For the past one hundred years, movies have been the darling of American popular culture and for almost that entire time comic books have been the bastard child of that same familial hierarchy. The reasons for this abound, not the least of which was that super-heroes, the primary subject of the most popular comic-books for decades, were so outlandishly sprung from deep-seated neuroses in the male psyche they were almost embarrassing to look upon. Think about it (but not too hard): the classic super-hero wears boots, skin-tight, hide-nothing spandex, a cape and a mask – all of which are colored with more garish abandon than a Christmas tree in a kindergarten. Drag queens wouldn’t dare wear these outfits. Bad drag queens wouldn’t wear these outfits. Captain America had a red, white and blue shield and wings on his head.

I jest, I mock, I belittle, but the truth of the matter is I was just as enamored of costume do-gooders as anybody I knew and far more than most. (I still own over two thousand comics, not counting Epic, Heavy Metal, Eerie, Creepy and Mad magazines, the Savage Sword of Conan, graphic novels, all of Stan Lee’s origins of Marvel books, various novelizations, video games and will have more when I become rich.) But it’s easy to see why members of the feminine persuasion, or jocks, or more serious-minded individuals, or anybody with a life, largely untouched by the super-hero bug might look askance at those of us who weren’t just into comics but were passionate about comics. The reason for the disconnect runs deeper than you think. Comic books have always been an uncomfortably naked art form. They have a tendency to give concrete shape to what usually manifest as deep-down fantasies, desires and neuroses. They exist right at that place where the id and the ego meet. Comics – stop me if you’ve heard this before – are the almost) naked fantasies of the male psyche. Okay, not to the extent that movies are because they’re well, comics; a relatively tiny portion of the population have actually read them. More importantly, it’s difficult if not impossible for any medium to match the sensual stimulus that movies provide. Despite the pictures, comics are still enjoyed primarily by people who read. They require a certain amount of work on the part of the audience. Movies are magic that capture everybody, morons and geniuses alike, in their dazzling spell. You just sit back and they are done to you.

Regardless, I would venture that comic books are closer to movies than any other art form, closer than theatre or literature. The reason is two-fold: one, both mediums are fashioned out of and act directly upon the sub-conscious as well as the intellect. Two, because the prime medium of communication is images, often times the story-telling technique is very similar. It is in exactly this place that movies diverge from plays and books. A comic book is a movie but all the missing frames are provided by the imagination of the reader. If you’ve ever seen a storyboard to a film it looks just like an unfinished comic book. The connection between the darling child and the bastard was not just a natural one but inevitable. Yet the relationship between comic books and movies languished in relative dormancy for years. Why?

Not that one hit led to a slew of super-hero movies. Flying proved to be the simplest of super-powers to portray. Spinning a web, turning into a man made of rocks, stretching, bursting into flame, etc. proved to be trickier. Luckily, turning into a big, green, super-strong monster was doable and The Incredible Hulk TV show kept Marvel heroes in the mix all by itself and held out the possibility that other heroes somewhere, at some time, might get a worthwhile shot on the big screen. Technology was catching up. You could feel it in the air. Superman 2 was the last great super-hero movie for a long time but there were hints of what was to come: Toxic Avenger, Swamp Thing, Dark Man. When computers blew up in the 90’s, it was only a matter of time: Spawn, Blade – to name a couple. One that should be mentioned separately from the rest was of course, The Crow. More on that later. It took CGI to finally and formally break out the big guns.

This brings us to the second seismic shift that had to happen, this time on the comics’ side. Comics had to grow up…relatively speaking. The cheese factor of old super-hero movies was way intense. The old 1966 Batman is hard to sit through if you’re older than six, even to laugh at. It’s just too dumb. Fortunately, things had begun to change that very decade. Marvel Comics had been born and brought in a new age of ‘realistic’ characterizations that would bear real fruit some twenty five or thirty years later. Marvel’s heroes started to have real life problems like paying rent, bills, and a lousy love life and dealing with real life issues like drugs, race and politics (remember when Nixon appeared as Number One of the Secret Empire in Captain America?). They would bicker, lose their temper or do something stupid. In my not-quite-humble-opinion there were then three things that happened to take comics to the next level. One was Heavy Metal magazine which gave artist who would otherwise be comic book artists a venue to present what they really wanted to write and draw (Holy smokes!). The other was Alan Moore’s Watchmen. Finally, there was Frank Miller.

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Angela Mac  - Up, Up and Away!   |67.142.161.xxx |2009-02-06 17:45:48 I'm beginning to suspect this whole bellyaching about how chicks won't sleep with comic geeks is an elaborate martyr campaign. Most of my male friends are geeks, and yet, most of my male friends never have a problem filling up the space between the sheets. Chasity panties. "Oh, Bobby! Those women have done you wrong! Oh, please, let me make up for the transgressions of my race by allowing me to remove *my* panties for you!" I mean... seriously? Does this work for you? Fun read though Informative, inspiring -- and came around surprisingly well (as I must admit, there was an audible groan when I began, "uuuugh.. ANOTHER comic book article?" You know, about ten seconds before I had the idea for a follow-up column: "Men From Comic Book Movies I Wouldn't Mind Porking.". I am proud to report, you thwarted the groan. Yay!

Midnight Butterfly  - Thank You   |76.115.19.xxx |2009-02-08 10:16:04 You HAVE TO WRITE IT! You have to! Total companion piece. You know these articles are ALWAYS written by guys. I think a "Top 10 Super-Heroes That Make Me Wet"would be a scream.

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