Am I the only one who thinks Jason Aarons Scalped would make a great hbo series

Dazrd

Have bought both trades so far and really enjoying it cant help but think in the right hands "deadwoods Milch or the wires David Simon im looking at you" it would make a great series, what you guys think ?

Bruno Batista

Dazrd wrote: »

Have bought both trades so far and really enjoying it cant help but think in the right hands "deadwoods Milch or the wires David Simon im looking at you" it would make a great series, what you guys think ?

Heh, that's been my sales pitch for the book ever since it came out.
"It's like an HBO series"

Fysh

I've seen that sentiment expressed in a few reviews of the series, but to my shame I haven't checked it out yet. I must remember to pick up the first trade soon, i've really liked the few bits and pieces I've read by Aaron and as someone said to me recently, a guy who could get me to give a rat's ass about Black Panther is one hell of a writer...

BlaasForRafa

Comics should exist on their own merits not just as a way of getting into tv or movie writing.

I'm not saying thats the case here, I've not read the book, but I'd be more inclined to read it if people were saying "wow thats a great comic book" rather than "that'd make a great tv series", if you see what I mean?

Bruno Batista

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

Comics should exist on their own merits not just as a way of getting into tv or movie writing.

I'm not saying thats the case here, I've not read the book, but I'd be more inclined to read it if people were saying "wow thats a great comic book" rather than "that'd make a great tv series", if you see what I mean?

So is something making a great tv series automatically excludes it from being a great comic book? Can't it be both?

It's just easier as a sales pitch.
Specially if you're selling to people that don't read that many comics anyway, it's one thing to say "it's like Sleeper but without super-powers and in an Indian reservation" and then it's another thing to say "this is just like an HBO series"

Having said that, Scalped IS a great comic book.

It just happens to be one that would make a great HBO series.

Fysh

I'm with Bruno on this one, if you're pitching a comic to someone who's not particularly familiar with the medium you want to give them some idea of what it's like based on things they are familiar with, whether that's film, literature or television.

(I'm trying to think of other examples now, which could turn into a whole other thread...."Maus - it's like Schindler's list drawn by a Disney animator", that kind of thing)

ztoical

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

I'm not saying thats the case here, I've not read the book, but I'd be more inclined to read it if people were saying "wow thats a great comic book" rather than "that'd make a great tv series", if you see what I mean?

+ 1 I think there's a big difference between saying a comic is like a tv series and saying a comic would make a good tv series. I can understand the intent of comparing a comic to a tv series to make it more accessible to none comic readers but I'd be more inclined to use other books as an example rather then tv or movies. Scapled's wonderfully noir feel and western setting would make me describe it more as a James Ellroy novel if he wrote westerns. This is just my opinion but the constant comparison of comics to tv and film I feel cheapens comics as a medium, it seems to imply that the medium can not stand on its own meirt.

Would Scalped make a good HBO series? If developed right yes it would but it would def have to be HBO or Showtime developing it as they're the only ones who would put the right time and money in. I would want them to match the atmosphere that Guéra creates as close as they could which might be hit or miss. I know Deadwood had lots of dirt but it was created by the set not the film, with Scapled you might need to bleach or saturate the film to get that grim, dirty look you have in comic.

ztoical

Fysh wrote: »

"Maus - it's like Schindler's list drawn by a Disney animator

I was just about to write in my last post "no one would think to describe Maus by saying its like Schindler's list" Yes Schindler's list is based on a book [a really badly written boring book] but Given not just Maus's subject matter but the way in the book has been received - come on it won a pulizter - I don't see why it needs to be compared to anything else. Its a memoir about the authors father the struggle to survive the Holocaust - the end, here's the book go read it. If you look for Maus in Barnes and Nobles in New York's Union Square you won't find it in the graphic novel section at all but in the historical bio section under a sub heading "Holocaust memoirs".

Fysh

ztoical wrote: »

I was just about to write in my last post "no one would think to describe Maus by saying its like Schindler's list" Yes Schindler's list is based on a book [a really badly written boring book] but Given not just Maus's subject matter but the way in the book has been received - come on it won a pulizter - I don't see why it needs to be compared to anything else. Its a memoir about the authors father the struggle to survive the Holocaust - the end, here's the book go read it. If you look for Maus in Barnes and Nobles in New York's Union Square you won't find it in the graphic novel section at all but in the historical bio section under a sub heading "Holocaust memoirs".

I do get what you mean about not needing to compare comics to any other medium to describe them, but I still think that if you're talking to someone who hasn't read a comic since they were a kid and are trying to pitch them something, comparing it to something else they might be familiar with oould help to convince them. The closer the comparison the better, so the Schindler's list one above a pretty poor match (I admit, I didn't put much thought into it).

That being said, I figure if you're having to pitch a comic to someone by comparing it to something else they might be familiar with, you're possibly dealing with someone reluctant to accept an argument based on the comic's inherent merits....

ztoical

Fysh wrote: »

I do get what you mean about not needing to compare comics to any other medium to describe them, but I still think that if you're talking to someone who hasn't read a comic since they were a kid and are trying to pitch them something, comparing it to something else they might be familiar with oould help to convince them. The closer the comparison the better, so the Schindler's list one above a pretty poor match (I admit, I didn't put much thought into it).

That being said, I figure if you're having to pitch a comic to someone by comparing it to something else they might be familiar with, you're possibly dealing with someone reluctant to accept an argument based on the comic's inherent merits....

I just figure people who aren't into comics are more likely to stumble on to them in a book store rather then a comic shop and therefore its better to compare them to other books then films or television as your assuming the person reads, they are in a book shop after all*. People tend to judge wither they like an art style rather quickly by flicking through a book. Even if you've never read a comic you've got eyes and will know if something is applying to them or not but the writing is harder to judge and might need to be put in context.

*Of course they might be one of those people in looking for Jade's autiobio or the new Cecelia Ahern novel in which case they're idoits who shouldn't be let in the shop in the first place [a policy I did try to implement back when I worked at Eason but for some reason I couldn't sell the idea to the higher ups]