The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood's Leading Genre Paperback – October 25, 2016

Chronologically speaking, it might be too soon to say whether or not The Comic Book Film Adaptation constitutes a seminal work in film (and comics) studies. However, since the book's release, a decent number of books, offering holistic attention to the phenomenon of comic book adaptations, have come out. And in all of their introductions they note the ground breaking work Burke has done through this book and what he has paved the way for. So I'd say this book is en route to becoming a must read in any academic or creative conversation regarding the adaptation of comic book stories.Honestly, the two reviews below set up a good spectrum of how you might feel about this book. Burke's analyses are very comprehensive and each chapter is so self-contained you could read this book out of order and reach the same conclusions as someone who read it front to back. If there's anything that establishes continuity within the book it's the simple question of, "how did a once disparaged form of cinema become Hollywood's most successful genre?"However, Burke doesn't presume to provide THE answer to that question, the "silver bullet" as he calls it; instead he aims to demonstrate how the answer to such a question is profoundly multifaceted. So if you're coming to this book for answers, prepared to just have more questions when you finish -- usually the sign of a good book. Essentially each chapter unpacks a particular methodology one can approach the comic book film adaptation genre with: Ch1 (Cultural, technological, commercial/economic, and generational approaches) ch2 (Genre Studies) Ch3 (Fidelity to source material and Fandom) ch4 (Translating comic aesthetics into cinematic aesthetics) and Ch5 (identifying the conventional forms of achieving said translations). Through this book, Burke points to the ways future interpreters of the genre can go to make sense of its nature and success.The introduction is more than enough to acquaint you with the contents of this book, if you're looking for a more detailed overview of it. Not a book one can skim through (especially if you're into cinema and media studies) but definitely a must read if you want to speak into the conversation revolving around the comic book adaptations.

'The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood's Leading Genre' by Liam Burke is a serious exploration of the rise of superhero films starting in 2000.Comic book films had been around before 2000, but they really became what the author calls the Golden Age of Comic Book Films. They went from being on the fringes of Hollywood to being major driving forces. The reasons discussed in the book revolve around increasingly better special effects and a public looking for different heroes. The arc and inevitable decline of these films is discussed with comparisons to other genres, like Westerns and horror films. The success is also linked with fidelity to the source material, and a group of creators in Hollywood that grew up as fans of the medium. The aesthetics are discussed along with the way art styles like that at Marvel have influenced the movies.I liked this book about a genre I enjoy. In early chapters, research is referenced, and based on the introductory notes, it seemed like a pretty small pool of people being asked, but the answers seem legitimate. There are plenty of examples of comics to movie examples, which helped show how influential comics have been on movies. I enjoyed this read.I received a review copy of this ebook from University Press of Mississippi and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood’s Leading Genre, by Liam Burke, is a scholarly look at the comic book movie genre, examining why these movies became so popular since the turn of the new century as well as the various elements than can be said to constitute the genre. Burke also discusses the question of fidelity to the original source material and how that fidelity has lately been affected by the rise of mass fan culture. It’s a learned, well-documented, highly informative exploration and highly recommended for anyone interested in comics books, either their film or print versions.After a brief introduction, the book moves through five relatively lengthy sections, each focused on a different area. I’ll address each chapter separately.One: Burke opens his examination with the simple question of what is it that led to first the rise of comic book movies and then their utter dominance at the box office in what is called “The Golden Age of Comic Book Film Making.” Generally speaking, he breaks the reasons down into three categories of culture, technology, and business economics. More precisely: the impact of 9/11 on the US population, creating a need/desire for heroes in the face of national trauma; the technological progress, especially in CGI, which allowed filmmakers to present on screen comic book action that previously would have been either impossible or terrible looking; and finally, the fact that comic books brought to their producers a built-in audience, a multitude of stories allowing for serial or franchise films, and a built-in iconography for ease of merchandising. Each of these areas is further subdivided and examined in thoughtful detail, as for instance when the cultural aspect is sub-divided into nostalgia, wish fulfillment, escapism, and ideology.Two: Here, Burke explores the elements of the comic book genre, placing comic book heroes in a larger context alongside Western heroes and 1970s/1980s action heroes. He makes clear early on as well that “a comic book movie does not need to actually be based on a comic book to be included in this genre; it simply needs to adopt elements synonymous with the comic book movie (he places The Matrix, for example, in this genre despite it having no comic source). Amongst the elements examined are protagonists, and a heightened reality, and a “comic aesthetic.” In this chapter he does an in-depth comparison of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Watchmen films, which he places on the opposite ends of the “Fidelity” spectrum in terms of how faithful they were to the source material.Three: The discussion at the end of chapter two leads into a much more extensive look at the idea of fidelity, in particular the connection between fans and fidelity. Burke charts this connection from the early days of the Marvel “Bullpen” where Stan Lee would respond to fan’s letters in the comic books to the current rise in fandom on the net and the web’s ability to create a ripple effect, whereby fan reaction emanates outward through the general population, thus magnifying its impact. As an example, he points to how dismissive the creators of the original Batman were of fan reaction to the film, saying “This is too big a budget movie to worry about what a fan of a comic would say: or referring to fans as “a small cult.” He contrasts that to the current relationship between fans and comic book movie creators, with those creators now engaging in back and forths on the web, attending conferences, offering pre-screenings to fans, etc.Four: In this section Burke takes a much more detailed look at the “comic aesthetic,” diving into the ways in which comic books have informed the look of films and vice versa. He begins by looking at what would be the base comparison points: a comic book’s panel versus a film’s shot. The chapter then looks in detail at various elements both film and comic books employ and how they are similar or different. Included are aspects such as transitions, angles, conveyance of motion, framing, passage of time, economy of detail, color, and the like. One specific comparison is for instance how the notorious “bullet time” slo-mo in The Matrix can approximate the time a film viewer has to look at an individual panel.Five: In the final chapter (excepting the general conclusion), Burke looks at how “the Marvel Way” has been adapted from comic books to film, a stylistic flourish and exaggeration that “once might have been dismissed as ‘comic-booky,’ but are today among Hollywood’s most relied-on convention.” He leans heavily on the guidebook How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema, moving back and forth from their advice (often shown pictorially) on illustrating in the print medium to how that advice has been translated into film. A few categories in this chapter are “framing and composition,” “Performance,” and selecting the “chosen moment” to illustrate (or film).The Comic Book Film Adaptation is extremely well sourced throughout, calling upon experts in a host of fields either through quotations/citations or through interviews. As one might (should) expect, Scott McCloud is heavily quoted when Burke examines the elements of the comic book. But he also has interviews with directors and actors, quotes from a host of theorists/critics working in the fields of film theory, literary theory, popular culture, semiotics, and others. And as one would hope, but as I’ve found is not always the case, the book, which after all is focused on two visual mediums, is liberally dotted with illustrations, photographs, and movie stills. Burke himself is a levelheaded, thoughtful, and clarifying guide throughout, never letting the sometimes-esoteric vocabulary of some theory to overshadow or confuse whatever point he is elucidating. This is a fantastic look a the comic book movie — clear, insightful, authoritative, timely, well documented and sourced, and highly readable. And thus highly recommended.