Recently in Writing for Comics Category

Regular readers know I blog, tweet and otherwise participate on the web under the name 'Kimota'. Some have assumed it is some anime reference or obscure Japanese word. But those who recognise it will know why today I'm as excited as a teenageer in Angelina Jolie's bedroom.

After all the stuff I wrote about the Watchmen film over the last few months, I guess it would only be sporting to report my eventual thoughts after seeing the nearly three hour bum-numb-er last week. But, as always, my thoughts can't simply be confined to a straight-forward review. The Watchmen movie, and recent comments from its writer, screams for a more detailed dissection of the cultural ideology of the superhero genre and can throw up some uncomfortable conclusions.

(Thanks to Benjamin Ray for this excellent guest post.)

I recently interviewed successful Screenwriter and Graphic Novelist -- Bob Heske. Getting to know Bob over the past year, I found him to be one the hardest working creative visionaries in Hollywood. A leader and inspiration to all writers who specialise in the horror genre.

It took twenty years, but this week finally sees Watchmen adapted for the big screen. To most of you reading this, it might not be a big deal – yet another big-budget superhero film cashing in on old properties instead of creating new stories. Well, yes and no.

Watchmen aficionados would hasten to point out that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s magnum opus is a lot more than merely another superhero story.

Over the last few decades, superhero comics have striven to achieve a greater sophisticaton of storytelling. Writers such as Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison and Brian Bendis - among many others - have imbued comics with a greater maturity and a deeper sense of character and story. But Marvel, in particular, doesn't seem to be able to cast aside the easy narrative solution of the superhero smackdown when it comes to wrapping things up on the final pages.