Introduction to Comic Book Media 101

Comic books have come a long way since my childhood. There are many, many reasons for this. First, is an aging demographic base that demands more complicated stories and intricate plotting than when they were children. I am firmly within said demographic. I am 30 now, and easily read more comics than I did when I was 13. I would guess that this is true for most adult comic readers. Thus, the industry works to appease those who spend the money.

The second reason would be the logical evolution of the medium. While comics (meaning pictures and words combined to tell a story) have existed for countless centuries, the concept of a "comic book" or "bandes dessinées" is relatively new when compared to the history of literature and drama. As such, it is still in the early stages of its natural evolution. It has changed greatly in the 75+ years since the creation of the "Super Hero"* and will continue to change even more in the future.

Third, and what I find the most interesting, is the popular and profitable spread of comics into other media. Comic books have a long history in film and television but it has only been recently that they have become such money-making juggernauts. At any given quarter within the last few years, films based upon comics have dominated the box-office and made obscene amounts of money.

The purpose of this blog will be to look back on every piece of comic book media from the realms of film, television, animation and home video. Essentially, reviewing and giving information on each piece of comic book media that is presented. While the artistic and financial triumphs within the medium are worthy of discussion, I am also very interested in the adaptations that failed (either creatively or monetarily) and examine the reasons behind both. This may be considered a daunting task, but if you've ever seen my collection of comic-book movies, you'd know that I'm up for it. With that comes the question of what should be examined first...

                                                           




*Note that the term "Superhero" dates to 1917, but for the purposes of comic based Super-humans, I am tracing it to around the time of the creation of Superman (1938) and Sub-Mariner (1939). Since DC and Marvel collectively hold the copyright to the term "Super Hero", I think that is appropriate.