Comic books. Comic book movies. Comic book fans. Ingredients for a soup of excitement, discontent, unsatisfied dreams, and, dare I say it, unrealistic expectations.
It's probably a good thing the internet was not around in the days of the 1940s(the serials), 1950s(Superman), 1960s(Batman), 1970s(Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Incredible Hulk and the first big comic book movies), the 1980s(Tim Burton's Batman), and the early 1990s(the beginning of the Golden Age of comic book animation). Aside from the parenthetical mentions, there's the spattering of comic book animation throughout those decades.
The way we, the fans, bash the realization of our comic book folk on the big screen, the early incarnations may never have survived! I can't even begin to fathom the rants about any of those offerings!!! While there were good things about them all, there were also bad things! Thugs shoot bullets and Superman to no effect then throw the gun and he DUCKS! AUNT HARRIETTE! Bell bottoms! I could go on but, you get the point.
Look at Smallville, a very well done reimagining bashed every week of every season because it wasn't what the fans wanted! On the flipside, it had high enough ratings to last TEN seasons! Wonder who all was watching? Oh, yeah, the complainers because otherwise they wouldn't know what to complain about!
The real problem with our community is that too many of us want what WE want. Need proof, just look at the FanFic page on this site and the ranting comments about any of the movies, shows, and animation. If they are not made exactly the way we think it should be made - with the cast, story, effects, characters, and exact comic interpretation we want - we fly off the deep end, criticize it, fan fic how we think it would be better, and bash anyone who thinks it was, at best, a decent movie! At the same time, the majority of those will see it at the theater at least twice and buy it or record it to add to their CBM collection! It's true.
So, then, what should the reaction of we, the community of comic book fans, be to movies based on our beloved comic book worlds?
The crux of the answer is found in that question: "movies based on our beloved comic book worlds".
The reality is that not everything in the comics adapts well to the big OR small screen, or even animation sometimes. So, the powers that be have to go through the entire comic history of the movies' heroes to pin down all the particulars while at the same time determining what will translate best to the media they are making.
Some stories are too mature for animation that will have a lot of younger viewers, are not compelling enough for television, or don't have the intriguing components to headline the box office. Many characters are not broadly known enough to put them in the spotlight alone or with just a few others. Certain effects necessary to make the story believable may not be feasible within a managable budget.
When it comes down to it, we, the comic book fan community, should honestly be grateful to see our beloved stories and characters brought to life in media outside of print! Unless it's an absolutley dreadful, stomach turning, brain numbing, travesty of the source material, we should embrace it all!
Why? Because they are based ON the comics and NOT taken directly from them!
So, we must embrace them all at the level they are worthy of embracing, that we might send the right message back to the producers to let them know what is just okay and what is truly desired.
How? Simple.
If it's a total travesty, which we can only determe by watching at least once and not just taking word of mouth, we leave it at the one viewing and NEVER buy it or record it or haphazardly watch it because there is nothing else on! This sends the message of thanks but, NEVER AGAIN!
If it's a credible attempt that needs work, we watch it once, never buy it, but record it or watch it when nothing else is on, thus saying thanks but, we want better!
If it's a good attempt, a diamond in the rough, we watch it no more than twice, wait for it to hit the bargain bins to buy it, and watch it whenever it's on. We like it on facebook. We buy a few related products. This says we like it, you're going in the right direction, now keep it up and make it better!
If it's a great effort, we watch it more than twice, buy it, and watch whenever it's on. We like it on facebook, follow it on twitter, and tell everyone to go see it. We buy some related products for ourselves and gifting. This tells them we want more of this and nothing less than this!
If it's off the hook amazing, we watch it at least four times, buy it for ourselves and as a gift for someone we want to get hooked on it, watch it whenever it's on, and blitz the internet with much CBM love! We buy the related products to the point it hurts but, we embrace the pain! Doing that will make it loud and clear to the powers that be: THIS IS WHAT WE WANT AND HOW WE WANT IT!!!
You see, Hollywood and Orlando and all other producing points in between look at those key factors:
1-) Box office ticket sales and intake(for movies)
2-) Video sales and rentals
3-) Neilsen ratings
4-) Internet buzz
5-) Related product sales
6-) Repitition(continued strong box office numbers or Neilsen ratings, steady sales and rentals, constant buzz, etc.)
That's how they determine what they make next! They could care less about our complaints or praise. They only pay attention to the bottom line that consists of those key six factors!
So, from now on, let's make our voices heard the way the powers that be listen! Save our ranting and complaining for things that really matter, like the insufficient skin shown by Cosplay hotties! Sure, keep your FanFics coming. Post your reviews. Make your comments.
Let's face it, if Iron Man had not been a financial hit, there would have been no Iron Man 2 to keep the ball rolling. From there, if The Avengers had not topped $1 billion, I doubt Marvel's Phase Two would be as expansive as it's been announced. Granted, they have Disney's bankroll now but, it's still all about the six factors of the bottom line!
In the end, though, make your voice heard the right way!