By now you're no longer surprised that comic book writers, stories, and characters are being gobbled up by the movie industry. You've seen a ton of superhero and comic book characters in the movie theaters and on television. And not just the obvious stuff, but lesser known stuff like Frank Miller's Sin City a few years ago, and more recently his take on 300. Maybe you're even very observant and a comic book reader and recognize a few names as the credits roll. Like have you noticed comic book writer Jeph Loeb's name, mostly known for his Spider-Man comics work, showing up on shows like Smallville, Lost, and Heroes? Or have you seen the name Brian Michael Bendis, current writer of the New Avengers comic, show up on the MTV version of Spider-Man?
Well that's all well and good, but did you know it's actually a two way street? Film makers are WRITING comic books these days too. Ever heard of a TV show called Firefly and it's movie version Serenity? Or how about the show Angel? Surely you know Buffy the Vampire Slayer? All the work of Joss Whedon. But have you ever heard of the Runaways? Well that's the comic book he's writing for these days. Not to mention he's also the current writer of Astonishing X-Men. And in the past he's even done comic book versions of Buffy and Firefly.
These guys are stretched paper thin, but they LOVE comic books. You know the movie House Party? Directed by Reginald Hudlin? He's RUNNING the whole BET network right now. But do you know what he finds to do? Write the Black Panther comic. He's taken that underselling title and turned it into something BIG in the last year. He's had the Panther get married to Storm of the X-Men, and that idea is so obvious I don't know how I missed it.
Speaking of empires; ever watch that show Babylon 5? Well I used to get teeny-tiny acting jobs on it, and drive way up to Sun Valley for my little parts. Little did I know J. Michael Straczynski, the show's creator, would one day be writing MULTIPLE Spider-Man titles. Plus Teen Titans, Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four, etc., etc., And he just brought THOR back to life!
Do I even need to mention Kevin Smith? He OWNS comic book stores. And the number of comic title's he's written for is LONG. That's aside from his movies and involvement in TV, like Reapers his upcoming hand in "Heroes: Origins." Another guy who's name you might not know but who's work you DO know is (Stanley Tucci look-alike) David S. Goyer. Probably the next movies you'll see from him are The Invisible and Jumper which he penned not directed. But he's been or will be involved in, the Blade movies, "Blade: The Series", Ghost Rider, Magneto, The Flash, Batman Begins. Crazy right? Then of course there is the comic book work; JSA (Justice Society of America) which he writes with Geoffrey Johns.
Believe it or not lots of filmmakers are comic book fans. Can I take you back in time for a second? Way back in the old days of my life I had ONE single day acting work on NYPD Blue (it was actually the day I got into the union, SAG, but that's an entirely different long story). And I was walking around the Fox lot (I think that's where we were) and I spotted this small Asian man with a prominent facial mole. I ran back to my trailer to get a headshot of myself, and then followed the guy to his office. Knocked on the door and proceeded to meet with John Woo for about 10 minutes. He was had just finished editing his first big Hollywood flick, Face Off, and had some time on his hand. We talked about his penchant for dual characters, and the black and white suits (paging Tarantino) and the having characters simultaneously point guns at each. Main source of inspiration? Mad magazine's Spy Vs. Spy.
David Rosenthal writes for the internet. Chicago native, lived in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Graduated Columbia University. Did film/tv acting. Studied Bujinkan Taijutsu. Comic book and movie fan with an X-Men Wolverine site.
