Adaptation Invading

Comic books have been a huge source of material to adapt into film and television. Multiple characters have been translated from the four color page to the big and small screen. But if you watch a lot of the films and shows and also read the comics they are based on, you will see an interesting phenomenon. The adaptations become so popular that characters created for the screen are now being introduced into the comics.

Now the idea of incorporating ideas from other media into the pages of the comics is nothing new. The idea of Kryptonite first made an appearance on the Superman radio show long before it was ever depicted in the pages of the comics. Same with the villainous Lex Luthor who was the villain in a film serial before he became the Man of Steel’s primary antagonist in the comics. The reason why it is important to note characters from other adaptations invading the pages of comics is because there are SO many comic book adaptations going on at the moment. When Superman graced the radio, there weren’t dozens of other radio programs on the air at the same time. Any changes done to a character in another medium would have little affect on the comic book universe, especially since there was no unified comic book universes back then and all characters existed in their own private worlds.

Harley Quinn has become a hugely popular character in the pages of DC Comics. Of all of Batman’s villains she seems to be the only one featured in their own weekly series (and a supporting character in another, Suicide Squad). But the interesting thing, as popular a comic book character as Harley is, she did not get her origins in the comic book. Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini for the Batman: The Animated Series. She was originally just a nameless clown girl who hung around with the Joker. And since then she’s been featured in comics and video games and nearly every incarnation of Batman since her inception (except for the movies but there is certainly fan desire for her to be given a live action incarnation). She was even featured in a brief cameo on Arrow when the characters of the Suicide Squad were introduced.

And speaking of Arrow, quite a few characters from the TV show Arrow have been making themselves known in the pages of the Green Arrow comic. John Diggle, a character created completely for the TV show is now a regular fixture in the pages of Green Arrow. Same with Felicity Smoak. Felicity had a minor appearance in the comics long before (though really in name only, the two characters were nothing alike). Now Felicity and Diggle are both mainstream characters in the DC Universe.

Of course Felicity is nothing next to Agent Phil Coulson. Considered by many fans to be the lynchpin of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it makes absolute sense that he would eventually make an appearance in the comics. Not just an appearance, but he is one of the main characters in the pages of Secret Avengers (a black ops team of super heroes and secret agents who deal with threats before they escalate). And with Coulson starring on Agents of SHIELD, those same agents are scheduled to become a regular part of the Marvel Universe.

As more and more fans become familiar with comic book characters from media other than the comics it just makes sense that the comics will resemble more and more the characters people are familiar with. Comics are always trying to get new readers and they won’t do so if the characters in the comics are completely different from the ones they know from TV, movies and video games. And unfortunately the medium of TV, Film, and Comics are all different and thus have different ways of telling stories. This means that characters will need to change in order to fit the storytelling aspects of their specific media. So not all versions of a character will be the same.

The truth is comics have become less an entertainment media of their own but intellectual property generators. Disney purchased Marvel for that exact purpose. A built in audience of young boys (and more and more girls) easily identifying costumed heroes that can be placed in movies, toys, video games and all manner of marketable materials equals a huge source of revenue. The fact that these characters originates in a comic book is almost secondary to their presence on T-shirts and movies. And sadly it is this symbiotic relationship that will keep comics alive and thriving for the enjoyment of loyal readers like me.