The Good, The Bad, & This Kid: “Adaptation”

Welcome one and all to the not so greatest show on earth. You’re tuned into GBK, your one stop shop for comic rambling on the web. This week, as you can tell by the name, I’m going to discuss comic book adaptations. If you were thinking it was about the Nic Cage flick, sorry. Adaptations is a bit of a broad topic, so I’m going to narrow it down for you. I’ve always been a big fan of video games and cartoons, so those are the adaptations I’m going to talk about. Well, that’s enough jibber-jabber for an introduction, so let’s get going.

Alright, the most well known video game to be turned into a comic is Tomb Raider. Everyone’s favorite large breasted video game heroine stars in her own monthly comic book. I’m not sure on the numbers, but I’m betting it does relatively well. Someone I work with, a woman, loves this book. She loves it so much that she often buys more then one copy. When this happens, I usually get her extra one. This means, I have more issues of Tomb Raider then I’m proud of. Anyway, I’ve only managed to read through one of these damn comics. I don’t know if I don’t enjoy it ‘cause I’ve never played the game, or if the story was just that damn bad. Either way, I’m not feeling it. Confession time, my girlfriend (Mary) and I do flip through the comic every time I get one. Not so much ‘cause we like the art and breasts, but because we like to laugh at how over-the-top it is. I mean damn Top Cow, could you have anymore tits and ass shots in your panels? So, this is a bad example of a video game turned into a comic book. Let’s go on to see if there is such a thing as a good video game comic.

Leading the way in video game adaptations is Dreamwave Productions. In their arsenal of books they’ve got; Megaman, Devil May Cry, Maximo (from SBC’s own Beau Smith), and a couple others I’ve never heard of. The common denominator between all these titles is the company Capcom. You know, the video game people. Anyway, I’ve never read any of these titles, well two of them aren’t even out yet, but still. I’ve been wanting to pick up an issue of Megaman, but I just haven’t yet. I did enjoy playing the video game back in the day, but that doesn’t mean I’ll enjoy the comic book. Like all Dreamwave books, the animation is very Japanese influenced. Which, when you think about it, makes sense. Either way, someday soon DW will be getting more of my money on the nostalgia factor.

Alright, to wrap up the video game section, we’ll talk about the newest release, Street Fighter. Like most things that UDON Studios touches, Street Fighter has some great art. In fact, I don’t think any other art studio should work on SF. Once you get past the art, however, there really isn’t much else. The story is the same tired Street Fighter tale. Eye candy can only take you so far with a comic, pretty soon you’ll need a good story. I read two issues of Street, and then I gave up. I’m a big fan of UDON, so I felt bad dropping there book, but I need some damn story. If I ever have some extra cash, I might pick up another issue, but me having extra cash doesn’t seem likely.

That’s the video game section, and damn is it pathetic. I can’t think of one reasonably good video game based comic, the only one that comes close is Street Fighter, which is kind of sad. You think with the market who buys video games and comics, that they’d at least try to make the combination better. One video game that I’d love to see turned into a comic would be The Legend of Zelda. Think about how bad ass that’d be. If someone from Nintendo is reading this, contact a cool comic publisher and set up a deal. I mean, I shouldn’t have to be the one saying this. If you’re in desperate need of a writer, I’ve got some time. Anyway, let’s move onto the cartoon comic books now.

If any two things were meant for each other, it’s cartoons and comic books. They have a pretty good history. There haven’t been many bad comics based on cartoons. For the most part, they’re usually rather good. We’ll start off with the newest one, Teen Titans Go. I know TT was originally a comic book, but this book is based on the new animated series. So, there! I’m a big fan of the cartoon, and the comic book ain’t bad either. J. Torres and crew have done a good job translating the cartoon into a comic. J. gets the characters “voices” down perfectly. Anyway, TTG is one of the best “all ages” comics on the market. So, if you’ve got some little ones running around, catch them and have them read that book.

Dreamwave makes another appearance in my column, this time with Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Two 80s cartoons that have come back from the dead. These “new” comics aren’t based on the old cartoons, they’re based on the new cartoons. I’ve read a couple issues of both these series, and I’ve since learned my lesson. Just like they’re respected new shows, the comics suck. Man, I’m not being to kind to the Dreamwave folks today. In all fairness though, they did lure me in for a few issues, so good job. That’s not all for the 80s comics, though. We’ve still got more to go.

Another publisher with a toe-hold on 80s cartoons is Devil’s Due. They’ve got G.I. Joe and Voltron. I’ve never watched Voltron when I was a kid, and I’ve never read it’s new comic either. However, I have read the new G.I. Joe comic. It’s not that bad, but it’s not that great either. I’m going to lump He-Man in here now, and just say this, NO GOOD. Okay, I’ve got that out.

So, what comics based on cartoons do I enjoy? Well, like I stated earlier, Teen Titans Go is good. Also, Batman Adventures and ThunderCats are usually good. Anyway, all the cartoon comics are better than the video game ones. That’s really the point I’m trying to make. When cartoons get turned into comic books, the creators usually do a good job. When video games get turned into comics, the creators usually botch it up somehow. The video games that get adapted are good games, I don’t understand why they aren’t so easily translated into comic form. Either way, whenever I hear of another video game being turned into a comic, my hopes go down; but somehow my wallet still stays open. I’m a damn sucker.

The Good

The good is off again this week. It’ll be back next week for a special episode.

Well, that’ll do it for another week. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy Kwanza. Come back in seven days for my farewell column. You heard right, next week will be the end of The Good, The Bad, & This Kid. ‘Til next time…

-Josh Stone

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