One Episode at a Time: The Secret Origins of the Comic Book Film

[Check it out: The following is a revised version of a paper I gave at the 2011 Carleton Communication Graduate Caucus on Neglected Media.]

Given the resounding critical and financial success of 2012's superhero films - The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Dark Night Rises - it's safe to say that films based on comic books have reached the point of ubiquity, and have firmly solidified the genre as a staple of contemporary American cinema. However, in the exploration of the comic book film, scholars and critics all but ignore one of the most important developments in not only the genre, but film history itself: the motion picture serial. These serials, immensely popular during their time, have not been adequately explored in critical or academic discourse. Likewise, comic book serials are at best relegated to simply a footnote, but are more often ignored or dismissed. Nevertheless, these film serial adaptations of comics have heavily influenced groundbreaking television shows like Adventures of Superman (1952-1958) and Batman (1966-1968), as well as on the modern incarnation of the comic book film. Though the 1941 serial Adventures of Captain Marvel marks the true origin of the comic book film, my focus primarily on arguably the two of the most popular comic book characters and recognizable cultural icons: Superman and Batman.

Episode 29. MEN IN BLACK I (1997) & II (2002)

You know what the difference between other podcasts and 24 Panels is? Dru and Dave make podcastin' look goooooooood.

We're back with a new series - "Sequels, Reboots, and Finales, Oh My!" - exploring the films that are being sequelized or rebooted this very summer. And we're kicking it off with a double feature of the first two Men in Black films, based on Lowell Cunningham's The Men in Black comics. How do these sci-fi/comedy blockbusters stack up against the little-read, hard-to-find, black-and-white comics? Listen to this episode to find out.

Episode breakdown:
0:00 - 9:46: Intro banter (Dave's fever dream)
9:46 - 10:23: Men in Black trailer
10:23 - 53:16: Main discussion, part one: Men in Black
53:16 - 54:07: Men in Black II trailer
54:07 - 1:41:12: Main discussion, part two: Men in Black II
1:41:12 - 1:45:39: Closing remarks

Additional links:

Evangelos Tziallas on superheroes and surveillance in the National Post

Send all feedback to twentyfourpanels@gmail.com. Stay up to date with our blogs at 24panelspersecond.blogspot.com and 24panels.tumblr.com. Follow Dave on Twitter @24panels and Dru @violetbooth. Like us on Facebook. And don't forget to subscribe (and review us) in iTunes!

Next time on 24 Panels: Spider-Man..

Episode 27. DAREDEVIL (2003)

Are Dru and Dave men without fear? Certainly not, which is why they're recruited guest host James Hrivnak to join them in their trip to Hell's Kitchen, NYC to discuss Mark Steven Johnson's Daredevil. Even though it represents a serious improvment from the theatrical cut, we can all agree that Matt Murdock deserves a better film. Don't blame us, we're not the bad guys! Blame Mark Steven Johnson!

Episode breakdown:

0:00 - 15:00: Intro banter (Peter Weller as Batman in The Dark Knight Returns)

15:00 - 15:44: Daredevil trailer

15:44 - 1:39:39: Main discussion: Daredevil (with James Hrivnak)

Send all feedback to twentyfourpanels@gmail.com. Stay up to date with our blogs at 24panelspersecond.blogspot.com and 24panels.tumblr.com. Follow Dave on Twitter @24panels and Dru @violetbooth. Like us on Facebook. And don't forget to subscribe (and review us) in iTunes!

Next time on 24 Panels: The Dark Knight...

Episode 26. THE CROW (1994)

To kick off the "Dark Avengers" series, Dru and Dave bring guest William Hart back from the dead to discuss the 1994 film adaptation of James O'Barr's The Crow. Unfortunately, Will was only interested in taking bloody revenge on the 24 Panels hosts (having last appeared on the show to discuss Ghost Rider), wearing white facepaint, and playing ripping guitar solos in the rain.

Episode breakdown:
0:00 - 12:58: Intro banter (The Avengers, "The Scottish Film")
12:58 - 13:40: The Crow trailer
13:40 - 1:25:03: Main discussion: The Crow (with William Hart)
1:25:03 - 1:27:24: Closing remarks

Send all feedback to twentyfourpanels@gmail.com. Stay up to date with our blogs at 24panelspersecond.blogspot.com and 24panels.tumblr.com. Follow Dave on Twitter @24panels and Dru @violetbooth. Like us on Facebook. And don't forget to subscribe (and review us) in iTunes!

Next time on 24 Panels: Daredevil...

BETWEEN PANELS: Avengers Assemble! (Part Two)

We saw it, and based on the boffo box office (this is one of those rare times when a word like "boffo" is truly appropriate), you did too! On this bonus episode of 24 Panels Per Second, we discuss The Avengers: what it does right, where it's lacking, and what it means both for the future of Marvel Studios and the future of the superhero genre in film. It takes us almost 100 minutes.

Send all feedback to twentyfourpanels@gmail.com. Stay up to date with our blog at 24panelspersecond.blogspot.com. Follow Dave on Twitter @24panels and Dru @violetbooth. Like us on Facebook. And don't forget to subscribe (and review us) in iTunes!

Next time on 24 Panels: The Crow...

BETWEEN PANELS: Avengers Assemble! (Part One)

Dru and Dave's excitement about The Avengers could not be contained in a single Between Panels bonus episode! In the first half of this epic, two-part Between Panels, D&D discuss their impressions of the  "Road to The Avengers" films and what they're hoping to get out of Joss Whedon's upcoming team-up film. Stay tuned for next week's exciting conclusion, in which we nurse a post-Avengers hangover.

THIS IS A BONUS EPISODE. If you're new to the show, we'd recommend starting elsewhere.

Send all feedback to twentyfourpanels@gmail.com. Stay up to date with our blog at 24panelspersecond.blogspot.com. Follow Dave on Twitter @24panels and Dru @violetbooth. Like us on Facebook. And don't forget to subscribe (and review us) in iTunes!

Episode 25. NICK FURY: AGENT OF SHIELD

Alright guys, we made it. Let's do a head count.

We're finally through with the surprisingly challenging MADE-FOR-TV AVENGERS series, but only once we reckon with 1998's Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD starring David Hasselhoff. Dru spends most of the episode trying to change the subject while David tries to veer us back on course. Both agree that Nick Fury has camp classic written all over it.

Episode breakdown:
0:00 - 22:05: Intro banter (The Dark Knight Rises runtime, The Three Stooges, miscellaneous bickering)
22:05 - 22:32: Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD trailer (likely fan-made)
22:32 - 1:19:00: Main discussion: Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD

1:19:00 - 1:26:54: Closing remarks

Send all feedback to twentyfourpanels@gmail.com. Stay up to date with our blog at 24panelspersecond.blogspot.com. Follow Dave on Twitter @24panels and Dru @violetbooth. Like us on Facebook. And don't forget to subscribe (and review us) in iTunes!

Additional links:

Next time on 24 Panels: The Crow...

Lizard Concept Art from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!

Instead of hemming and hawing over the designs of a Lizard Pez dispenser, some kind folks decided to post an actual picture of the Lizard concept art from Marc Webb's upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man. The pic shows Dr. Curt Conners (played by Rhys Ifans in the film) fully transformed into the villain we've come to know and love as The Lizard. It's probably no surprise that he bares little resemblance to his lab coat and purple pants-wearing comic book counterpart, but we remain cautiously optimistic that the film proper won't feature too many CGI-heavy fights.

What If? SPIDER-MAN (1986)

[Most casual fans of comic book films probably don't realize that almost every major comic book adaptation has gone through what the industry has termed "development hell." The column 'What If?' looks at our favourite heroes trapped in a "developmental Phantom Zone," if you will. This first edition looks at the Cannon Films' Spider-Man.]

The first big screen appearance of Spider-Man didn't come to fruition until Sam Raimi's excellent 2002 film, yet Marvel had been pushing for a film based on everyone's favourite neighbourhood web-slinger for nearly two decades. After the film rights to Spider-Man bounced around for a few years between Columbia Pictures and Roger Corman, they fell into the hands of Israeli producing duo Golan/Globus. The two were the heads of Cannon Films, a studio notorious for low-budget, schlocky action films.

When they acquired the rights to the character, screenwriter Leslie Stevens (TV's Buck Rogers, Return to the Blue Lagoon) began work on a script which radically changed the character. Peter Parker would have worked for the Zyrex Corporation, and would have been an unsuspecting pawn in an experiment by the evil Dr. Zyrex. Doused with radiation, Parker became a mutant of sorts, described as a half-man, half-tarantula. At this point in time, Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper was to helm the project.

Stan Lee rejected the story, Stevens and Hooper left the project when a new draft was commissioned. Scheduled for a Christmas 1986 release, Spider-Man was written by Ted Newsom (Evil Spawn) and John Brancato (The Game, Catwoman), and directed by Joseph Zito (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Missing in Action). This new script (which you can actually read here) is more faithful to the source material, and pits Spidey against Dr. Octopus, with Liz Allen as a love interest. Spidey's origin is close to the one in the comics, though now it's tied to the ill-fated experiment that creates Doc Ock. Cannon were really gearing up for this, spendig as much as $2 million on pre-production, and going so far as prematurely releasing a teaser trailer (using music from Richard Donner's Superman).

The film was to star stunt man Scott Leva as Peter Parker and Bob Hoskins as Doc Ock (though Hoskins never actually committed to the film). Some comics readers may remember the cover of The Amazing Spider-Man issue #262 from March, 1985 and wonder what that was all about. Well, it was a promo still of Leva as Spidey (in some tight, tight jeans). The Christmas '86 release date came and went without Spider-Man, theoretically disappointing millions of fans who had heard rumblings of the film and seen the teaser. For reasons not fully known (but probably attributed to budget complications, disapproval from Stan Lee) by the end of 1986, the project went on hiatus and Zito jumped ship. In the interim, Cannon produced another comic book film, the proverbial nail-in-the-coffin that is Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

Sometime around 1989, the whole thing landed in the lap of director Albert Pyun who stayed with the project for another couple of drafts, where Doc Ock was dropped as the villain and replaced by The Night Ghoul, a vampire-like creature (not dissimilar to Morbius, just lamer, I suppose). Yet another draft was written, this one dropping The Night Ghoul in favour of a new villain known as "Doc," (not of the Octopus variety) peddling a dangerous new drug known as "T-Devil." Finally, the whole thing was shelved, though producer Menahem Golan and director Pyun did bring another superhero to the screen with 1990's Captain America.

The property left the Cannon Film Group in 1990 and was picked up by Carolco, where James Cameron became involved. But that's a whole other tangled web...

(see what I did there?)

Reviews@24 Panels: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011)

Ever since that tag on the end credits of 2008's Iron Man, the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building towards the big team-up film The Avengers, and Joe Johnston's Captain America: The First Avenger is the final stop before that film's summer 2012 release.

The primary action of Captain America occurs during the height of the U.S.'s involvement in World War II. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans, formerly The Human Torch from Fantastic Four and its sequel) is small, asthmatic, and weak, but by golly, does he love the good ol' U-S-of-A. So much so he's attempted to sign up for service overseas no less than five times, and each time rejected because he's, well, small, asthmatic, and weak. At the funnest looking fun fair this side of Disney World, Rogers meets German emigrant scientist Abraham Erskine (an always welcome Stanley Tucci), who selects the young lad for a "super-soldier" experiment. The experiment is a success and Rogers becomes insanely buff and strong, yet, after a German spy infiltrates and kills Erskine, he becomes relegated to a cog in the propaganda machine selling war bonds, now dubbed Captain America. While doing a USO show in Italy, Cap leads an unsanctioned mission to rescue captured soldiers. Here the Army learns of the Red Skull's plans for World Domination. Can Cap and his ragtag squad of colourful personalities save democracy?

Coming Soon! THE AVENGERS

2012 may prove to be the biggest year for comic book movies yet. In addition to Marc Webb's reboot The Amazing Spider-Man and Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, his final entry in his Batman trilogy, the summer will also see the release of Joss Whedon's The Avengers. The film is a culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing together a number of characters including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, and various others that have made appearances in virtually every Marvel-produced film since 2008's Iron Man. Based on this first trailer, it still looks like Robert Downey Jr.'s charismatic Tony Stark will be the centre of attention, but if anyone will be able to balance all of these characters it's Buffy and Firefly creator Joss Whedon. Here's hoping, too, he'll be able to impart his own brilliant brand of wit and style to this juggernaut of a film.