Comicscape: Five Reasons Why Comics Are Better Than Movies

Kurt... seriously... Indiana Jones 4? In a few years, everyone is going to refer to it as "oh... the one with the aliens?" in the same tone that is usually used when referencing an ugly knit sweater you received at Christmas from some near-sighted aunt. It was totally out of the vein of the previous films. No supernatural or religious references, too much of the "cute-and-charming" dialogue, and no cool traps to defeat. Admit it... you like it because you WANT to like it, not because it's any good.

That being said, I'd like to throw my hat into the ring to replace Ben, once the Feds finally find him and drag him down from the Great White North to lock him up into his secret fantasy place somewhere deep within Leavenworth with a guy named Bubba. I can promise timeliness, good humor, and minimal references to anything with the #2 on it.

I will start a nation-wide, grass roots effort to boycott comicscape if the #2 references dry up like a painful #2. Keep `em squishy & flowing like a messy #2, Ben! Don't let the man or constipation hold you back!

Chuck #2 (of 6) $2.99 - Sounds like that'll give you some serious splash back.

Eternals #2 $2.99 - I had stuffed-crust pizza last week that gave me one of those.

Ultimate Origins #2 (of 5) $2.99 - It started in a dark, smelly cave.

and oh yeah

2. No Content Limits - `nuff said.

Agree on all 5 points. Comics is the supreme medium for story telling. The problem is most people don't want to read. How many times have you heard "I'll wait for the movie"? Even though most of the time the written material is superior. I love seeing the comics getting their due respect from Hollywood but they'll never be able to replace them IMO.

Thanks for reminding me comics are due Thursday, with gasoline prices being what they are you just saved me about 5 dollars.

I also agree that comics are a great story-telling medium (if not the best), but there is one way movies have comics beat: ever tried snuggling close to a woman while reading a comc book?

I also liked Indiana Jones 4 (but then, I'm the guy that liked the Star Wars prequels). The way the whole opening adventure ends almost killed it for me, but I allowed it anyway.

I've never read the early Hellblazers, but it sounds a lot like Ben's house...

oh you mean the whole "surviving a nuclear bomb from ground zero in a refridgerator" ending? This was the first Indiana Jones where the opening adventure actually tied into the main story. All the villains were there from the start unlike Last Crusade, Templ of Doom and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I'm so glad my father made me give up comics when I was 16 because I was spending $70 a month of his money; he would have let me continue, but just not as much money. The problem was it became an obsession. I had to have every issue of X-Men and Spiderman, and it was such a waste because comics are shameless at milking money out of people through cross-overs and in milking melodrama and sensationalism. The last X-Men story I read, some guy who turned out to be Professor X's alter ego confesses to Jean Grey that Xavier was in love with her. What about all the stunts comic books pull, killing off characters only to have them return. Wolverine supposedly killed Sabretooth in Wolverine 91 or something before the Age of Apocalypse (which was quite awesome!), but he went retarded and then played at being retarded before trying to kill them all. Silly waste of time and money. Also, comic books exploit teens desire for porn. How many times did Psylocke hit on Cyclops in 1992?

I think I, personally, prefer "different" to "better". Comic Books offer one kind of experience, non-comic books (!) offer another, movies offer still another ... shoot, even radio drama (long gone now) offers still another. I guess I am not an "either/or" type, I like that we have the choice of chocolate, vanilla, and all the other myriad flavors out there.

And I say that as a big fan of comic books, mind you. There definitely is a unique pleasure to the form, and I wouldn't trade, say, the experience of reading WATCHMEN or DARK KNIGHT RETURNS for the first time for the experience of seeing them on the screen. Of course, these days, we can often do both... which is pretty cool.

Shadow

Hey guys, Kurt here.

Here we go.

Celt6 -- No, seriously, I liked Indy 4. I despised Phantom Menace, and I only kind of liked Attack of the Clones. Ep III was fine. I don't know how long you've read this column, but these guys will tell you that I'm pretty up front when I don't like something. I was prepared to dislike Indy 4. I had problems with it, but I think it managed to achieve a place of its own as a piece of Cold War sci-fi pulp. I'd probably rank it above Temple of Doom, but below Raiders and Last Crusade. Sorry, but I dug it.

Everyone else -- yes, comics and movies are different. The idea of this column was to act like a jackass, while making some salient points about the differences between the mediums. Comics have a lot over movies, but they really achieve different things. In some ways, it's like complaining about a theatrical production for its total lack of ballet. I wanted to get a couple of laughs while deconstructing the comics medium a bit. I hope I succeeded.
K