Moving pictures

It’s not as good as the book.” That’s a familiar maxim that never fails to get a rise out of anyone with the misfortune of having to hear it as they exit the movie theater. Escaping that, you still run the risk of such wisdom bestowed upon you from a variety of media. A cursory peek at blogs online bears this out: despite being wordier, it still boils down to the same. (Don’t have Internet access? Much of the movie reviews being published these days are hardly more perceptive or insightful.) Of course, the irony of it all is that, despite it being annoying, the maxim is true. The book is usually better than the movie.

But does this apply to comic books as well?

Funnily enough, films adapted from comic books almost always find themselves wanting next to the original. Surprising, given that comics are already a visual medium to begin with — for starters, the panels resemble a veritable storyboard. But apart from characters like Superman, Spiderman or Batman (who’ve been around for decades and have become 20th-century myths), newer titles like Hellblazer, The Punisher, V for Vendetta and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen don’t just come up short next to their source material — they really just stink.

Two films currently showing — Stardust and 30 Days of Night — are adaptations of graphic novels. (The former is rather more of an illustrated storybook.) Based on a story written by Sandman creator Neil Gaiman, Stardust is more successful largely due to the engaging narrative. The latter’s premise is intriguing — vampires converging on an Alaskan town that experiences month-long darkness — but does nothing with it otherwise. Like Stardust, the original comic by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith is a much more nuanced and rich work, mostly due to the art. Despite the fact that Niles’ writing often indulges in one too many expository clichés, the unrelenting visual pace and pictorial grandeur of Templesmith keeps the story flowing nicely. In the movie version, we have Josh Hartnett’s pretty face. At least in Stardust we still have a pushing-50 Michelle Pfeiffer to ogle.

At the risk of stating the obvious, reading takes a lot longer and demands much more than most films. It requires devotion and that makes the experience a lot more special if the book turns out to be a good one. Reading Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement is undoubtedly more rewarding than watching the upcoming movie version. (Although one doesn’t begrudge the delights of watching Keira Knightley, the spell isn’t that lasting.)

During his talk at Fully Booked’s Bonifacio High Street branch, Templesmith struck one as being very conscious of his role in comics. In interviews, he’s said that “the things that matter most to me are mood and atmosphere… stories and subjects that need them more are things I gravitate to really.” Turning the pages of the book, it’s apparent to the reader that his art in the graphic novel evokes the icy but cruel beauty of its setting more vividly than the photographed set of the movie. It inspires the reader to imagine the movie — the susurrus of the air conditioner or the silence of the evening air providing the soundtrack. The beat of your heart and your breathing provide the score. All the terrors and delights your mind can conjure up.

That is better than any movie.

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All books mentioned are available at Fully Booked.