Archive for January, 2012

If you’ve got http://www.wildbluedeals.com/ internet at home or even if you’ve happened by a movie theater in the last year you’ve probably noticed a slew of new comic movies. We’re loving the comic trend and hope it continues but until then, let’s recap some of our favorite comic-inspired films from the past year
Green Lantern: It was much maligned by critics but we think Ryan Reynolds made a great Green Lantern and we love the wit that was infused into the role. It was still a rock ‘em sock ‘em comic book movie and that’s why we went, right?
Cowboys and Aliens: Did you know this was based on a comic? We didn’t either but the combination of shoot em up and extraterrestrial was too good for us to ignore and boy did the film deliver. Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig fighting together? Yes please.
Men in Black III: Okay, so this one is yet to be released but how excited are you? If the first two were any indication of how good the next MIB is going to be we’re buying tickets the second they come out.

Art often times imitates life. This statement rings true for the period during and following the Cold War. Many comic book makers and art producers used the Cold War as inspiration for their respective works. Comic books such as Watchmen used the Cold War to create heroes and villains. This clear dichotomy between the bad guys and good guys made sketching comics somewhat easy. The full explanation can be found here. The stories were drawn under familiar lines of the good capitalist versuses the evil communist. This fight between the respective parties made for interesting drama. In the beginning of the Watchmen movie, a clever montage was made showing the characters placed in the middle of the Cold War. The fact that the U.S.S.R. had missiles waiting to be deployed against the U.S. created high tension from the beginning. Not only though, but the immediate tension provided the high drama necessary to stage a dramatic comic book.

The threat of destruction is a very high concept idea. This type of idea is often times looked for by artists and comic book makers alike. The ability to have a story as large as the potential destruction of a whole country led to many great heroes. We needed individuals who were going to make us feel safe from this tremendous threat. Comic book makers took advantage of this opportunity with comic books such as Watchmen. When watching the various heroes safe the planet, the reader would continue reading as it was extremely fascinating. Additionally, it was quite comforting the idea that somebody was protecting us from the evil, over-reaching government of the communist U.S.S.R. This concept made for some tremendous comics during this era. The battle of good versuses evil had all-time high stakes as the very jeopardy of the United States was at risk, and the very idea of democracy.