Once viewed as junk that could rot impressionable brains, comics now are considered hip, hot and smart.
Even critics at the buttoned-up New York Times are singing the praises of high-profile, long-format books, called graphic novels, such as Art Spiegelman’s disturbing take on 9/11, “In the Shadow of No Towers,” or Charles Burns’ chilling AIDS parable, “Black Hole.”
West Point has made it mandatory for the graduating class of 2006 to read one of these works. If recruits can be required to study Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”–a poignant, well-reviewed work that depicts family life during the Iranian Revolution–then there’s something surely afoot.
“What we’re seeing is some sort of tipping point that has been a long process in coming,” says Publishers Weekly’s Calvin Reid, editor for comic coverage.
“Really, for the first time, many people are seeing graphic novels in bookstores, and more people are seeing that there is more variety than superhero comics. Not that there’s anything wrong with superhero comics. There’s a lot of creativity in them too.”
If you still assume today’s “funnies” focus on the antics of surly ducks or muscled guys and gals clad in Lycra, you need but browse through comic shops such as Chicago Comics and Graham Crackers Comic Books.
Even chain stores such as Barnes & Noble realize there’s gold to be mined here, and have expanded comics sections.
The numbers say it all. In 2001, graphic novels rang up $75 million in American sales. By 2005, sales in Canada and America amounted to $250 million, according to ICv2, a pop-culture-monitoring Web site.
While recent moves by the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly to review graphic novels have increased their profile, perhaps more important is the movie industry’s love affair with the format.
Perhaps most significantly, Hollywood has propelled graphic novels to the front ranks of pop culture, adapting many into movies, including the recently released “V for Vendetta” along with “Sin City” and “A History of Violence.”
Says Reid, “Hollywood is obsessed with them.”
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GRAPHIC NOVELS 101
New to graphic novels? Here’s a recommended reading list.
– “Black Hole,” by Charles Burns: The shaky, drugged psyches of ’70s suburban Seattle teens are laid bare in this creepy time capsule and AIDS parable.
– “Blankets,” by Craig Thompson: At nearly 600 pages, this ambitious autobiography probes an artist’s strict Christian upbringing and how it affects his wonder years and first love.
– “Persepolis,” by Marjane Satrapi: Expect to be captivated and moved by this poignant autobiography that views the Iranian Revolution through the eyes of an Iranian girl.
– “Epileptic,” by David B.: A memoir revealing the pain and embarrassment a boy experiences in dealing with his epileptic brother.
– “Maus,” by Art Spiegelman: This daring Pulitzer Prize-winner ambitiously shows how the Holocaust affects past and present generations of a Jewish family. Spiegelman uses animals to represent ethnic groups.
– “Watchmen,” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons: If you like your superheroes edgy and flawed, try this classic. It finds the downtrodden Crimebusters league trying to fight off bad publicity along with a killer who wants to pick off each one of them.
– “Ice Haven,” by Daniel Clowes: The “Ghost World” creator’s latest depicts the bizarre goings-on and weird characters living in a small Midwestern town.
– “Ghost in the Shell,” by Masamune Shirow: This classic from Japan delves into existential matters via a futuristic story dealing with the parallels between man and machine.
– “Torso,” by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko: Eliot Ness tracks down a serial killer in this page-turner that is innovatively drawn and briskly written.
[ contra costa times ]Adaptations: Some work, some don’t
“V for Vendetta” is just the latest Hollywood adaptation of a graphic novel. Here are some successful (and less successful) movies inspired by graphic novels.
[ contra costa times ]– “A History of Violence”
This disturbing film provocatively examines how a man’s (Viggo Mortensen) violent past rips apart his family’s American Dream-like existence. Director David Cronenberg said he was unaware it was based on a graphic novel until he began shooting. (2005)
– “Sin City”
Director Robert Rodriguez does a great and gory job of bringing Frank Miller’s pitch-black imagination to cinematic life. With Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba and Mickey Rourke. (2005)
– “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”
Everything that was innovative and distinctive about author Alan Moore’s “League” suffers from big-budget bloat in this action disaster. Allan Quartermain (Sean Connery) leads several literary characters as they unite to foil a villain’s plan to rule the world. (2003)
– “Road to Perdition”
This moody adaptation of Max Allen Collins’ and Richard Piers Rayner’s work was filmed in and around Chicago. In it, a hit man and father (Tom Hanks) use both wits and weaponry to keep from being rubbed out by the mob. Jude Law plays a psychopath who photographs the dead. (2002)
– “Ghost World”
Daniel Clowes’ unsentimental comic series about a shiftless, bored high school grad named Enid (Thora Birch) keeps its acidic nature on the big screen. Steve Buscemi and Scarlett Johansson also star. (2001)
– “From Hell”
Before “League,” Moore witnessed Hollywood fumble its adaptation of this series about an opium-addicted investigator’s manhunt for Jack the Ripper. Not even Johnny Depp can overcome the script–and Heather Graham as a prostitute. (2001)
COMING TO THE BIG SCREEN
The following is a sampling of other graphic novels being adapted for the screen:
– “Sin City 2” and “Sin City 3”: “Sin City” director Robert Rodriguez goes back to the drawing board not just once, but twice. (2006)
– “300”: This Frank Miller saga set in 480 B.C. centers on a David vs. Goliath invasion in Greece. (2006)
– “Watchmen”: See Graphic Novels 101 at left. Directed by Paul Greengrass (“The Bourne Supremacy”). (2006)
– “Bonesaw”: This shocker based on Rob Moran’s work finds horrific characters from a novel leaping off the page and into the real world. (2007)
– “Torso”: See Graphic Novels 101 at left. To be directed by David Fincher (“Fight Club”). (2007)
– “Lone Wolf and Cub”: Darren Aronofsky will likely bring his edginess to this action drama about a samurai who becomes an assassin. (2008)
[ contra costa times ]
