One could write an entire book on the history of how these two mediums have influenced each other. We live in a time where people are confusing being a marvel MOVIE fan, for being a comic book fan. Comics have taken on encapsulating a singular genre. Yet, it was not always this way. The cycle seems to have come full circle, because when we look back far enough, movies and comics were in the same place. Very theatrical in the staging and framing. Look no further than Jack Wison’s work which mostly stayed in full shots like most silent pictures.
During the Golden Age of comics, creators like Will Eisner, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, and Wally Wood drew massive inspiration from the cinema of the time (late 1930s to late 1950s). Flip through any issue of Eisner’s The Spirit and you're immediately transported into a world that echoes the atmosphere of a Raoul Walsh gangster film. Ditko, in particular, played with operatic camera movement across the panels of Spider-Man, clearly taking cues from Orson Welles, who revolutionized film by placing the camera in the most dramatic and expressive locations.
By the late 1980s, the relationship between comics and film had become even more intriguing. On one hand, more films were being adapted from comic books. On the other hand, filmmakers began to embrace the limitless storytelling potential found in comics. Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, for example, is in clear conversation with films like Taxi Driver and the dystopian world of Mad Max. These works highlight the mutual influence between the two mediums, as they riff off each other’s aesthetics and themes.
Today, however, I argue that both mediums are in a state of creative stasis, largely because of their envy of one another. Mainstream comics are often created with the intention of being adapted into movies or TV shows, while many films rely on comic books as pre-established, safe intellectual property (IP). While this crossover isn’t entirely negative, I can’t help but feel that both comics and films shine brightest when they innovate within their own limitations, instead of trying to mimic each other.
Until next time, keep changing how we see!
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