The Art of Comic Books:
Are the Adaptations Really Necessary?
Within the past few years, our society has undoubtedly been in a sort of a superhero-craze. We cannot deny the amount of excitement for films like Avengers: Endgame, which grossed 2.798 billion dollars worldwide. A more recent example, Spider-Man: No Way Home tails close behind, brandishing a whopping 1.893 billion dollars in box office sales. Looking at these examples it is clear that these movies are beloved by fans all over the world, but when we observe these stories in more detail it is clear that they are very hard to pull off well. To critics and creative persons in general, these superhero movies are nothing but the same outline sputtered out of a printing press with little regard for originality, something that their animated and inked counterparts never harbored a lack of. Essentially, the most natural language in which these stories are to be told lies in animation and comic books which best portray aesthetics, plot and production, and shy away from the formulaic structure repeated over and over in the average Marvel or DC film.
The CGI beast that is Thanos from Avengers: Endgame
For the casual fan of these superhero films, the issue of aesthetics could make or break a film’s quality for them. Historically, humans have been attracted to pretty and visually pleasing things, and it is no doubt that bad CGI or the overall look of a movie could ruin it for a fan. To journalist Dr Mark Bowden, these movies can be described as a “showcase [of] beautiful bodies in well-choreographed combat augmented by ear-blasting pseudo-Wagnerian music and dazzling special effects” (Why Are We Obsessed With Superhero Movies?, 2018). Oftentimes these films opt for quite simply, a lot. They portray epic battles in Asgard or explorations of different worlds in space, sometimes looking just plain unappealing to the eye even when the scene is relatively easy to handle (See Black Widow, 2021). Too much computer-generated action can make a movie feel weightless and fake, something the creators of these films strive against, yet still overlook all the same. Sometimes even the most simple creations invoke complex emotions and a beautiful viewing experience, such as that of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
This film is undoubtedly one of the most visually stunning superhero stories to ever hit the big screen, using the fact that it is an animated piece to its advantage. Spider-Verse combines the art of animation and comic books, the pictures in each frame creating a sense of emotion for the watcher. For example, at the beginning of the film the primary colours of the background and overall atmosphere are reds and oranges, complimenting how the main character, Miles Morales, feels in this familiar environment. He is comfortable in this space, the colours and lighting blending in with his easygoing attitude towards his friends and neighbours. Later on when he is shown in his new, high stakes school, a stressful place for anyone to be, the lighting is harsher the the reds and oranges start to go away, the camera angles getting warped and wider, embodying his stress. These kinds of elements would be virtually impossible to pull off in a live-action adaptation, where camera filters can only go so far until the entire thing starts to look insubstantial.
According to Danny Dimian (Visual Effects Supervisor for Spider-Verse) and Josh Beveridge, (Head of Character Animation), “We’d really drilled it into trying to treat New York only the way animation can; [to] treat it like it’s a character” (How Animators Created the Spider-Verse, 2018). The boroughs and of the city were treated like their own separate beings, giving the environments life, the palettes and linework depending on the content happening inside them. Adaptations can try and emulate this feel with CGI and special effects, the raw characterization and vibrance Spider-Verse presents is hard to replicate with a camera and editing program.
When delving into plot and structure, it is clear that superhero adaptations follow the basic principle of the hero always winning, and the bad guys always losing. Marvel tried to stray away from this principle in Avengers: Infinity War, but still ended up reviving its characters (spoiler alert) and trudging back to the original expectations in the final Avengers instalment, Avengers: Endgame. Superhero movies are also incredibly easy to pump out, and the revenue for them will always be decent. Mark Bowden describes these flicks as “as mental popcorn, meant to be rapidly consumed and forgotten” and why “this may be precisely why so many people love them” (Why Are We Obsessed With Superhero Movies?, 2018). There is nothing new about these movies, and therefore leave little room for creative exploration outside of their comic counterparts.
Dr. Micheal Morbius from the early Spider-Man comics
A movie that follows this criteria to a tee is the recent release of Morbius. An extremely boring and formulaic story about a pseudo-vampire from the world of Marvel, this movie does nothing to explore the character of Morbius, the cinematography looking stale and boring. But to contrast, the recent comics featuring the vampire show a melodramatic, complex character, the black shading and linework present in comics painting the vampire in an eerie, malevolent light. The same goes for the recent issues of Batman: Year One, in which the swift, malignant hero blends in with the shadows to embody that dark anti-hero we all know and love. Simply put, comics allow more creative room for characters to thrive and be presented in a way that is visually engaging, and complex in terms of plot and personality as well.
To summarise, superhero films need to embody that sense of wonder and fantasy, to keep the audience engaged and present their storylines with subtle but powerful storytelling. Little but clever elements spell out quality in terms of most creative successes, and are akin to a base of a tall skyscraper. Plot, aesthetics, and production are all executed wonderfully in comic books and animated superhero films, the opposite of the formulaic outline of recent Hollywood adaptations. Terrifying, dangerous snakes slither into a scene wriggling and sliding, their forms etched into the viewer’s minds. Behind them, bats flutter out of the shadows, the blood-red pupils of Micheal Morbius illuminating the darkness, the silence echoing of bloodlust. In comparison, Miles Morales swings around a sunset bathed Manhattan, his form fluidly gliding across buildings, music blaring through his headphones. The bright red of his suit contrasts the vibrant blue of the buildings bending to meet him, New York’s way of saying hello to its very own Spider-Man. Essentially, these kinds of experiences and imagery are what make superhero movies so enjoyable, creating a world in which the viewer is encouraged to swim and fully immerse themselves in. Movies like this were born out of a desire to create genuinely engaging content and encourage aspiring creators to take risks in animation and comic art, to use the medium to their advantage. Exploring the different ways we can tell stories and communicate ideas is worth it, as it makes for unforgettable experiences and rich, beautiful pieces of media.
Sources:
Espinosa , Daniel, director. Morbius. Morbius , Columbia Pictures, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morbius_(film). Accessed 9 May 2022.
Bowden, Mark. “Why Are We Obsessed with Superhero Movies?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 July 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/06/opinion/sunday/ant-man-wasp-movies-superheroes.html.
“How Animators Created the Spider-Verse | Wired - Youtube.” Youtube , WIRED, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-wUKu_V2Lk.
“Marvel Comics.” Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Comics , https://www.marvel.com/comics.
Miller , Frank, and David Mazzucchelli. . Batman: Year One. DC Comics .
Persichetti, Bob, director. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse . Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse , Sony Pictures Animation , 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_Into_the_Spider-Verse. Accessed 2022.
Russo , Anthony and Joe Russo , directors. Avengers: Endgame , Marvel Studios , 2019,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avengers:_Endgame. Accessed 2022.
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