As part of my course at college, we have to do a 2 radio podcast type things on 2 different subjects. One of these is 'Do you think comic to film adaptations are becoming more popular than book to film adaptations?'

So bascially throughout the whole of the last decade, with Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter etc, all the films released were adapted from books, but now it's getting more about comics - Tron, the Green Hornet and stuff.

I'm just asking you what do you think in regard to the question, and do you think it is a good/bad thing, and what do you think the future is in regard to this?

Thank you (:

I'm in two minds about this. As an avid fan of various comic books and superheroes ever since I was a nipper I love seeing them brought to the big screen and given the treatment they deserve, and nothing delights me more than knowing a whole new generation will be interested in the stories that I grew up loving.

Now that they seem to command a great deal of attention at the box office and are suddenly not being sneered at by critics and moviegoers alike it's making it easier to adapt comic books and graphic novels for the big screen and to realise them visually in front of a huge audience. There will also always be the inevitable element of cashing in, and some of the comic book adaptations do seem to be trying to get in while the going is good without any thought to artistic integrity.

For me personally it's a good thing, but I think overall it's neither good nor bad, it's just the direction that the industry is taking. Whether you're adapting books or comics it's all the same thing really, the difference only lies with the perceived superiority of one type of source material over the other. Things are always shifting in the industry and people are always looking for something new to bring to the big screen, eventually the comic book trend will fade into obscurity and a new source will be found for inspiration in cinema.

It's also important to bear in mind that people have been adapting novels, novellas, short stories and comic books since the birth of cinema, and while there have been obvious trends throughout the years (like the popularity of comic adaptations that we're seeing now) it's by no means a new thing. In fact in the past many people simply sat and watched a film without realising they were watching something adapted from a book or (shock horror) a comic, in the past comics just didn't have the integrity that they do now and people weren't as accepting of the format so it wasn't something that studios were keen to celebrate.

Incidentally Tron wasn't adapted from a comic book.

Sorry I didn't mean Tron, we were going to talk about re-makes of films old vs new, which is why it was in my head (:

another point is, a lot of these were cartoons when we were kids... super man, spider man, heman, transformers etc. etc. etc.

transformers was pretty shoddy as a film really... my nephew (13) who's never seen the cartoon thought it sucked and he's at the age he should have loved it....

I loved it... but I think that's because I grew up watching transformers so got into it quick and had an emotional connection to the actors/robots before it even started 

Quote from: knighty on January 25, 2011, 20:29:28 PM
I loved it... but I think that's because I grew up watching transformers so got into it quick and had an emotional connection to the actors/robots before it even started 

im with you. though i'll expand and say i actually love lots of comic book tie ins, they just seem to have a better story about them. i dont seem interested in normal films right now.

I loved Transformers, it's one of my favourite films and I've probably watched it about 10 times now :\ lol.
I'm trying to say a bit how comics have grown up - capes, underpants worn on the outside and secret dens have all been replaced with much older, snazzier and pretty much less cheesy stuff. Comic films have become more grown up - like with Iron Man etc.
They're not for kids anymore, they're a much more grown up thing

Quote from: Beanissocoollike on January 26, 2011, 13:20:19 PM
I loved Transformers, it's one of my favourite films and I've probably watched it about 10 times now :\ lol.
I'm trying to say a bit how comics have grown up - capes, underpants worn on the outside and secret dens have all been replaced with much older, snazzier and pretty much less cheesy stuff. Comic films have become more grown up - like with Iron Man etc.
They're not for kids anymore, they're a much more grown up thing

On the other hand there were plenty of comics that were never written for kids. Watchmen is a case is a point, first published in 1986 and adapted to the screen in 2009, both very much adult in nature. In fact there are plenty of comics that are aimed at a more mature audience that date back to the 20's and 30's, and things like Weird Science in the 1950's exemplify this.