Spring Break
Movie or Comic Book? The battle
Flip Williamson
Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Life
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That is the question for those witnessing classic comic book superheroes, such as Ironman, Batman and Spiderman, when put into screenplay.
For most, especially busy students, it is more convenient to take a seat in front of a tremendous screen, pig out on a big bag of popcorn and watch as Mary Jane Watson is helplessly dropped from nearly six stories, screaming for Spiderman to save her. To some, however, these movies are a disgrace, not giving the original comic book the praise and respect it deserves.
Since the release of the breakthrough movie "Superman" in 1978, more than 75 comic books have been put into movie form.
In a recent poll taken by geeksugar.com, 48 percent of voters said they love seeing their favorite characters on the big screen. Next to that, 43 percent said they didn't mind the film being made, as long is it is worthy.
"Most comic movies are initially a big help," Kathleen Miller, owner of local comic book store, Comic World, said. "After the new Spiderman movies, business picked up."
It's no secret that the comic book business is not what it used to be in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The late 80s saw a small jump in readers with the release of the first Batman. Directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton, this film did its part to try to save the comic book industry, Miller said.
"The Batman movie brought people in," Miller said. "Seeing the comic in movie form made them want to read."
This was a short victory for the comic book economy, however, as it saw a great crash in the early to mid 1990s.
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