Readymade Storyboards: Adapting Comic Books to Film

chillibreeze writer — Bidisha Basu

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I was an 80s child, back in the day when comics were only for children or for adults who refused to grow up. My encounters with them were varied to say the least. Batman, Wonder Woman, and Tintin rubbed shoulders with Birbal and Chacha Chaudhury in pavement bookstalls. Phantom and Mandrake made regular appearances in multiple newspapers in multiple languages. Walt Disney’s zoological entourage even popped up inside Gold Spot bottle caps. On Sundays, Doordarshan dished out a special fare of Donald Duck, He-Man and Spiderman cartoons eagerly awaited throughout the week. But it was not until I saw Superman, in non-animated human form, flying across the sky that I was rendered speechless.

Film-makers always realized the potential of translating comics to film. One of the first films based on a comic book appeared way back in 1905. It was named Prehistoric Peeps inspired by a cartoon series of the same name and featured all kinds of prehistoric creatures from dinosaurs to cavemen. In fact, it claims to have created the first ever dinosaur special effects in movie history (Chinese dragon fashion with people inside huge dinosaur puppets). The entire film was less than five minutes long.

We’ve come a long way since then but the change was far from overnight. In the 60 years after the Peeps, comic book heroes continued to make the sporadic jump from the page to the big screen. There were the Flash Gordon serials, the Adventures of Captain Marvel, Superman, Batman, Swamp Thing; the superheroes plodded along with a film or two every decade until things started picking up some pace in the eighties. At the time, most comic books in the West were still aimed at kids but directors discovered that once you gave them a film avatar, they could draw in the crowds and become family blockbusters. Although this made them popular with filmmakers, it was only much later that they began to break free from the realm of popcorn entertainment.

With technological advancements, superhero films seemed to lend themselves effortlessly to showcasing the new generation special effects. There was also a clear change in tone and content. Filmmakers like Bryan Singer (X-Men), Sam Raimi (Spiderman), and Zack Snyder (300) were all instrumental in the evolution of the darker, more serious-minded comic book movie in the opening years of the 21st century. The superhero was no longer a cardboard cut-out figure but a fully developed character you could relate to on an emotional level. It was a turning point and the new direction proved fruitful. It produced and continues to produce a blizzard of adaptations – Sin City, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Kick-Ass, Elektra, Hellboy, Wolverine, The Watchmen – the list goes on and on.

Is there something essential in the nature of comics that make them translate so well into film? Film and comics are both methods of visual story-telling, vastly different but undeniably similar. Does this make them easier to adapt? After all, traditionally, scripts become storyboards which then become films. In the case of comics, they’re already in the storyboard stage – shots are broken down, panels translate to cuts, characters, settings, actions, emotions, dialogues – they’re all there for the taking. That is not to say that they lack originality. Plenty of creative license is used to condense and adapt (sometimes with a freedom that makes me wince). Sin City is a good example of a film which manages to both retain and recreate in perfect balance. The film weaves three different stories from the comic series into a single movie yet remains faithful to the narrative voice. It also uses a stylized visual language so similar to the comic’s illustrations (most of the movie was in black and white) that it’s hard to tell where the comic ends and the movie begins and in creating this sense of continuity between the comic and the film by using the comic fully, it is a complete success.

With every Hollywood adaptation, more and more people seem to be realizing the similarities between film and comics. There has been a recent spate of creators crossing over from one medium to the other. Notably, Iron Man artist Adi Granov helped visually design the character for the film. Directors like Guy Ritchie, John Woo, and Joss Whedon have all tried their hand at comics. Part of the publicity for Inception, the movie, was an original comic format prequel indicating a new reverse movement from film to comic. Clearly, the boundaries are shifting and the future holds much change.

I am an avid comic buff and for the most part, I have always looked forward to the next big (or small) comic adaptation with much excitement. However, casting my eye over the list of releases for 2011, I can’t help but feeling a twinge of concern. Scott Pilgrim, The Walking Dead, The Sandman – they’re all heading our way. There was a time when knowing what movie a young Bruce Wayne watched right before his parents were gunned down, would make you a member of a niche (if incredibly geeky) subset of people because you knew (translated: had read) your comics. But we are losing details to the largeness of the films. The subset is swelling with fans who are watchers rather than readers and although the two mediums are similar, they are far from being the same. Already, if you Google ‘comics to movies’, you will come across a buzzing website, www.comicbookmovie.com, dedicated only, and I repeat, only, to news about comics transitioning to the screen. Browsing through it, I am filled with both fear and hope that comic book movies will soon have transcended ‘trend’ and become ’genre’. Maybe they already have.

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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in January, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Bidisha Basu has a bachelors degree in English and a masters degree in Communications. She started her career as a journalist with Sanctuary Asia in 2005 and then went on to try her hand at freelance work. She has written feature articles for various publications including The Bharatpur Inheritance (book), Man’s World and Outlook City Limit. She has also written content for various websites, corporate films, brochures and exhibitions. She currently runs her own library in Mumbai.

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