I might as well admit it...

[newman]

...I'm obsessing over how badly Frank Miller is going to mutilate The Spirit.

Comments

[folo1.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on that! :\

[peregrinning.livejournal.com]

Well, that's timely. I'm reading Will Eisner's Contract with God Trilogy: Life on Dropsie Avenue, this weekend.

So I went to watch the trailer for The Spirit...

... and it inspires me to go find the comic books by Will Eisner.

I don't feel the need to watch a Sin City redux of someone else's comics.

[new-man.livejournal.com]

The original Spirit material runs the range from amusing to amazing. It infuses a great deal of humanity into stories of heroics — and a great deal of heroism into stories about ordinary people.

The semi-autobiographical material you're reading now is good, but not as good as The Spirit. I think it's tends to wander into preachy and maudlin at times.

(partial) Devil's Advocate

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Eisner's Spirit was, on occasion, as dark and violent as a typical Frank Miller story. One pre-war story about a prison break especially sticks in my mind, as having an astounding body count.

That said, one of the things most people respect Eisner for is his tremendous *variety* of tone and style. This, Miller has consistently failed to demonstrate in his *own* work, so there's not much hope he'll manage it here.

Strangely, I think Quentin Tarantino would have done a much better job. He's a much more versatile storyteller, and fond of structures which allow him to tell lots of small, varied stories in the course of a film. He wouldn't be my *first* choice, but he'd do better than Miller.

Re: (partial) Devil's Advocate

[new-man.livejournal.com]

I'm OK with dark. It's not that. It's...flavor.

There's not much to go on in the teaser trailer (whichis why this counts as 'obsessing'), but three things I've seen fill me with dread.

1) The title One of the hallmarks of Eisner's Spirit was that the words "The Spirit" were often worked into the first panel in a clever and artistic way. Not always, but often enough that it's something I'd hope Miller would pick up on. Especially with CGI, it would have been easy for those rooftops we see The Spirit running across to have topped a series of buldings and obstacles which spelled out S-P-I-R-I-T.

2) The Octopus You never, ever, ever, see The Octopus in the comics. Hear his voice? Sure, but he's obsessive about hiding his face. I'd be happy with Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of The Octopus, but there shouldn't be publicity stills showing him.
2a) Where the hell is P'Gell? And who is Lorelei Rox? And Plaster of Paris appeared in one strip, as far as I know...

3) The 'uniform' The trailer has a very Batman feel to it. The phone rings. "Yes commissioner". And then limited visibility shots of The Spirt putting on his shirt, coat, and hat like it's some kind of superhero uniform. One of the odd things about The Spirit was that he just wore clothes. He frequently didn't wear a suit – he just always wore the mask (creating some humourous contrasts, -- i.e., Santa outfit plus mask -- which they're not going to use in this movie).

On the plus side, the character moves like a guy just barely in control, and that's important to me. He lands heavily, falls, gets back up, and sort of wobbles as he's sliding down slanted roofs and powerlines. There's no wire-fu smoothness, and that gives me hope.

Re: (partial) Devil's Advocate

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Gotta agree with most of that.

"Where the hell is P'Gell? And who is Lorelei Rox?"

Lorelei Rox is another one-strip wonder. A pretty good strip, whose art shows up in textbooks, but just the one. IIRC, she was a femme fatale with a Black Canary-like scream power.

Brace yourself -- I infer from interviews that they have merged the characters of Sand Saref and P'Gell...

"One of the odd things about The Spirit was that he just wore clothes. He frequently didn't wear a suit"

I don't know that I'd say 'frequently'. Aside from disguises and picnic outings, he pretty consistently wore the blue suit, blue hat, gloves, and no socks. It may as well have been a uniform. That said, I agree that the 'Batman donning a costume' vibe is completely wrong.

The Suit

[new-man.livejournal.com]

It was 1940 something to 1950 something. Guys wore suits. That's more what I meant by "clothes" versus "uniform".

That being said, there are a lot of strips where he's not. There's "The Spirit in Space" series in which he just wears a space suit (and a mask). If it had been Batman, there'd be a big bat emblazoned on the chest. There's the series where he's freighter hopping in the South Seas (where he wears a horizontally striped sailor shirt and a kerchief tied around his neck... and a mask). And I remember a bunch were for some reason which totally escapes me now he's wearing skintight pants and a poets' shirt. And probably dueling with a rapier.

Time for me to go dig out my old Warren and Kitchen Sink issues...

Do you have any idea who owns the rights these days? D.C.?

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

The original Spirit material runs the range from amusing to amazing.

Because of that, I got to wondering who my preferred actor for that would be. After a lot of consideration, I think I settled on Gene Kelly, mostly because he could be completely serious, but segue into a two-panel physical comedy joke without missing a beat of the main action.

Re: The Suit

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Granted, he often wore other outfits. But he didn't wear 'suits'; when he wore a suit (which was often), it was always the identical blue one.

DC has the rights, and is just about to publish the last in a hardcover series reprinting the entire run in color. I've got 'em, and you're welcome to borrow them.

[peregrinning.livejournal.com]

Good. I agree with your evaluation of the semi-autobiographical. Glad to know this isn't representative of all Will Eisner's work. I have so much to learn.

There's a "Best of The Spirit" collection wending its way to me from the Library.

[new-man.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to think of a living character who could combine the physical energy, the all-American square jawed good looks, and the balance of humour and heroism – and I'm not sure I can think of anyone.

I think Denny Colt looks like Stephen Colbert, but I don't think he can play the part. Colin Farrel, maybe, if he can lose the accent. James Madsen, possibly.

[new-man.livejournal.com]

I don't know what stories are in that collection (the listing says 22, but only mentions two by name), but it seems like a good place to start.

[hungrytiger]

Agreed, I saw the trailer twice last week and the cring factor was redlining.

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a living actor who is famous enough to be known is tough. I'd really love to think Bruce Campbell might manage it, but I suspect even if he managed to channel The Spirit, I'd be hearing Ash.

Brendan Frasier certainly as the jaw for it, and does ok with his style of humor.

Did you mean Michael Madsen, or is there a Madsen I'm missing? Anyway, if you do, yeah, possibly.

[new-man.livejournal.com]

Brendan Fraser is an inspired choice. I've seen him do serious acting (although not much of it) and the character that he plays in The Mummy series is a similar combination of competence and getting in over one's head.

And, my bad -- James Marsden. Cyclops from the X-men.

[jducoeur]

If you find yourself wanting more after that, I've got the complete hardcover set -- while I haven't had time to actually read most of them yet, they're good enough that I know I *will* read them eventually, so I've been picking them up...

[new-man.livejournal.com]

Wow... I pick up a copy when my local store is having a sale and when they happen to have them. $50 a pop is a bit steep for me -- especially when there are 26 (more?) of them.