Comics as Movie Pitches

It's been awhile. Some big things have been happening... I'll post about them soon.

Until then,
The Beat made some comments about "comics as a pitch for a movie":

"There are quite a few “comics to movie” companies that I could name – or any regular reader of this blog could name – that are very, very obviously not interested in being successful publishing companies — and succeeding handsomely in that goal."

and a blogger from The Groovy Age of Horror, asked 'Why not'.

I had my own view on the topic, and thought I would share them:

A lot of the time you can tell if a comic is just a pitch cause of the art work. It's drawn by a storyboard artist, or a want-to-be, with a storyboard mentality. No thought of line quality, placement of blacks to help the eye flow, making room for text and balloons, and the panels not working together as a page in themselves.

The other give away is, well, people will often just tell you. Mostly as part of their sales-pitch to you... I'm talking about at con, person to person. This comes off like comics are a consolation prize.

They couldn't get anyone interested in making their movie nor financially backing it, so they made it into a comic. What were those reasons? Story? Character development? To innovative? What?

If it's innovation, and they want it to be made into a film... why didn't they make a low-budget film. Even if it's on a handy-cam, made with friends on weekends. Lots of people break into the film industry this way, George Romero for one. It shows (to me) a lack of conviction in their own work, not to just make it into a the medium they envisioned for it.

I would rather buy a comic from someone that wants to make the best comic they possibly can, then someone that just couldn't get their movie made. I would rather buy THAT persons low-budget film.

There are two kinds of people when it comes to this kind of thing. Those that just want to make money, first and foremost, they don't care how or from where. And those that are following their bliss, and hopes that money comes sooner or later, but just want to make something that means something to them. The comic-as-pitch-for-movie comes off as the former.