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Oh, Comics! How I've missed you!
Mar. 15th, 2011 12:50 pmAlthough I did make the effort to chat up the nice guy on the bus home from PAX (he was reading Terry Pratchett, watching Spooks and Chuck, and we talked about games we played at PAX), I really devoted most of my time to devouring comics on my iPad. I read a few middling-to-meh miniseries and then I started in on one of the two series I really want to have read. The two options were Y: The Last Man and Preacher. I was lazy and went alphabetically.
...I love Preacher. I have gotten through fully half the series already. True, it's a short series, but to do as much in two days? I really have fun with it, and I can totally see why all the rumors of its getting made into a movie/TV series, even on HBO, have never been realized into an actual product. I don't know that it would survive the transition to be as good even if it were done by the best of the best to the best of the best's ability. Frankly, love it or not, it's got a lot of high melodrama that wouldn't translate into a medium where people would actually have to say any of the things or explain the various backstories. Jesse's backstory, in particular, seems nearly impossible to film in such a way that wouldn't be ridiculously camp.
This is what I worry about with any adaptation, which I don't really have to worry about because holy shit, not even HBO is going to touch on this "God is a Dick" stuff. Supernatural gets away with angels being dicks, but I doubt anyone could really write a non-comedic take on God that wouldn't piss off absolutely anyone who believes in him. Hell, Kevin Smith couldn't get away with a comedy about God, and his God was quirky, cute, and ultimately loving. The same cannot be said about Preacher's God. It's still kind of a shame it won't get made. Were a channel like HBO to take the reins, this could be dynamite stuff. It would also be a funny pairing with something like True Blood, which has an equally irreverent attitude and a similar enjoyment of frivolous sex. But it doesn't need it, and it wouldn't probably be done right. Oh well.
We can also be glad to know that Sandman isn't getting an on-screen treatment either. Well, at least not this time that someone with clout and a will looked into making it. I'm not the hugest fan of Sandman (or Gaiman), but I know nothing could ever do that comic justice. We'd have to fundamentally alter what we expect of viewers versus what we expect of readers. TV has come a long way, especially with audiences increasingly willing--and demanding--serially plotted shows, but we're not there yet to do justice to something as multifaceted as Sandman. Believe you me, even though I'm not a fangirl for the series, I know that Sandman is just too far-reaching (more so than the likewise impossible-to-make-a-film-out-of-but-they-tried Watchmen) to really be made well. I'm not casting aspersions on the people who wanted to make this adaptation happen--Kripke seemed like a good choice, honestly--just that I don't think anyone can do it. Period.
...I love Preacher. I have gotten through fully half the series already. True, it's a short series, but to do as much in two days? I really have fun with it, and I can totally see why all the rumors of its getting made into a movie/TV series, even on HBO, have never been realized into an actual product. I don't know that it would survive the transition to be as good even if it were done by the best of the best to the best of the best's ability. Frankly, love it or not, it's got a lot of high melodrama that wouldn't translate into a medium where people would actually have to say any of the things or explain the various backstories. Jesse's backstory, in particular, seems nearly impossible to film in such a way that wouldn't be ridiculously camp.
This is what I worry about with any adaptation, which I don't really have to worry about because holy shit, not even HBO is going to touch on this "God is a Dick" stuff. Supernatural gets away with angels being dicks, but I doubt anyone could really write a non-comedic take on God that wouldn't piss off absolutely anyone who believes in him. Hell, Kevin Smith couldn't get away with a comedy about God, and his God was quirky, cute, and ultimately loving. The same cannot be said about Preacher's God. It's still kind of a shame it won't get made. Were a channel like HBO to take the reins, this could be dynamite stuff. It would also be a funny pairing with something like True Blood, which has an equally irreverent attitude and a similar enjoyment of frivolous sex. But it doesn't need it, and it wouldn't probably be done right. Oh well.
We can also be glad to know that Sandman isn't getting an on-screen treatment either. Well, at least not this time that someone with clout and a will looked into making it. I'm not the hugest fan of Sandman (or Gaiman), but I know nothing could ever do that comic justice. We'd have to fundamentally alter what we expect of viewers versus what we expect of readers. TV has come a long way, especially with audiences increasingly willing--and demanding--serially plotted shows, but we're not there yet to do justice to something as multifaceted as Sandman. Believe you me, even though I'm not a fangirl for the series, I know that Sandman is just too far-reaching (more so than the likewise impossible-to-make-a-film-out-of-but-they-tried Watchmen) to really be made well. I'm not casting aspersions on the people who wanted to make this adaptation happen--Kripke seemed like a good choice, honestly--just that I don't think anyone can do it. Period.
