Superheroes don’t save the day for source comics
It has been a boffo year at the box office for movie characters who began their lives as colored drawings on the printed page.
From the surprisingly solid "Iron Man" to the goofy charm of "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" and "The Incredible Hulk" to the record-shattering bottom line posted by "The Dark Knight," summer has been a banner season for cinematic stories of comic book-based heroes.
But that doesn't mean moviegoers who met -- or became reacquainted with -- Batman and Co. on the silver screen are searching out the comics that inspired them.
"It's not as cut and dried as that, what might stimulate (comics) sales versus what might not," says Jim Brocius, owner of Cosmic Comics, 3330 E. Tropicana Ave., who has not noticed any bump in sales from recent superhero movie adaptations.
Not Spider-Man. Not the Hulk. Not even Superman or Batman. Movie fans might enjoy their superhero movies, but they generally aren't compelled to then see what they've been missing on the printed page.
The last case of significant movie-to-comic crossover came with the 1989 release of Tim Burton's "Batman," which created off-screen interest in pretty much anything Batman, recalls Tim Karter, co-owner of Dreamwell Comics, 5706 W. Charleston Blvd.
One obstacle to movie theater-to-comic store traffic is a blind spot in studios' marketing that can prevent moviegoers from even knowing that the movie they're watching has comic book antecedents, notes Derrick Taylor, owner of Comic Oasis, 3121 N. Rainbow Blvd.
Often, Taylor says, the moviegoer will learn only months later, while watching the film's DVD extras, that, for instance, this summer's Angelina Jolie/Morgan Freeman "Wanted" film is based on a comic.
"I'd say at least once a week I'll get someone come in and say, 'I didn't know they made comic books anymore,' " Taylor says.
Another reason moviegoers may not seek out comic books is because they assume they already know everything they need to know about a Superman or a Batman.
Yet, fans still may opt to investigate characters they don't know as well.
Iron-Man, for example, always has been a B-list player compared to such Marvel Comics mainstays as the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. So, the Robert Downey Jr. film adaptation introduced many moviegoers to the character, and some followed up by checking out Iron-Man comics, notes Ralph Mathieu, owner of Alternate Reality Comics, 4800 S. Maryland Parkway.
"I get the sense that if people don't know of or never heard of a character and see the movie, then they become interested in the source material, the comic," Karter agrees.
That also goes for stories that don't revolve around superheroes. For example, "Road to Perdition," "V for Vendetta" and "Sin City" all were successful movies based on comics or graphic novels that, Mathieu says, did draw moviegoers into comic stores after the theater lights went up.
The situation may improve for comic book stores with the scheduled release next year of "Watchmen," based on a 12-part mid-'80s comics series that deconstructs the superhero myth. The movie is so avidly anticipated that the mere release of its trailer a few weeks ago was enough to prompt a spike in the book's sales.
" 'Watchmen' is a perennial best-seller anyway. I've always sold five a week, maybe three a week," Taylor says. "But the day the trailer ran we sold 20 copies."
"Watchmen" is "just such a well-regarded" book, he continues. "It's better than most comic books out there. It's better than a lot of books out there. I always say if I can get someone to read 'Watchmen,' they'll be a comic book person forever."
So the potential still exists that a film might lead moviegoers to discover that comics and graphic novels can be home to compelling storytelling and sophisticated themes.
"I think the good that comes from it is that it does wake people up to the notion that there are some really good stories out there," Brocius says. "And everybody likes a good story."
Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.
