8 Movies You Did'nt Know Were Comic Books - Part 1

On my last post I shouted from the top of the mountain that I love comic books. I had read them from the late 70s onwards and never really left them behind. The magic and excitement I get from viewing a story graphically is very different from the experience of reading novels (which I have also read a lot of) or watching movies. If there is a good book in my hands there is very little that could draw me away to watch a movie.

Of course people will scoff at my love for comics not realizing that Hollywood and television has been mining comic books for original story ideas for decades. Live action TV shows based on Superman, Batman, The Green Hornet, The Human Target, The Incredible Hulk, The Flash (blink and you would have missed that one) Wonder Woman, Smallville, plus numerous animated series.

In this post I will list 8 movies that many people would never have known were originally comic books.


1. 30 Days Of Night

Ok I will admit that it doesn't take a hell of a lot to scare the crap out of me, but the movie adaptation of Steven Niles and Ben Templesmith's comic book published by IDW, about the horrors the residents of Barrow, Alaska go through when a group of vampires have 30 days of total darkness to snack on as much food (people) as they can.

Pretty-boy Josh Hartnett does a good job portraying Barrow sheriff Eben Olemaun and shows us the sacrifices that both himself and his wife Stella make to ensure that there are survivors to spread the word on exactly what happened to the town during that dreadful month.

I have read online that 30 Days was originally an unsuccessful "film pitch" that was re-worked by Niles as a comic book which proved to be very popular among fans and critics. Fans of the film though probably dont even know that there are "horror comics"



2. Constantine

He's definitely not American and looks nothing like Keanu Reeves. He's blond, he's English, curses a lot, and always dying for a fag (British for wanting to smoke a cigarette)

John Constantine was created by comic book legend Alan Moore in the pages of Swamp Thing during his amazing run in the 1980s. He went on to star in his own contemporary horror comic book titled Hellbaiser published by DC Comics imprint Vertigo.

The comic series is set in a world without superheroes where Constantine is a street-wise magician/occultist with penchant for getting himself in trouble with very powerful demons while helping people. He's known as a cocky arrogant bastard who relies on his wit, deceit, guile and ingenuity to get him out of trouble and has lost many friends/lovers/assistants who are usually collateral losses.

The movie has Constantine going up against the agents of Heaven and Hell and surviving the wrath to be had for daring to go where he's not wanted and surviving, and is a decent adaptation of a very good comic book (if you can ignore the American accent, pretty-boy Keanu, etc.)


3. Blade

Blade the Vampire Hunter made his debut in the Marvel comic book hit Tomb of Dracula and was created by Marv Wolfman (creator of The New Teen Titans) and Gene Colan.

Brought in as a supporting character, he made a few appearances over the years in various titles and never really broke out as a star.

The action packed movie starring Wesley Snipes made him a favourite among movie goers, but 2 subsequent successful sequels co-starring Kris Kristofferson, Ryan Reynolds and the ultra hot babe-elicious Jessica Biel and a short lived television series still wasnt enough to gain him popularity to maintain an on-going comic book series.

Action movie junkies would never in their wildest dreams thought that their cool new hero had his beginnings in a comic book.


4. V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta was a 10 issue series created and written by British writer Alan Moore (that name again) and British artist David Lloyd and told the story of a dystopian future United Kingdom ruled by a totalitarian Government.

Alan Moore was inspired by the political climate in Britian in the early 80s and predicted that Margret Tatcher's Conservative Government would be defeated in the 1983 elections leading to an incoming Labour Government committing England to a total removal of all nuclear arms thus resulting in the country being spared decimation during an impending exchange.

Moore could see facist elements subverting a post-holocaust England and the need for an Anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Falkes mask begin a well-planned, theatrical campaign to take down the government.

A movie starring Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Stehen Rea and John Hurt was accepted by movie goers world wide who saw it as very original, and despite having a character prancing around in a mask and a cape and waxing poetically, many never realized that they were watching a story from a damn comic book.

Note to readers - Google Guy Falkes

More to come