Comics to Animation: What's Coming Next?
Comic books are a medium that serves as a creative
nexus for some of the most imaginative writers and budding Picasso's around
the globe. The beauty of comics is that they are not bound by the constraints
of reality; they are the paramount of imagination. To this effect, comics
share this trait with animation, where the wacky antics of a Bugs Bunny, per
se, are as limitless as the mind's eye. For decades, animation, television, and the big screen or a combination there
of have been kissing cousins with comic books. Great cartoons such as Hanna-Barbara's
Superfriends and the franchised Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
came from comics. The success in the late '80s of the live-action Superman
movies and the Batman features in the '90s proved that comic book heroes
are capable of satisfying moviegoers and bringing in the dinero. While Supes
and Bats are American icons, Spawn
and Blade proved that lesser known comic characters can draw in crowds
too. Consequently, the movie and television industries are finally willing
and eager to use comics as a fishing pond for new ideas. 1999-2001 will see a new wave of comic-to-film adaptations, many of which
will be animated. As an avid comic book fan, I looked through my stack of
monthly comic titles, and realized, "Wait a minute, none of these comics
are being adapted to film or animation." So I took a deep breath, called
some people, and was mortified by just how many comic-to-animation adaptations
are in the works.
The Saban/Fox Stronghold The Avengers is based off the Marvel Comic created by Stan
"the Man" Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963. FOX has ordered thirteen
episodes in conjunction with Saban Entertainment and Marvel Studios. While
the Avengers is renown for "Earth's Mightiest Heroes,"
the show will feature neither Captain America, Iron Man, nor Thor.
Rather, the team will be lead by Ant-man and will consist of Vision, Hawkeye,
Wasp, Tigra, Wonder Man, and the Scarlet Witch. The main villain will be Ultron.
The show will be set in New York, 2025. In addition, the Avengers will
sport unique costumes and tights, most of which will be adorned with tacky
"A"s that are clearly toy-related. While the X-Men animated
phenom of the early '90s and Spider-man were exciting to say the least, 1998's
Silver Surfer was one of the worst cartoons I have ever had the misfortune
of sitting through, not to mention review. The Avengers is Saban's
first Marvel adaptation since the Silver Surfer, so I am expecting it to be
another disappointment solely because it lacks the main stars, Captain America,
etc., of the comic.
By now, you have hopefully seen the new season of animated Spawn on HBO.
Besides this show, there are three comic-based cartoons that will be airing
nationally on FOX in Fall 1999: The Avengers, Spider-man Unlimited,
and Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot.
Speaking of Captain America, he was supposed to have had his own Saban-produced,
animated series on FOX premiering in Fall 1998. Obviously, it never eventuated.
The main reason was a crazy decision by FOX executives that it is bad for
a Saturday morning children's cartoon to have Nazis as villains. This is just
another example of the foolishness that has plagued comic-to-animation translations
over the years. Nazis were real villains in World War II; Cap fought Nazis
in WWII in the pages of his comic. Why shouldn't he fight them in a cartoon?
Why should a cartoon deny historic atrocities? Next up to air on FOX is Spider-man Unlimited. This spin-off series
from the extraordinarily successful Spider-man cartoon has thirteen episodes
scheduled and is also produced by Saban and Marvel. This will be the hands
down hit of the Fall in terms of youth-oriented cartoons. The show takes everybody's
favorite neighborhood spider-man and sends him to an alternate reality "where
familiar things are never quite as they seem," as FOX Kids states. Spider-man
also takes on a new costume, a near-carbon-copy of the one he wore in the
pages of the Spider-man 2099 AD comic. Lastly, nearly the entire production
crew has worked in the comic industry, so the scripting should be excellent.
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