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The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood's Leading Genre
In the summer of 2000 X-Men surpassed all box office expectations and ushered in an era of unprecedented production of comic book film adaptations. This trend, now in its second decade, has blossomed into Hollywood's leading genre. From superheroes to Spartan warriors, The Comic Book Film Adaptation offers the first dedicated study to examine how comic books moved from the fringes of popular culture to the center of mainstream film production.
Through in-depth analysis, industry interviews, and audience research, this book charts the cause-and-effect of this influential trend. It considers the cultural traumas, business demands, and digital possibilities that Hollywood faced at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The industry managed to meet these challenges by exploiting comics and their existing audiences. However, studios were caught off-guard when these comic book fans, empowered by digital media, began to influence the success of these adaptations. Nonetheless, filmmakers soon developed strategies to take advantage of this intense fanbase, while codifying the trend into a more lucrative genre, the comic book movie, which appealed to an even wider audience. Central to this vibrant trend is a comic aesthetic in which filmmakers utilize digital filmmaking technologies to engage with the language and conventions of comics like never before.
The Comic Book Film Adaptation explores this unique moment in which cinema is stimulated, challenged, and enriched by the once-dismissed medium of comics.
Through in-depth analysis, industry interviews, and audience research, this book charts the cause-and-effect of this influential trend. It considers the cultural traumas, business demands, and digital possibilities that Hollywood faced at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The industry managed to meet these challenges by exploiting comics and their existing audiences. However, studios were caught off-guard when these comic book fans, empowered by digital media, began to influence the success of these adaptations. Nonetheless, filmmakers soon developed strategies to take advantage of this intense fanbase, while codifying the trend into a more lucrative genre, the comic book movie, which appealed to an even wider audience. Central to this vibrant trend is a comic aesthetic in which filmmakers utilize digital filmmaking technologies to engage with the language and conventions of comics like never before.
The Comic Book Film Adaptation explores this unique moment in which cinema is stimulated, challenged, and enriched by the once-dismissed medium of comics.
- GenresComicsNonfiction
384 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2015
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31 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 9, 2017
Did you know the very first comic adaptation was in 1895?!? That's amazing.
With my love for comics, film, and comic book adaptations, this is the perfect book for me.
The author notes early on that Film and Comic Books is the only dedicated book to the analysis of comic book adaptations. At first I thought that was unlikely - but reading this book, it's not just about comic book movies, it's a true analysis.
It's really written as an academic text. Which surprised me a bit, considering the subject matter - but it makes sense. And though makes it not quite a simple read, the author does a decent job, I think, I'm making it accessible to a wide audience.
At first, I was a bit disappointed that the scope of this book was limited to Hollywood films post 2000 - but I understand that there's a trade off between the depth of research and the scope. The author does explain this in the introduction and mentions acclaimed foreign films such as Oldboy, Persepolis, and Blue is the Warmest Color.
And it kind of makes sense to start in what has been called "The Golden Age of Comic Book Filmmaking.” (The first decade-and-a-half of the 21st Century.)
In the first chapter, the author explores possible reasons for this, including 9/11, the maturation of special effects, the advent of media conglomerates, the new generation of filmmakers being comic fans, and the increased respectability of comics. All of these exist culminating the perfect storm for the creation of the Golden Age of Comic Book Movies.
In on sense, the conglomerate aspect makes me worried about the future of movies and storytelling. The author quotes one of his sources (Convergence Culture) as saying,
”When I first started, you would pitch a story because without a good story, you didn’t really have a film. Later, once sequels started to take off, you pitched a character because a good character could support multiple stories. And now, you pitch a world because a world can support multiple characters and multiple stories across multiple media.”
But in another sense, as long as good stories are still being told, and I believe they are, what does it matter how they come to fruition?
(It's fascinating how merchandising really started with Star Wars, and mass production of merchandising tie-ins started with Batman. I remember this - in 1989, when the film was released, and I was in my first year of college, a friend joked that Batman merchandising was so bad, they were making Batman sex toys.)
Chapter 2 discusses the Comic Book Movies as a genre. And I totally relate to the idea of comic book movies as a genre that includes films not necessarily based on comic books. The first example they give - Creepshow - is perfect. Besides original superhero movies (not adapted from comics), I put movies like Ultraviolet in this genre. (Popular culture news sites tend to put any big effects-laden blockbuster - especially with larger than life heroes - in this genre, but I don't think that makes sense.)
Ooh! But what defines the Comic Book Movie? Of course, if the film is based on a comic. But what else? Of course, a lot of people point at superheroes. But this book takes it a little further, pointing out that "comic book movies generally involve an outsider, with heightened abilities." This allows us to include movies like Jumper and Push.
Comic book movies are also often defined by a sense of heightened reality, setting them apart from films that are purely realistic.
The author uses these to summarize a definition of the genre:
"The comic book movie genre follows an vigilante or outsider character engaged in a form of revenge narrative, and is pitched with a heightened reality with a visual style marked by distinctly comic book imagery."
And I love the way the author models the development of genres based on his growth of bacteria! Fitting, indeed!
2008 was the year the comic book movie "came of age" with 3 successful films that specifically took comic book (and comic book movie tropes) and turned them upside down: Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Hancock. That year, 7 additional comic book films were also released.
One of the sections in the discussion of the comic book movie as genre has one of my favorite quotes - he summarizes a section, which concludes "with a focus on adaptations from the work of Alan Moore, in which this genre collided with source fidelity." Ha! That's an amazing way to describe it. (I assumed that he was talking about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). This ends up being a discussion of fidelity, leading into the next section. The author doesn't seem to reach a conclusion here, so I will suggest that the main reason LXG did poorly had nothing to do with fidelity, but because it was, as the author suggests, an "exploitation" film made as quickly as possible to merely cash in on other comic book movie success. So it was poor, poor quality, IMO, that killed LXG.
Chapter 3 is a study of the fidelity of these movies to the source material, as well as the importance of fans - both of the comics and just of the characters - generating word-of-mouth. An interesting addition is how this might make the future of these movies suffer.
Chapter 4 covers the Comic Book Aesthetic. It discusses "how many codes and conventions pass back and forth" between the graphic narratives of comics and film.
And it's interesting - I'm going to have to come down on the side against Scott McCloud when he suggests that a single panel cannot count as sequential art or indeed, comics - since a single panel can, in fact show a sequence of events.
And I never realized how Ghost World subtly used this aesthetic - in its information of simple things like window frames.
I also never realized how well the Matrix's bullet-time captured the aesthetic of the static comic book panel.
I'm a little disappointed that the movie Ultraviolet wasn't mentioned in this section. But yay for a shout-out to Josie and the Pussycats!
The fifth and last chapter is about the more "comic-booky" flourishes that have become Hollywood standard.
I’ve always loved comic book movies. And I highly recommend this academic analysis of the genre to anyone who has any interest in the subject.
Thanks to NetGalley and University Press of Mississippi for a copy in return for an honest review.
With my love for comics, film, and comic book adaptations, this is the perfect book for me.
The author notes early on that Film and Comic Books is the only dedicated book to the analysis of comic book adaptations. At first I thought that was unlikely - but reading this book, it's not just about comic book movies, it's a true analysis.
It's really written as an academic text. Which surprised me a bit, considering the subject matter - but it makes sense. And though makes it not quite a simple read, the author does a decent job, I think, I'm making it accessible to a wide audience.
At first, I was a bit disappointed that the scope of this book was limited to Hollywood films post 2000 - but I understand that there's a trade off between the depth of research and the scope. The author does explain this in the introduction and mentions acclaimed foreign films such as Oldboy, Persepolis, and Blue is the Warmest Color.
And it kind of makes sense to start in what has been called "The Golden Age of Comic Book Filmmaking.” (The first decade-and-a-half of the 21st Century.)
In the first chapter, the author explores possible reasons for this, including 9/11, the maturation of special effects, the advent of media conglomerates, the new generation of filmmakers being comic fans, and the increased respectability of comics. All of these exist culminating the perfect storm for the creation of the Golden Age of Comic Book Movies.
In on sense, the conglomerate aspect makes me worried about the future of movies and storytelling. The author quotes one of his sources (Convergence Culture) as saying,
”When I first started, you would pitch a story because without a good story, you didn’t really have a film. Later, once sequels started to take off, you pitched a character because a good character could support multiple stories. And now, you pitch a world because a world can support multiple characters and multiple stories across multiple media.”
But in another sense, as long as good stories are still being told, and I believe they are, what does it matter how they come to fruition?
(It's fascinating how merchandising really started with Star Wars, and mass production of merchandising tie-ins started with Batman. I remember this - in 1989, when the film was released, and I was in my first year of college, a friend joked that Batman merchandising was so bad, they were making Batman sex toys.)
Chapter 2 discusses the Comic Book Movies as a genre. And I totally relate to the idea of comic book movies as a genre that includes films not necessarily based on comic books. The first example they give - Creepshow - is perfect. Besides original superhero movies (not adapted from comics), I put movies like Ultraviolet in this genre. (Popular culture news sites tend to put any big effects-laden blockbuster - especially with larger than life heroes - in this genre, but I don't think that makes sense.)
Ooh! But what defines the Comic Book Movie? Of course, if the film is based on a comic. But what else? Of course, a lot of people point at superheroes. But this book takes it a little further, pointing out that "comic book movies generally involve an outsider, with heightened abilities." This allows us to include movies like Jumper and Push.
Comic book movies are also often defined by a sense of heightened reality, setting them apart from films that are purely realistic.
The author uses these to summarize a definition of the genre:
"The comic book movie genre follows an vigilante or outsider character engaged in a form of revenge narrative, and is pitched with a heightened reality with a visual style marked by distinctly comic book imagery."
And I love the way the author models the development of genres based on his growth of bacteria! Fitting, indeed!
2008 was the year the comic book movie "came of age" with 3 successful films that specifically took comic book (and comic book movie tropes) and turned them upside down: Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Hancock. That year, 7 additional comic book films were also released.
One of the sections in the discussion of the comic book movie as genre has one of my favorite quotes - he summarizes a section, which concludes "with a focus on adaptations from the work of Alan Moore, in which this genre collided with source fidelity." Ha! That's an amazing way to describe it. (I assumed that he was talking about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). This ends up being a discussion of fidelity, leading into the next section. The author doesn't seem to reach a conclusion here, so I will suggest that the main reason LXG did poorly had nothing to do with fidelity, but because it was, as the author suggests, an "exploitation" film made as quickly as possible to merely cash in on other comic book movie success. So it was poor, poor quality, IMO, that killed LXG.
Chapter 3 is a study of the fidelity of these movies to the source material, as well as the importance of fans - both of the comics and just of the characters - generating word-of-mouth. An interesting addition is how this might make the future of these movies suffer.
Chapter 4 covers the Comic Book Aesthetic. It discusses "how many codes and conventions pass back and forth" between the graphic narratives of comics and film.
And it's interesting - I'm going to have to come down on the side against Scott McCloud when he suggests that a single panel cannot count as sequential art or indeed, comics - since a single panel can, in fact show a sequence of events.
And I never realized how Ghost World subtly used this aesthetic - in its information of simple things like window frames.
I also never realized how well the Matrix's bullet-time captured the aesthetic of the static comic book panel.
I'm a little disappointed that the movie Ultraviolet wasn't mentioned in this section. But yay for a shout-out to Josie and the Pussycats!
The fifth and last chapter is about the more "comic-booky" flourishes that have become Hollywood standard.
I’ve always loved comic book movies. And I highly recommend this academic analysis of the genre to anyone who has any interest in the subject.
Thanks to NetGalley and University Press of Mississippi for a copy in return for an honest review.
September 7, 2018
'The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood's Leading Genre' by Liam Burke is a serious exploration of the rise of superhero films starting in 2000.
Comic book films had been around before 2000, but they really became what the author calls the Golden Age of Comic Book Films. They went from being on the fringes of Hollywood to being major driving forces. The reasons discussed in the book revolve around increasingly better special effects and a public looking for different heroes. The arc and inevitable decline of these films is discussed with comparisons to other genres, like Westerns and horror films. The success is also linked with fidelity to the source material, and a group of creators in Hollywood that grew up as fans of the medium. The aesthetics are discussed along with the way art styles like that at Marvel have influenced the movies.
I liked this book about a genre I enjoy. In early chapters, research is referenced, and based on the introductory notes, it seemed like a pretty small pool of people being asked, but the answers seem legitimate. There are plenty of examples of comics to movie examples, which helped show how influential comics have been on movies. I enjoyed this read.
I received a review copy of this ebook from University Press of Mississippi and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
Comic book films had been around before 2000, but they really became what the author calls the Golden Age of Comic Book Films. They went from being on the fringes of Hollywood to being major driving forces. The reasons discussed in the book revolve around increasingly better special effects and a public looking for different heroes. The arc and inevitable decline of these films is discussed with comparisons to other genres, like Westerns and horror films. The success is also linked with fidelity to the source material, and a group of creators in Hollywood that grew up as fans of the medium. The aesthetics are discussed along with the way art styles like that at Marvel have influenced the movies.
I liked this book about a genre I enjoy. In early chapters, research is referenced, and based on the introductory notes, it seemed like a pretty small pool of people being asked, but the answers seem legitimate. There are plenty of examples of comics to movie examples, which helped show how influential comics have been on movies. I enjoyed this read.
I received a review copy of this ebook from University Press of Mississippi and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
September 9, 2019
Diferente da maioria dos livros que temos por aí falando sobre adaptações de filmes de quadrinhos para cinema, ou ainda de filmes de super-heróis para cinema, que são rasos, trazem um monte de figuras, mas poucas análises, este livro mergulha no escuro profundo da análise das adaptações. Ele não apenas fala sobre o circuito de criação e de produção e também das escolhas feitas para a adaptação desses filmes, como a maioria dos livros costuma oferecer. Na verdade, este livro também fala bastante sobre o uso das linguagens dos quadrinhos nesse tipo de produção cultural e também como a estética dos quadrinhos influencia na hora de verter o conteúdo de uma mídia para a outra. O autor também dedica um capítulo para falar da Maneira Marvel de se fazer quadrinhos bem como as adaptações entre os quadrinhos e filmes da Casa das Ideias. Um livro extremamente completo que explora diversas nuances sobre os quadrinhos e suas adaptações, dos mais variados tipos, desde os quadrinhos de super-heróis, até os quadrinhos mais alternativos e undergrounds, claro, tudo dentro de uma óptica de produção Hollywoodiana.
May 4, 2025
Livro bem interessante sobre a história das adaptações dos quadrinhos para o cinema é a troca de influências entre ambos.
April 7, 2015
Liam Burke brings an academic's focus to the study of comic book movies. In five chapters, he mines adaption theory in light of comic book film studies, surveys audiences in Ireland regarding their knowledge of comic fandom, studies how the Marvel Way of Comics has influenced comic book movies and many other topics.
Each chapter is self-contained, but mentions discussions found in other chapters. Chapter titles include The Golden Age of Comic Book Filmmaking, The Comic Book Movie Genre, Fans, Fidelity, and the Grammar of Value, A Comic Aesthetic, How to Adapt Comics the Marvel Way, concluding with The Future of the Comic Book Movie. Burke also includes in an appendix the North American Box Office Totals for Comic Book Film Adaptions (in dollar amounts not weighted for inflation).
Burke develops well his thesis for each chapter, providing plenty of scholarly detail and notes to other studies. He makes his points accompanied by illustrations where appropriate, but never really provides a coherent theme or scope for the book. Rather he seems to have taken ideas that did not make it into published articles and crammed them into one disjointed book. However, if you are interested in film adaption theory and comic books, you could mine this book for your own pleasure.
Each chapter is self-contained, but mentions discussions found in other chapters. Chapter titles include The Golden Age of Comic Book Filmmaking, The Comic Book Movie Genre, Fans, Fidelity, and the Grammar of Value, A Comic Aesthetic, How to Adapt Comics the Marvel Way, concluding with The Future of the Comic Book Movie. Burke also includes in an appendix the North American Box Office Totals for Comic Book Film Adaptions (in dollar amounts not weighted for inflation).
Burke develops well his thesis for each chapter, providing plenty of scholarly detail and notes to other studies. He makes his points accompanied by illustrations where appropriate, but never really provides a coherent theme or scope for the book. Rather he seems to have taken ideas that did not make it into published articles and crammed them into one disjointed book. However, if you are interested in film adaption theory and comic books, you could mine this book for your own pleasure.
April 16, 2015
The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood’s Leading Genre, by Liam Burke, is a scholarly look at the comic book movie genre, examining why these movies became so popular since the turn of the new century as well as the various elements than can be said to constitute the genre. Burke also discusses the question of fidelity to the original source material and how that fidelity has lately been affected by the rise of mass fan culture. It’s a learned, well-documented, highly informative exploration and highly recommended for anyone interested in comics books, either their film or print versions.
After a brief introduction, the book moves through five relatively lengthy sections, each focused on a different area. I’ll address each chapter separat... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
After a brief introduction, the book moves through five relatively lengthy sections, each focused on a different area. I’ll address each chapter separat... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews