The new alternative vision
by Sean McGahey
Gone are the days of “comics” being associated with children, sci-fi geeks and something you’d read on a Sunday along with all the other newspaper supplements. We now have a new breed of literature/art, the “graphic novel”. They’re dark, dangerous, sexy, and funny and in a bizarre way some stories leave you wanting the bad guy to win!
So with the worldwide success of films based on graphic novels I bet you’re wondering just how the graphic novel scene started? Without boring you and writing a history of art essay I’m re-winding back to the late 80s when a group of alternative zines (comics) appeared, orientated towards an adult readership. For the first time we saw the likes of Peter Bagge, Charles Burns, Paul Rivoche, and Steve Appleby covering topics like radical politics, sex and hardcore horror. With the cult like underground success of these artists/writers the mainstream were comparing them to quality prose fiction and for the first time ever…films!
As the scene grew “old school” artists such as Robert Crumb, Bill Griffith, Lynda Barry and Art Spiegelman, along with the new wave artists, dominated and re-shaped the comics industry.
In my humble opinion the first major leap towards what we now read was the result of “Maus” By Spiegelman. For the first time you found yourself reading a graphic novel about the harrowing experiences of the holocaust, even though you’re reading what some people considered just a “comic” with mice as Jews and cats as Nazis. It isn’t pretty, no super hero will fly in and save the day, you find yourself uncomfortable and reading something all too real.
“Maus” was first serialised in “Raw” magazine and eventually published by Penguin in the UK as a graphic novel. This opened the floodgates and graphic novel sales have since soared and become an all out literary phenomenon.
The graphic novel roller coaster hasn’t stopped since. With more graphic novels being written/drawn and reaching a far bigger audience it was inevitable that the next evolutionary step was the cross over into films. A new wave of writers and directors saw these novels as quality self -contained 50-100 page screenplays with a ready made story board.
One of the first major indie films to have that genuine alternative feel was the adaptation of Daniel Clowes “Ghost World” starring Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi. Not only was it based on a graphic novel, but Daniel Clowes wrote the screenplay for which he received an Oscar nomination.
Before we get all carried away with what the Americans have done let’s not forget “When the Wind Blows” By Raymond Briggs, you’ve all probably seen the film but never thought of it as once being a graphic novel.
Over the last few years we’ve also seen Alan Moore’s “From Hell, V – For Vendetta & The League of Extraordinary Gentleman” hit our cinema screens (admittedly I thought the League of Extraordinary Gentleman wasn’t a career high for Sir Sean Connery) Combined, these films generated at least $100 million at the box office and the sales of the original graphic novels shot through the roof.
The films I’d consider to be as good as the graphic novels are, “Sinn City, The Crow, Akira, Tank Girl (ok it was good in its day!), A History of Violence, Art School Confidential” and I know strictly speaking it wasn’t from a graphic novel but inspired by a series of drawings “Alien”. A few of you may also be surprised to discover that “Road to Perdition” was based on a graphic novel, for which the film amongst other things rescued Jude Laws career. Let’s not forget the recent dark re-make of Spiderman, Superman, the superb Batman and the impressive X- Men trilogy. Like graphic novels we see our heroes actually feeling pain, making mistakes, falling in love and giving the occasional villain a good beating.
So what’s next for the graphic novel and film scene? If you google “Johnny Ryan” & “Sammy Harkham” you’ll find they’re the latest artists on the scene, following in the steps of R Crumb and Peter Bagge. Blogs and the internet have seen an increase of online zines and animation, making the whole underground network accessible. Let’s not also forget the new wave of Manga comics and animation which on its own is bigger than the UK/US graphic novel industry. If you know your films you’d know Tarantino used anime in Kill Bill Vol 1: “The Origin of O-Ren” – the segment where O-Ren became an assassin after Boss Matsumoto’s Yakuza clan murdered both her parents. This short anime scene is Tarantino at his bloody and unrestrained best!
I could go on and on preaching how cool these graphic novels are, how they’ve changed the world of cinema, inspired thousands of young and old writers and artists but it’d be a waste of time – you already know this. Before you get comfortable you’d better prepare yourself for a whole new art/film/graphic novel experience. Richard Linklater is set to release his latest film using the same art production technique as his earlier film “Waking Life”. Things are about to get interesting…
Recommended reading:
Love and Rockets – Gilbert & Jamie Hernandez
Watchmen – Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons
Hellblazer – Jamie Delano/John Ridgeway
Tank Girl – Jamie Hewlett/Alan Martin
Mai the Psychic Girl – Kazuya Kudo/Ryochi Ikegami
Give me Liberty – Frank Miller/Dave Gibbons
Bat Man: The Killing Joke – Alan Moore/Brian Bolland