VFXhack

Now that all the Comi-Con hoopla has died down, I thought it would be a good idea to mention a few standouts in the field of graphic sequential art that have yet to sell their souls to the great Hollywood comic book ruining machine. So, while we’re waiting for the big two to finally scrape the bottom of the character licensing barrel (ROM Spacenight:The Movie can’t be too far off), let’s look at some yet to be defiled gems that would make great VFX flicks.

1. Ed the Happy Clown

From the pages of Chester Brown’s Yummy Fur comes the tale of a Clown whose penis tip gets replaced by the head of Ronald Reagan from an alternate universe. Interested? You should be. This one is a VFX bonanza with vampires, aliens, spaceship and Frankenstein’s monster. Rumors of an Ed movie have come and gone since it was published in 1989. I think Harry Dean Stanton would make a great Ronald Reagan penis tip.

Further Reading: Chester Brown’s autobiographic I Never Liked You (1994)

2. DMZ

Written by Brian Wood with artwork by Riccardo Burchielli, this is a modern day take on Escape From New York mixed in with a little Network to boot. Matty, a news network intern, is stranded in a Manhattan torn apart by the new American civil war. Imagine CNN footage from Iraq taking place in the good ole U S of A. Scary stuff.

Further Reading: Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis, another dystopia from a fake journalist’s POV

3. Pride of Baghdad

This has got to be the easiest pitch of all these. Lion King meets Reservoir Dogs. This is the “true” story of four lions who escape the Baghdad zoo during the American invasion. Written by Brian K. Vaughan with artwork by Niko Henrichon, this is one of the best graphic novels ever and would no doubt whop Aslan’s ass all up and down the multiplex.

Further Reading: Y the Last Man, Vaughan’s ongoing series about a plague that wipes out every man on earth, except one.

4. The Walking Dead

Although the initial set-up is blatant rip of 28 Days Later, this meat opera follows a small group of people who struggle to survive the crisis of the undead day by day. The scope is personal and epic at the same time focusing on the intimate details of the “lucky” characters lives. The series, written by Robert Kirkman, contains black and white illustrations from Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard. Of course the film would have to be in black and white too. I hear Woody Allen might be available.

Further Reading: Kirkman’s Marvel Zombies gives the flesh eating treatment to the House of Ideas. Excelsior!

5. Wormwood:Gentelman Corpse

Ben Templesmith’s comic follows the adventures of an animated cadaver that is being controlled by a satanic maggot who lives in his eyeball. Oh, and there’s his sidekick the homicidal Victorian Robot too. The mood is great, dark and sticky, with enough ectoplasm to fill a giant bucket of popcorn in nearly every page.

Further Reading: The Goon is Eric Powell’s take on the loner set adrift in a paranormal town without pity

Well true believers, there you have it. I’m sure some young, hip studio exec will eventually pick these properties up and turn them into watered down, mind numbing drivel. But hey, as the guy at my local comic shop sez “At least they can’t take the comics away, we’ll always have those”.