Top 5! - Comics to Film (That Haven't Yet Been Filmed)
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We live in the Golden Age (I use the term advisedly) of the comic-inspired movie. There are a lot of characters and properties out there that would translate well into film and deserve a closer look by the powers that be. I offer 5 here for your consideration.
5 - "The Establishment"
One of the quirkiest superteams of this decade, the Britain-based Establishment had a brief run under the Wildstorm imprint and is definitely worth picking up if you read comics. It is worth a second look because the characters are subtle and well-fashioned (I loved Mister Pharmacist), the European setting feels increasingly both global and accessible and the writers had a way with dialogue. All of this would translate well to the big screen.
4 - "Nexus"
Horatio Hellpop has the name, the cred and the science-hero-ey out-there-ness to be the hero of the 21st - or indeed the 26th.
3 - "Sandman Mystery Theatre"
One of my all-time favorites (the disastrously inappropriate recent mini-series notwithstanding), featuring powerful characters (Wesley Dodds has great depth, but his girlfriend Dian Belmont, arguably, has even more), a rich 1930s setting and an appealing groundedness. Think Batman without all the naval-gazing brooding. If I were writing this script, I would probably set it during the 1939 World's Fair.
2 - "Global Frequency"
Another Wildstorm entry, this one conceived and written by Warren Ellis, the master of storytelling in the comics form. "Global Frequency" was offered as a TV pilot in 2005 but didn't succeed and, by my read, wouldn't have as a series (though I would have watched). The radical shifts in character and focus issue to issue makes any one of the 12 issues worth bringing to film right now. Deep backstory, richly relevant to the problems of today's world. If you haven't read this - do so!
1 - "Xombi"
The very best of the criminally underappreciated and undersupported Milestone line from the mid-1990s, Xombi tells the story of David Kim, rendered immortal by means of nanotechnology. He's almost achingly believable as a character but he's surrounded by sidekicks and friends who add a levity to what might otherwise have been too serious (Nun of the Above and Catholic Girl...awesome!).
5 - "The Establishment"
One of the quirkiest superteams of this decade, the Britain-based Establishment had a brief run under the Wildstorm imprint and is definitely worth picking up if you read comics. It is worth a second look because the characters are subtle and well-fashioned (I loved Mister Pharmacist), the European setting feels increasingly both global and accessible and the writers had a way with dialogue. All of this would translate well to the big screen.
4 - "Nexus"
Horatio Hellpop has the name, the cred and the science-hero-ey out-there-ness to be the hero of the 21st - or indeed the 26th.
3 - "Sandman Mystery Theatre"
One of my all-time favorites (the disastrously inappropriate recent mini-series notwithstanding), featuring powerful characters (Wesley Dodds has great depth, but his girlfriend Dian Belmont, arguably, has even more), a rich 1930s setting and an appealing groundedness. Think Batman without all the naval-gazing brooding. If I were writing this script, I would probably set it during the 1939 World's Fair.
2 - "Global Frequency"
Another Wildstorm entry, this one conceived and written by Warren Ellis, the master of storytelling in the comics form. "Global Frequency" was offered as a TV pilot in 2005 but didn't succeed and, by my read, wouldn't have as a series (though I would have watched). The radical shifts in character and focus issue to issue makes any one of the 12 issues worth bringing to film right now. Deep backstory, richly relevant to the problems of today's world. If you haven't read this - do so!
1 - "Xombi"
The very best of the criminally underappreciated and undersupported Milestone line from the mid-1990s, Xombi tells the story of David Kim, rendered immortal by means of nanotechnology. He's almost achingly believable as a character but he's surrounded by sidekicks and friends who add a levity to what might otherwise have been too serious (Nun of the Above and Catholic Girl...awesome!).