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I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are a lot of films based on comic books hitting theaters these days. Yep it seems that turning comics into movies and comic book characters into movie stars is all the rage in Hollywood these days. In fact the trend has gained so much steam in the last few years that sometimes a comic can have a movie attached even before fans can read the full story. But while there is no shortage of ideas for comics on a monthly basis, I have often wondered why more films and their characters don’t travel the reverse path. My meaning is why don’t we see more non-comic related film properties translated to comics after having been given life on the big screen? There are probably a lot of good reasons why actually but this list isn’t about the why’s it is about the who’s and the what’s. So here is my list of twelve movies that I’d like to see turned into comics.
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12) Beverly Hills Cop
While I would like to read a comic about Axel Foley, I don’t want stories about his numerous visits to California. Instead how about focusing on his actual job as a police officer in Detroit? I’m sure people will miss seeing Judge Reinhold, but seeing Axel work his magic in his home town has got to be worth a few shoot-outs and a bunch of laughs right?
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11) Pulp Fiction
If you are a fan of this 1994 film by Quentin Tarantino you might have a couple of characters you’d like further stories about. But what I am most interested in is the further adventures of Jules Winnfield (aka Sam Jackson) as he attempts to leave behind his criminal past and “walk the earth”. Another possibility might be a prequel of sorts to both Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs featuring the Vega Brothers since the actors who played those roles (John Travolta & Michael Madsen) are now too old to play them in the long rumored movie project.
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10) Escape From NY/LA
This one is a bit different in that unlike others on this list, Snake has actually appeared in a handful of comics both from Marvel (in 1997) and CrossGen (in 2003). But all dealt with a very specific timeframe (right after the first film) and since I’ve never seen or read them let’s look past his comic history. How about a mini-series detailing the events immediately following Escape From LA? Maybe John Carpenter and Kurt Russell could bring their idea of Escape From Earth to the printed page since they weren’t able to make the series a trilogy? Personally I’d like a prequel to Escape from New York so we can see what changes Snake from a decorated solider into an outlaw.
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9) Fletch
One great and one mediocre film resulted from the character featured in at least nine novels by writer Gregory McDonald named Irwin M. Fletcher who is an investigative reporter. Played by Chevy Chase (in his comedic prime) in the two flicks, humor was focus of the films, but in the right hands a comic version could mix the investigative and the fun for an enjoyable read every month.
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8) Man on Fire
Author AJ Quinnell’s character Marcus Creasy appeared in 5 novels as well as 2 feature films inspired by the novel Man on Fire. I’m not sure a comic can improve on the portrayals of Creasy by Scott Glenn and Denzel Washington so maybe that novel or those films based upon it shouldn’t be directly adapted. However, you still have those other books or perhaps just create new stories for the medium change for this great character.
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7) Grosse Pointe Blank
Forget a sequel because no one is interested in someone’s happily ever after with Minnie Driver. Just how did Martin Blank (aka John Cusack) go from seemingly normal high school student to professional killer? And how does that seemingly awesome and carefree job lead him into therapy and into considering giving it all up? Inquiring minds, fans of John Cusack and lovers of 80’s music everywhere want to know.
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6) Gladiator
This 2000 film directed by Ridley Scott and staring Russell Crowe is one of my favorite movies ever. While the story of Maximus Decimus Meridius certainly reaches an ending with his death at the end of the film, what about his beginnings? How did he come to be the commander of the armies of Rome and such a bad ass mofo? I’d love to see an action packed origin story of Maximus brought to life in comic book form.
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5) Unforgiven
A couple of Clint Eastwood’s characters have been given extra life in comic book form but what about William Munny? I loved the film and the character and would not be interested in an adaptation of that great story. What I would be interested in is the telling of his earlier exploits that earned him his infamous reputation as a gunslinger and killer and how he came to give that life up for the life of a family man and farmer.
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4) El Mariachi
I think Robert Rodriguez’s trilogy of movies about his Mariachi themed hero would translate pretty easily into the comic book medium. They had over the top action, extreme violence, a lot of villainous scumbags and an anti-hero driven for revenge. Mix those elements with tales of the main character’s non-movie exploits and throw in a couple of Selma Hayek inspired covers by Frank Cho and you’ve got a fun (and probably high selling) comic.
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3) Road House
Since everyone knows that Road House is one of the greatest films of all-time, it is doubtful that even the most talented creative team could improve upon the story it tells. However, like others on this list, a prequel or prequels offering background story of the two most awesome bouncers of all time (James Dalton & Wade Garrett) is certainly fertile ground for more stories. When and where did they meet? How did they become such bad asses? Why are they the only two famous bouncers in history? If everyone has heard of Dalton why do they keep thinking he’d be bigger? Comics could provide these answers!
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2) Miami Vice
This is a bit of cheat, because I don’t really want the feature film version of Michael Mann’s cop drama expanded upon, because to be honest I thought it kinda sucked. But the television version of this property still has a lot of fruitful ground to draw upon for stories. What happened to turn Sonny Crockett from college football star into soldier into vice cop? What became of Crockett and the other characters once their unit was dissolved at the end of the series? Probably more than any other item on this list, I would love to not just read but also write those stories.
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1) From Dusk Until Dawn
Let’s just ignore the two sequels this film sadly spawned and focus just on the 1996 feature film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino. I think you could go in multiple directions with the characters this film laid out. How about a bloody crime book about the “careers” of the Gecko brothers and how they ended up on the run from the law as the film opens? All the kids really love vampires these days, so why not a book detailing the infamous history Titty Twister strip club? Or you could even create a story to serve as a true sequel to the film detailing what happens next to Seth and Kate. No matter what direction you went in, I’m sure it would be violent and profane and a lot of fun.
So there’s my Nerdy Dozen for film properties to adapt into comics…what’s yours?