When Frank Miller's Sin City opened on April 1, 2005, the world of graphic novels to film changed. No longer was the world cursed with movies poorly translated from the pages of great books, only to be chopped up by Hollywood big shots who thought audiences needed more pretty pictures than they did the original story that was obviously good enough to be sold for the movie rights in the first place. Films that had once only been thought to be possible with animation were now being seen as a possibility for live actors. The doorway was open, and cinematic gems like V For Vendetta and 300 marched through like a legion of Spartans that were ready to conquer the world. Not only has the idea of turning a graphic novel into a film become profitable, but it has also become stylish. There are many examples in the past and the present of how graphic novels have become a staple of pop culture, and how this effects how they are made into films.

Pages To Screen

Today, many graphic novel based movies are filmed with shots perfectly mirroring the pages in the book. There are parts of V for Vendetta and Sin City that can be picked out of the pages of the eponymous books, respectively, and lose none of the candor, intimidation, or power that the pages wield. Unfortunately, this isn't true with all cinematic attempts at bringing graphic novels to film. For example, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which was released in 2003, had a completely different story from the original comic books by Alan Moore. Moore's work was simply seen as the base work for the story, and in turn, the movie suffered dismally. Perhaps the key to making a good film out of a brilliant graphic novel is not just capturing the look of the books and having actors and actresses that morbidly resemble the characters in the story. Perhaps it is actually following what the original author wrote, as that is what sold the book in the first place.

Copying though it may be, the creative genius behind Neil Gaiman's The Sandman or James O'Barr's The Crow is what have made these graphic novels interesting. It's not what Hollywood can take from it and prepackage in something their focus groups can feel good about watching later. The pages of the graphic novel are an artwork that should be as much disturbed as a mustache should be painted on the Mona Lisa. When Dick Tracy was released in 1990, there were no blue screens, and no computer-generated images added simply because it could be. It was a good movie because it was true to form, and did not substitute style for substance.

Style VS. Substance

One of the many reasons that graphic novel based movies have failed in the past is because many movie-makers are obsessed with the idea that the coolest looking movie in the world will be one hundred times better than anything that has some substance to it. The way the film looks is more important to these film makers than casting the correct actors, or following the original stories. While it pains this author to say it, Tank Girl, a film favorite of mine, is one of the films that lost what power it had by being more stylish than filled with substance. It tried to work an entire mythos into two hours, and utterly failed, becoming a jumbled mess that appealed to nobody, simply because the people in charge wished to get as much into the movie as possible.

Another example of style taking precedence over substance is The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Shiny special effects and romantic plot devices between attractive characters ruined the gothic, antiquated, Victorian and steampunk feel that the original comics charmed readers with. Unpleasant plot points were forgotten for the sake of a simple, boring story, and most of the budget seemed to have been spent on finding new ways for the characters to show up to a new scene in something cool. In the end, style won over substance and the movie was a dismal failure. This seems to be one of the main driving points for graphic novels turned into movies.

In the end, filmmakers such as Robert Rodriguez and Quinten Tarantino have discovered the secret to making a fine film from a graphic novel. Using the source material nearly like a script and storyboard, as well as choosing to balance style and substance within the film. With this combination of intelligent film making and honesty towards the creative endeavors that began the graphic novel, we will be blessed for years with gems such as Ghost World, Stardust, and Iron Man, without having to suffer through any more stylized, overly done versions of Catwoman and Faust: Love Of The Damned.