POP CULTURE Graphic novels go Hollywood

By RANDY MYERS
CONTRA COSTA (CALIF.) TIMES
Once viewed as junk that could rot impressionable brains, comics are now considered hip, hot and smart.
Even critics at the buttoned-up New York Times are singing the praises of high-profile, long-format books, called graphic novels, such as Art Spiegelman's disturbing take on 9/11, "In the Shadow of No Towers," or Charles Burns' chilling AIDS parable, "Black Hole."
West Point has made it mandatory for the graduating class of 2006 to read one of these works. If recruits can be required to study Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis" -- a poignant, well-reviewed work that depicts family life during the Iranian Revolution -- then there's something surely afoot.
Perhaps most significantly, Hollywood has propelled graphic novels to the front ranks of pop culture, adapting many into movies, including the just-released "V for Vendetta" along with critical darlings "Sin City" and "A History of Violence."
"What we're seeing is some sort of tipping point that has been a long process in coming," says Publishers Weekly's Calvin Reid, editor for comic coverage.
"Really, for the first time, many people are seeing graphic novels in bookstores, and more people are seeing that there is more variety than superhero comics. Not that there's anything wrong with superhero comics. There's a lot of creativity in them, too."
Deeper subjects
If you still assume today's "funnies" focus on the antics of surly ducks or muscled guys and gals clad in Lycra, you need but browse through comic emporiums such as Berkeley's Comic Relief or Concord's Flying Colors.
Sure, exploits of the usual suspects -- Superman, Spider-Man, Batman -- line the shelves, but now they're sharing prime real estate with ambitious fare that tackles complex topics ranging from genocide to a son's painful feelings during his mother's terminal cancer.
Even chain stores such as Barnes & amp; Noble realize there's gold to be mined here, and have expanded comics sections.
The numbers say it all. In 2001, graphic novels rang up $75 million in American sales. By 2005, sales in Canada and America amounted to $250 million, according to ICv2, a pop-culture-monitoring Web site.
And while recent moves by the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly to review graphic novels have increased their profile, perhaps more important is the movie industry's love affair with the format. "Hollywood is obsessed with them," says Reid.
"V for Vendetta" marks the latest in a flood of "based-on-a-graphic-novel" movies. Produced and written by "Matrix" creators the Wachowski brothers, it's the first big-buzz movie this year.
Quirky characters
Moviemakers have borrowed liberally from the action genre of graphic novels, but they've also adapted quirky character-centric dramas, such as those in Daniel Clowes' "Ghost World" or Harvey Pekar's "American Splendor" collection, which was turned into a movie starring Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti.
The Hollywood partnership hasn't always been foolproof, however, pumping out duds such as "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and "From Hell," along with winners such as "A History of Violence" or "Sin City."
"V for Vendetta" arrived after a string of delays, having been yanked just after the London subway bombings. ("Vendetta" finds a mysterious masked man in a totalitarian future seeking to blow up Parliament.) Created by Alan Moore, who has attained a Stephen King-like reverence in the comic world, "Vendetta" demonstrates how the graphic novel can fearlessly tackle a weighty subject such as terrorism while managing to be both entertaining and prescient.
Literary fans
Within the prose world, numerous award-winning writers have expressed their admiration for the form, including Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon, whose "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & amp; Clay" focuses on the early years of comics, and indie author Dave Eggers. Other highly regarded novelists such as Paul Auster ("Oracle Night") and Jonathan Lethem ("The Fortress of Solitude") have had works turned into graphic novels. Popular fiction authors have climbed aboard as well, with thriller writer Brad Meltzer ("The Zero Game") and black romance writer Eric Jerome Dickey ("Genevieve") having released graphic novels.
But will all this heightened visibility amount to anything? Can it erase Americans' stereotypical notions that comics are suited only for boys or socially challenged men? Perhaps it could, especially when glancing at sophisticated future titles.
Upcoming topics range from one based on "The 9/11 Commission Report," another on the musings of a journalist covering the Iraq war called "War Fix" (set for a June release) and biographies on Malcolm X, Ronald Reagan, Frank Sinatra and J. Edgar Hoover.