Mark Millar: Wanted

[direstraits]

I know the movie's out, but still I've had a strange habit of hunting down books/graphic novels of the shows I want to see, and read them (if I haven't already).

So, Wanted the movie looks good, and I saw Wanted the graphic novel. I bought the book, and had no expectations (because I really don't know much about the movie, and less about the book).

And I was blown away.

Far and away one of the best graphic novels I've read in recent memory, for the following reasons:
1. It's outrageously funny, and outrageously violent. It's so over the top that it's reminiscent of the Kill Bill movies where the gratuitous scenes serves as a counterpoint (a reverse homage, in a way) to your standard superhero action, where nobody dies.
2. Because it so over the top, it doesn't take itself seriously, and so the whole thing works. Hard to explain (because I'm not good at expounding), but needless to say this book would suck if Frank Miller wrote it.
3. A different angle, a nice What If (or Elseworlds, if you're in DC-land) in the whole superhero comics genre. Fresh and interesting.
4. It's in your face, introspective comic, Millar knows it, and takes opportunities to rub it in your face. Makes you think a little about the rat-race you're in.

Anyone else read it?

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[Libra6Poe]

I had no idea that Wanted was based on a comic.
But sounds good!

I, too, like hunting down graphic novels when I learn up about a new film based on one...

 

[Blindsided]

Wanted was the first comic I ever read. I liked the movie better, but the comic was still pretty good. I think it's pretty lame how they call them "graphic novels" instead of comic books. I figured it would be a novel with a few pictures, but it's basically a ton of pictures with some bubbles and a few words. Very quick read.

 

[direstraits]

Hmm... I'd say Wanted wouldn't have been the first comic I'd recommend to a first time comic reader. It has a lot of references to popular comics culture/mythos that may be lost on a first time reader, and contrary to whoever who might say otherwise, I think that that lowers the enjoyment quotient by quite a bit.

Not presuming you didn't 'get' it, of course.

I haven't yet watched the movie, and may yet agree with your assessment.

As for why they don't call it comics? I quote Neil Gaiman:

"I remember once, I was actually at a literary party in London. It was a very sort of posh, end-of-year literary view and I found myself in a conversation with a literary editor of The Daily Telegraph, it was some years ago. And, uh, he said 'So what do you do?' and I said, 'I write comic books'. And he looked very, very upset very suddenly and looked like I told him that, you know, I molest corpses for a living. Uhm, but he couldn't really just sort of leave so he said, 'Oh, well, uhm, right, uh, what kind of comics?' and I said, 'Well, I'm doing this thing called Sandman, I've just done, uh, Signal To Noise, for the phase, the next book I'm doing is called Mr. Punch-' and he said, 'Hang on, you're Neil Gaiman' and I said, 'Yes, I am' and he said 'My dear fellow, you don't write comics, you write graphic novels.' And I felt very much like a hooker who had just been told she was a lady of the evening."

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[Libra6Poe]

Heh. I love that quoted. I've also quoted that somewhere here in the forums.

 

[direstraits]

I saw Wanted the film (not recently, but I came across this thread, so...) and I wanted to say the film pales in comparison to the comic. The film takes itself seriously (despite the bullets defying the law of physics by having them travel in a curved trajectory), no capes, nowhere near the fun factor of the book. And since I'm not a fan of Jolie, the film didn't do anything for me.

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