me.livejournal.com]

Sandman - Benn wanting that for AGES. Of course Annie Lennox is a bit to weathered for the part of Desire these days.

Do overs?

[new-man.livejournal.com]

Can I ask for "do overs"? There are a bunch of films that were done so badly the first (or second) time, that I think still have real potential. Marvel started the trend with The Incredible Hulk, but they really needed to since the first one was such a snoozefest. I'd love to see most of the Marvel movies redone -- the recnt Hulk, Iron Man, and the first Spider-Man movies being the exceptions.

I'm still waiting for a decent Punisher movie; The Fantastic Four and sequel were execrable, and Ghost Rider wasn't any good.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Ed Brubaker's "Criminal". Great noir storytelling that would work equally well on film. Also, the magazine is clearly struggling to survive in the direct market, and a movie might help the source prosper.

[dryfoo.livejournal.com]

How about "Transmetropolitan"? Could you cover a reasonable amount of it in standard movie length? Would another format (series? mini-series? opera?) be more appropriate?

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

"Kingdom Come".

But it's (a) so "not the [superhero] you know" and (b) so full of "superheroes you've never heard of" that J. Random Moviegoer would probably be too weirded out.

I'd love it, though.

OTOH, "Watchmen" may be the test, at least of (b). Have to see how that works out.