Characters that Define Comic Books
By Jacob Malewitz
Andrew Benton, 2,000, and Buy 50 Comics
Robert Coborn, Easy Vest, 50 50 10
Comics aren’t the passion they used to be for me, but I am still happy when a comic makes it to the big screen. Some characters can truly define both art forms.
Batman Begins is my favorite of all comic adaptations, beating both Spider Man films and 300. My second favorite would likely be the first X-Men film; mainly because it brought in enough good actors that really fit the roles of the renegade mutants.
The characters that define comics don’t always make it to the big screen, though lately the success of films has made everything up for grabs.
My two favorite characters in order are Iron Man and Batman.
There is an upcoming Iron Man film starring Robert Downey Jr. that I am stoked about. The Iron Man comic occasionally makes it as a best seller in comics but rarely; he is more of a cult favorite.
Iron Man has always been my favorite character, and the one I own the most comics of, because he struggled with alcoholism, an addiction that affected my life in many ways. Tony Stark, Iron Man’s alter ego, had everything in the way of material possessions: He was a billionaire, could get any girl he wanted, and was a hero. Yet he struggled to live life and would struggle as both hero and man. The villains he fights like Spy Master and Mandarin aren’t as defined as other hero’s foes, but they provide for interesting fiction.
Batman also drew close to home because, next to Iron Man, he is the most human character in comics. He has everything too: all the money and any girl he wants. Yet he has all this pain in his life so he seeks to rectify it by fighting murderers and insane villains. The villains Batman fights like Joker, Riddler, and Two Face are perhaps some of the better villains in comics.
Spider Man was an early love of mine as well. The young Peter Parker didn’t have the dark aspects that Batman had, or the addiction Iron Man did, but he was usually younger and therefore dealt with many of the same troubles youth do.
I tried reading the Ultimate Spider Man comics, though I just couldn’t relate to a character in his teens anymore.
Even great films are different than the original comics, and even if they do the stories justice, the printed page is a different form. Characters are easier to create on the big screen, but the blank page has more possibilities.
I have always preferred solo comics like Batman where the characterization was deeper, and the characters more defined, than the team books like X-Men and Avengers. I still love the team books, I just consolidate my time to the comics I find more endearing. Team comics provide a different dynamic than solo heroes, and can be done very well, I have just never went out of my way to buy them.
Alan Moore created many characters that defined comics in Watchmen. Rorschach is perhaps the most troubled super hero I have ever come across. He wasn’t afraid to kill, was insane in his own way, and by the end was a tragic hero. I know this sounds like sacrilege, but a comic just on him would be incredible, though it would be a highly adult piece. Watchmen would have to be read for you to know why he can’t have his own comic.
The first major super hero character was Superman. I don’t read Superman comics or indulge in the movies, but any discussion on characters that define comics has to bring him in. He set the stage for heroes with unique powers like Spider Man and the X-Men. He also had the most dramatic death (though short lived) of any character in comics. I do not love Superman, but the epic battle with Doomsday that cost him his life was incredible fiction.
Not all characters in comics have unique powers and, as can be seen from my favorites, some of them are the better heroes. Batman has nothing except human strength and speed. Iron Man nothing but a suit of armor and a bad heart. Even Rorschach was human – he had no powers.
Comics are an important medium that continuously creates interesting characters. Many of the more popular fiction writers now first got in with comics. I have never been a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, but he is one case of a comic writer becoming a major novelist. This proves that both novels and comics can be written by one author.
In the end, comic characters will always have a special place in my heart. Characters can be defined in comics better than any other. If you want prove look at comics from the sixties and then look at an issue of Batman or Iron Man anytime past the year 2000; the only medium that has come close to as dramatic change is film.
By Jacob Malewitz
Andrew Benton, 2,000, and Buy 50 Comics
Robert Coborn, Easy Vest, 50 50 10
Comics aren’t the passion they used to be for me, but I am still happy when a comic makes it to the big screen. Some characters can truly define both art forms.
Batman Begins is my favorite of all comic adaptations, beating both Spider Man films and 300. My second favorite would likely be the first X-Men film; mainly because it brought in enough good actors that really fit the roles of the renegade mutants.
The characters that define comics don’t always make it to the big screen, though lately the success of films has made everything up for grabs.
My two favorite characters in order are Iron Man and Batman.
There is an upcoming Iron Man film starring Robert Downey Jr. that I am stoked about. The Iron Man comic occasionally makes it as a best seller in comics but rarely; he is more of a cult favorite.
Iron Man has always been my favorite character, and the one I own the most comics of, because he struggled with alcoholism, an addiction that affected my life in many ways. Tony Stark, Iron Man’s alter ego, had everything in the way of material possessions: He was a billionaire, could get any girl he wanted, and was a hero. Yet he struggled to live life and would struggle as both hero and man. The villains he fights like Spy Master and Mandarin aren’t as defined as other hero’s foes, but they provide for interesting fiction.
Batman also drew close to home because, next to Iron Man, he is the most human character in comics. He has everything too: all the money and any girl he wants. Yet he has all this pain in his life so he seeks to rectify it by fighting murderers and insane villains. The villains Batman fights like Joker, Riddler, and Two Face are perhaps some of the better villains in comics.
Spider Man was an early love of mine as well. The young Peter Parker didn’t have the dark aspects that Batman had, or the addiction Iron Man did, but he was usually younger and therefore dealt with many of the same troubles youth do.
I tried reading the Ultimate Spider Man comics, though I just couldn’t relate to a character in his teens anymore.
Even great films are different than the original comics, and even if they do the stories justice, the printed page is a different form. Characters are easier to create on the big screen, but the blank page has more possibilities.
I have always preferred solo comics like Batman where the characterization was deeper, and the characters more defined, than the team books like X-Men and Avengers. I still love the team books, I just consolidate my time to the comics I find more endearing. Team comics provide a different dynamic than solo heroes, and can be done very well, I have just never went out of my way to buy them.
Alan Moore created many characters that defined comics in Watchmen. Rorschach is perhaps the most troubled super hero I have ever come across. He wasn’t afraid to kill, was insane in his own way, and by the end was a tragic hero. I know this sounds like sacrilege, but a comic just on him would be incredible, though it would be a highly adult piece. Watchmen would have to be read for you to know why he can’t have his own comic.
The first major super hero character was Superman. I don’t read Superman comics or indulge in the movies, but any discussion on characters that define comics has to bring him in. He set the stage for heroes with unique powers like Spider Man and the X-Men. He also had the most dramatic death (though short lived) of any character in comics. I do not love Superman, but the epic battle with Doomsday that cost him his life was incredible fiction.
Not all characters in comics have unique powers and, as can be seen from my favorites, some of them are the better heroes. Batman has nothing except human strength and speed. Iron Man nothing but a suit of armor and a bad heart. Even Rorschach was human – he had no powers.
Comics are an important medium that continuously creates interesting characters. Many of the more popular fiction writers now first got in with comics. I have never been a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, but he is one case of a comic writer becoming a major novelist. This proves that both novels and comics can be written by one author.
In the end, comic characters will always have a special place in my heart. Characters can be defined in comics better than any other. If you want prove look at comics from the sixties and then look at an issue of Batman or Iron Man anytime past the year 2000; the only medium that has come close to as dramatic change is film.
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