Comic Book Movies

By Lisa Lopacinski
May 1, 2007

In the past few years movies based on comic books have been on the increase. Lisa discusses how comics and movies effect each other as well as American pop culture, and what this means to the future of brick and mortar comic book stores.

People often ask me if the comic book-based movies help us sell more comic books. The answer is yes, they do. Sometimes it's instant — when Frank Miller's 300 was on-screen we sold many copies of the graphic novel as well as the "art of the movie" book, and fielded calls from people looking for the original comic book issues. Having comics hit the big screen also helps in the long run, by making comic books stories and characters part of American pop-culture. When someone sees a comic book-based movie they might not even realize it is a comic book-based movie. But then when they happen into a comic book store, or even a book store with a graphic novel section, and see that there were graphic novels about those stories and characters they often make a purchase.

There are so many comic book based movies coming out this summer! Spider-Man 3 will be here in just a few days, and that is sure to bring renewed interest in Spider-Man as well as create curiosity in the characters of Sandman and Venom. Spider-Man is even in a black suit again in the regular comics, so that when people come in and look around they will see the black suit and want to know more. Plus, Free Comic Book Day is the weekend of this big film, which is no coincidence. All three Spider-Man movies have been great and have helped create a whole new generation of Spider-Man fans. With both previous films, we saw an influx of parents bringing in their children in search of more Spider-Man merchandise, and I am sure that the new film will do the same.

Movies do not necessarily need to have the same level of success as Spider-Man did in order to increase interest in the characters portrayed in them. While there were varied opinions on Ghost Rider, which came out a couple of months ago, the movie still brought new people into the store looking for comic books about the character. We sold far more Ghost Rider books when that movie opened up than we ever did before. Plus, we have since seen an increase in the number of people who buy the current Ghost Rider comic book series.

Even rumors of movies can increase the interest people have in comic books. After 300 it was rumored that Ronin, another Frank Miller comic, would be made into a movie too. We never sold a single copy of Ronin until 300 started showing and interest in the character began to spread. With an animated Hellboy direct-to-video movie recently released and talk of a live-action Hellboy 2 movie coming in the next year, we have seen a renewed interest in Hellboy graphic novels. There has been talk for several years now about Watchmen being made into a movie. Every time these rumors start up again, we start selling more copies of Watchmen graphic novels — even the Absolute version, with its hefty price, has seen a sales spike with renewed talk of the movie.

Comic book movies can also help increase sales of books by the same writer. This seems to happen most often when the comic book isn't based on traditional super-hero comics. Movies like Sin City and 300 brought in people looking for those and other Frank Miller books. As Stardust began production, we saw an increase in sales of other Neil Gaiman books, especially Sandman. Joss Whedon, writer of successful TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, saw his notoriety grow even more with Serenity, the movie based on his Firefly TV series. And comic book stores saw an increase in interest in comic books that were also written by Whedon.

As comic book movies become more and more popular, it seems like more and more of them are proposed. This is the hard evidence that people are interested in the comic book characters and stories, becoming a bigger part of American pop-culture. It has been said that only 2%, maybe even up to 5% of Americans read comic books. That's an amazingly low percentage, especially considering that that percentage is much higher in Europe and Japan. But, as Hollywood begins to realize the financial potential of comic book based movies, we should start to see those numbers increase here in America. Wonder Woman, Flash, Justice League, Green Lantern and more Superman and Batman movies are being discussed for DC Comics. Marvel Comics' properties including Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America and even Sub-Mariner (Namor) could appear on the big screen in the near future. It is quite possible that in the coming decade the number of people who recognize the names of comic book characters and read books about those characters will see all-time highs.

What does this mean to comic book store owners like me? It means that we should see more sales in comic books. It could also be a sign that there is a need for more comic book stores. In fact, as the popularity of comic characters and stories increases I have no doubt more comic book stores opening will be a natural result. This "niche"ť market could actually become a popular retail business and who knows — maybe we will even see a national chain or franchise. There will, of course, also be a greater demand for digital comic books. While some retailers fear the downfall of the paper comic book industry in the coming years, I think that digital comic books will also help increase the interest in paper comic books, spurring the growth of the comic book industry. Comic book store owners will have to step up, and stores will have to become better or fail. If comic books become a big part of American pop-culture shoppers will be less likely to shop at dingy, disorganized stores and more likely to seek out comic book stores with great service and an excellent, organized selection of comics and graphic novels.

This summer brings us Spider-Man 3 on May 4th, Fantastic Four 2 on June 15th, and Transformers on July 4th. That's a comic book-based movie every month this summer! At my store we are already gearing up by stocking up on comics and graphic novels featuring those characters. Summer is usually a busy time for comic book sales anyway, with kids out of school and people looking for fun things for them to read. And the interest in comic book characters is sure to increase as these movies premiere on movie theater screens across the country. Enjoy this summer's great selection of movies, and be sure to visit your local comic book shops too.

Comics2Film — News and information on comic book based movies.