Well, ok, it’s not a plague. Unless you meant plague as a good thing, in which case, yes. Have you noticed this good plague of movies made from comic books? Perhaps the title Watchmen rings a recently-advertised bell? Or Iron Man?
With Marvel actually producing movies in its own studio, and other titles being optioned like… hotcakes (or something that is actually currently popular), it’s safe to say this plague will not be slowing its seemingly exponential growth.
The comic book that I’m very excited to hear is being movie-atized is The Umbrella Academy, written by My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way. If you have never read it, 3 copies are now available at your library (at the time of my posting this). In short, it is about a group of seven adopted children who have been brought up to be superheroes. The first six issues focus on the siblings being reunited after their adopted father’s death. They start to figure out that something big is coming… and it may have to do with their seventh sibling, Vanya. A short video review of the series can be found here.
According to this L.A. Times blog interview with Way, the comic was optioned at last year’s ComiCon in San Diego, and he envisions its transition to film as looking more Sweeney Todd than Harry Potter. And just on Tuesday it was reported that a screenwriter had been chosen to adapt The Apocalypse Suite: Mark Bombak, whose most recent work can be seen in The Race to Witch Mountain. A Disney film might not be the best example to pair with The Umbrella Academy, but let’s give the guy the benefit of the doubt.
By the way, that movie is an remaking of a movie that was an adaptation of a book. But the question of where originiality lies in moviemaking is another topic for another day. Let us be thankful that the original book and the original movie are both available at the library in case there is a need for comparison and contrast.
Other interesting Umbrella Academy Links:
Gabriel Bá (Umbrella Academy illustrator)’s personal art site.
Umbrella Academy unofficial fan site
A list of Gerard Way’s 10 favorite graphic novels
Filed under: Teen Interest Tagged: | adaptation, comic books, Gerard Way, graphic novel, movies, My Chemical Romance
