A CCD Rant by Joe Esq: Am I The Only Nerd Who Gets Annoyed...

... When they change stuff in the comic book to make it match the movies? Ok look, I understand the corporate robot-think that leads to comic book companies doing this, but I find it contemptible and I'll never agree with it. And that's not just nerd-rage talking, the way I see it, its a really shortsighted and stupid thing to do.

Ostensibly, the (flawed) logic behind this practice boils down to this: more people see the movies than read the books. Some of those people MIGHT see the movie and be curious enough to start reading the books too. So, lets make the books look as much like the movies as possible so that when (if) these potential new readers come along, they're not immediately alienated by things being different than they're used to.  To me, this just reeks of desperate pandering and, if you think about it, its actually insulting not only to the people who were already comic fans, but to these potential new readers as well.

Basically, this practice demonstrates that the publishers' (despite seemingly being desperate for their business) have an underlying belief that these non-comic book reading movie-goers are a bunch of morons. Seriously, "the comic is a little different" or "they changed that for the movie" are concepts any 10-year-old can understand. Why the conceptual red carpet needs to be rolled out for a bunch of people who are only potentially reading the books is beyond me. Is "the X-Men wear blue and yellow costumes in the comic books" really too high-concept for the average non-comic reading movie-goer to grasp? Are the publishers that insecure that the stories and art aren't good enough to sell themselves on their own merits? If  someone is curious enough buy a comic book, the fact that something is different isn't going to make or break their decision to keep buying. Have some self-esteem!

Because, while you're busy pandering to people who aren't buying your product yet, the worse effect of this is that it inevitably alienates the loyal readers YOU ALREADY HAVE!. You know, the ones who are already regularly shelling out 3 bucks an issue, week after week, all these years? The ones whose loyalty was a large part of the reason these characters (and the whole medium) have enjoyed the longevity that made movies about them a viable option in the first? No? Not ringing any bells? Oh, right, screw them. They're hooked, and you're already getting their money.

For me, and I'm sure I'm not alone, every time there's a change in a book I'm reading to match something from the movies, its jarring. And annoying. Sometimes its just a cosmetic change, but other times the storylines have to do gymnastics in order to get things to line up. Either way, it's like a metaphorical record scratch right across the page of the comic. Below, I have a few of the most egregious, off the top of my head examples, but before I give you those, I just want to sum up. Comic Book Publishers, STOP DOING THIS! You're alienating people who already pay you money in order to pander to people who don't. Let them join the club, stop trying to change the club while begging them to join!

In case you're lost, here's some examples of what I mean:

1. Nick Fury is black now (in the Marvel 616 Universe).

Ok, so in the Marvel Ultimate Universe, the design of Nick Fury was based on Samuel L. Jackson. Then they make the Marvel movies and cast Sam Jackson as Fury... which somehow leads to a convoluted story where the Nick Fury in the main (616) Marvel Universe is a black guy that looks like Sam Jackson. Ohh, he's Nick Fury JUNIOR? Yeah, that makes it better. 

  

2. Mystique is a blue lizard:

In 2001's X-Men Forever miniseries Mystique is exposed to dangerous levels of radiation and ends up looking like the ridiculous naked blue lizard they made her in movies. Sure, in the films it was a nice excuse for horny geeks to pretend they were seeing naked Rebecca Romijin or Jennifer Lawrence, but one, you're really not; and two, the visual does not translate well to the comic book page at all. 

3. Toad has cool powers:

Now, objectively this one could be called an improvement. In the comics, Toad was a short fat dude whose power was he could jump real high. In the movie he's a skinny, athletic guy who could jump real high, knows parkour and has 25 foot long prehensile tongue. So of course, again in the 2001 X-Men Forever mini (which may as well have been called X-Men: PLEASE BUY US AND LIKE US BECAUSE YOU SAW THE MOVIE) convoluted measures are taken to make Toad green, skinny, have a 25-foot tongue, adhesive saliva, and pheromone powers (because there's a rule that every non-main character mutant in the X-Men movie universe must have 47 powers). So sure, while the new movie-inspired Toad is "cooler" than the old Toad, it still feels like unneccesary pandering to me.

4. Transformers faces:

I didn't feel like doing photo research for this one. You all know what I mean. They looked shitty in the movie, they look even shittier in the comic. Thankfully, I think they've already stopped drawing them that way.

5. Spidey's organic webbing:

So, to match the way it was in the movies (and because Peter having biological webbing is more "realistic" than him having invented a webbing and shooters to go along with his other powers), Marvel made Peter develop organic web shooters in the comic. Yeah that's a great idea, take an integral part of classic comic book Americana and discard it so some movie jerk won't feel too alienated by it... on the off chance that that movie jerk actually picks up the comic in the first place. The comic storyline involved Spidey being turned into an actual giant spider and then back. Can we just acknowledge that Spider-Man spraying sticky organic fluid all over his enemies, and the city, is gross? Thankfully, the spinnerettes coincidentally developed in his wrists, instead of his rear end, like a real spider. This mutation of his powers has been ignored since the "Brand New Day" storyline (which I will not discuss here, because its a whole other can of nerd-rage), and Peter is back to using his man-made webbing.

So that's five of the worst. There's more. Hawkeye's costume; the aforementioned cladding of the X-Men in all leather; Coulson suddenly showing up everywhere; I could go on and on. I guess we should just be thankful that there's an even longer list of stuff that was changed for the movies that the comic books have left intact (Deadpool anyone?).

Sigh, nerd rage...... 

Why Did It Take So Long To Get A Film Sequel To '300' ???

300 was one of the biggest genre changing movies of the last 20 years... it further pushed the comic book adaptions into the stratosphere and helped jump start the career of visionary director Zack Snyder. Snyder may not be everybody's favorite director, but his techniques and visual effects output is unmatched. 300 actually made Frank Miller & Lynn Varley's original comic come to life, and the action sequences literally are adapted shot for shot. Gerard Butler & Lena Hedley (among many others) had their careers launched into orbit, and it seemed like there would be sequels abound to follow. Talk about a follow up comic from the original creators started immediately, and even talks of where to take the direction of the film franchise were on the rise. But with the delay of 'Xeres' (the follow up comic from Miller & Varley) coming fast and frequent, Warner Brothers decided to stop waiting and start filming. So 300: Rise of An Empire is a film that is set in the world of Miller's creation, yet not the direct of a comic that the first film was. We got a new director (Noam Murro) and a full new cast (with the exception of Xeres, played again by Rodrigo Santoro) to tell another story during the Greek/Persian war. Good lawd, Eva Green is looking right! The movie pops off on March 7th, and I for one can't wait. The previews look good, and if it is nearly as much fun as the 1st film than I will be completely entertained. Check out this clip that was released by the studio, a kind of combo trailer/behind the scenes of things to come. You can see it after the jump...

Is 'Beasts Of Burden' Finally On Its Way To The Big Screen?

 

Independent comic companies are a plentiful bunch, but there are a few of the so called 'smaller' companies that are putting out tons of great material to compete with Marvel & DC. Image is riding high with The Walking Dead, which helps fund a plethora of their other creator owned books. Dark Horse is the other major player in the second wave of comic publishers. They have a monster property in Hellboy, and they use that main character to drive most of the titles they offer. Due to Hellboy's horror/supernatural influences, Dark Horse tends to dabble into this area more often then not. One of the cooler titles that they have come out with is 'Beasts of Burden, which is a title that appeared in a bunch of 'Dark Horse Presents...' collections and a mini series of its very own, as well as a cross over one shot with Hellboy. The base of the story is a group of five dogs and a cat who investigate paranormal activity in the town of Burden Hill. The book is extremely well written by Evan Dorkin and drawn by Jill Thompson, and it is a lot of fun. Now it is possibly getting the big screen treatment from Shane Acker, the director of the the underrated CGI/animated movie '9'...

Check out more from the official press release after the jump...

Acker is very talented and I am interested on his approach to Beast of Burden. He plans on going with the animated approach to this one, and I think that is great. A CGI/human hybrid would only result in a Beverly Hills Chihuahua & Dogs and Cats mockery of a movie rather than something potentially cool like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It is also good to see movie companies looking towards smaller publishers like Dark Horse, as well as comic books that involve more than super heroes. Acker has been working with Guillermo Del Torro on an animated feature, so that makes me feel like the guy has some potential cause Del Torro doesn't just work with anybody. I can't wait to see how this one pans out. Since this is an animated feature I would assume that this one is 2 to 3 years off... so for the time being click here to order the Beast of Burden Collected Edition and enjoy the press release announcing the details below....

The project is an animated adventure about the baffling behavior (tail chasing, barking at “nothing” at all) of our favorite four-legged friends. In the charming town of Burden Hill, there might be more to these animal antics than meets the eye. The town is inhabited by the supernatural, and when its paranormal activity becomes even more abnormal than usual, it’s up to a group of fearless canines called the Watch Dogs to protect its citizens – and humanity – from the mysterious things that go “bump” in the night.

Here’s the rest of the relevant portions of the press release:

Acker is the latest filmmaker Reel FX has attracted to its growing animation slate, which already includes the Day of the Dead-themed project, The Book of Life (Guillermo del Toro producing/Jorge Gutierrez directing), which will be released in theaters by Fox Animation on October 10, 2014; and Turkeys (Jimmy Hayward directing, starring Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson), which will be released in theaters on November 14, 2014 by Relativity Media.

Reel FX recently announced that Warner, the Academy Award-winning producer of the animated blockbusters Shrek, Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third, had joined the growing movie studio as President of Animation.

Warner notes, “Reel FX is continuing to partner with some of the leading filmmakers in animation. Shane is an immense talent and will bring his fresh vision and approach to this adaptation of ‘Beasts of Burden.’”

Says Acker, “It’s a pleasure to be working with such accomplished producers and filmmakers on this incredible project. There is a real independent spirit at Reel FX — the studio is full of energy and fresh ideas — which is necessary to bring this unique story to life.”

Thanks to /Film for making my day...

Comic Hero Romances: A Video by Exophrine

Another month, another cool ass video from my boy Dave and the Exophrine team. In the past they have taken on cars, guns, and all sorts of other topics, but this month Exophrine is taking a look at some of the greatest romances to ever grace the comic book movie screen. To be honest, romance in comic book movies is just as important as villians and plot points... the significant other (and rescuing of that other) has long been a returning trope, so it's great that Dave chose to focus on that. Enjoy the video after the jump, and go over to Exophrine and show the guys some love. Tell em CCD sent ya....

Will Power Man Be Contractually Required To Wear Old Spice In His Movie Debut???

This is a funny story. Isaiah Mustafa, the guy from the awesome 'Old Spice' commercials ("look... I'm on a horse") has it in his head that he wants to play Luke Cage (Power Man) in a big screen version of the Marvel Comic. While there has been some talk of giving Cage a shot for a solo feature, rumors are that Idris Elba might get the nod. Elba was cast in 'Thor' as Heimdall the Gatekeeper and he absolutely killed it. Judging by the way Marvel likes to dig back through their older movies for stars on their newer projects, I was leaning towards Elba for Cage as well. So who will be the "Hero for Hire" on the big screen?

It looks like Mustafa ain't waiting around to lose the role to Elba, who already has a foot through the door. Mustafa put together this faux trailer for a Power Man movie and it looks pretty cool. Take a look for yourself:



Now that's how you go after it!!! I would have liked Mustafa to look a bit bigger (Cage is gigantic), but that can probably be fixed with some CGI. My only beef is that he should have wore the silver headpiece from the vintage (70's/80's) Cage comics.

I know Luke Cage isn't rocking that look anymore, but Mustafa would have score major points with Quesada and the gang over at Marvel. Who do you think Power Man should be? Tell us in the comment section below.

OHC of the Day: Jaimie Alexander

Jaimie Alexander is the success story that you like to hear about in Hollywood... well, lets just say she is on her way to being the success story that everyone likes to hear about. She attained some level of recognition as the Jessi, the sidekick of Kyle on the ABC Family TV show Kyle XY. Then she starred in two horror movies, Rest Stop and Hallowed Ground. She has made appearances on many hit TV shows, such as Bones, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and CSI: Miami. But now she is about to make that leap that all young actresses hope to make... full fledged star. She is lighting up the big screen in Marvel Comics smash hit 'Thor' as Lady Sif, and she absolutely rocks it. Next she will be appearing on the hit Showtime series 'Nurse Jackie' opposite Edie Falco, and in the movies 'Savannah' & 'Loosies'. Sky is the limit for this raven haired goddess... my guess is you will be seeing alot more of that beautiful beauty marked face in the future. Just remember where you saw her first....

***Click Read more below to see more of Jaimie Alexander***