This is the summer that fanboys and movie going fans alike get to be thrilled by the exploits of Thor, X-Men, The Green Lantern, Conan the Barbarian and, yes, Captain America. For filmmakers, this is a true blockbuster summer.
“What you see happening is a grander concept,” says Shirrel Rhoades, Cooke Communications film critic and former Marvel Comics publisher and V.P. of Marvel Entertainment. “They are not making individual movies. They are making movies the same way we make comic books — a series of movies like a series of books.”
Rhoades, who splits his time between Florida and his native North Carolina, recalls the days growing up in Wilkesboro when, as a kid, he would head to the corner store to pick up the latest copy of, say, Spiderman or perhaps Captain America. Those days are long gone, however, supplanted by a bigger comic book publishing industry that caters to specialty shops and, of course, Hollywood.
Comic books cost bucks to print and shops like Elizabeth City’s own Earth 383 must order a prearranged number of books, pay for them and hope they sell them. And sell them they do, only these days the classic comic books go to a group dubbed “fanboys.”
Fanboys, according to Earth 383 owner Duf Franco — he’s very much a fanboy — first came on the scene with Star Trek and Star Wars fandom. These guys — and gals — would make their own costumes and attend conferences. Their loyalty to the stories they love eventually extended into the comic book world and what Rhoades lovingly calls “comic book geeks” were born.
Back in the 1990s comic book shops were popping up everywhere, and did well for a time. Rhoades points out that these businesses have not done so well in recent years, although some are thriving.
Franco’s operation is in its ninth year and while thriving is not exactly how he might coin it, Earth 383 is on stable ground. Franco, who is also an Emergency Medical Technician, says his comic book and gaming shop has been a labor of love, and he never takes a salary and everything he makes on the shop goes back into it.
“As long as it supports itself,” says Franco of the life of Earth 383.
This is a family place, he says, where kids and entire families are welcome to come in, play a variety of games including the popular Magic, a large selection of board games (in-shop play is free) or perhaps peruse a number of comic books and graphic novels — for sale, of course.
This approach to doing business has served him so well that he recently moved from his modest space on Martin Luther King Jr., to the former Fowlers on Water Street, across from City Wine Sellar. It’s a wide-open space that is inviting and provides Franco and his friends with plenty of room to game, read and relax.
And while shops like Earth 383 might not be doing gang busters like they once did, between Franco’s welcoming vibe and the recent onslaught of Marvel Comics films, no one is worried about a lack of interest.
“I think it all happen to fall on the same timeline,” Franco says of this summer’s onslaught of comic book hero movies.
Well, maybe, but not entirely. Rhoades points out that the very thing pushing this surge is money. Marvel Comics, or even D.C. Comics, doesn’t view the business as strictly comic book publishing with a few offshoots like film rights. Rather, this is an intellectual property business, explains Rhoades, and with that comes a lot of opportunities to make money.
So when fanboys get geared up for the release of Captain America on July 22, Marvel doesn’t have a hard time of licensing the release of action figures, games, comic books and even costumes, including that iconic shield. In fact, it won’t have a hard time raking in billions of dollars based on the iconic shield and name.
Inside Earth 383 there’s plenty of proof of what a business comic book heroes have become. There are figurines, T-shirts, of course the books, and other items celebrating the heroic exploits of these sometime-masked crusaders.
Folks like Franco are anxiously awaiting the release of their favorite comic book hero movie and have many of the touchstones of the characters around, such as a red, white and blue shield on the wall of his shop.
“I’m jacked for Captain America,” Franco says.
Yeah, well so are a lot of folks, fanboy or otherwise. Part of the reason for this excitement goes back to Rhoades’ observation that comic book films are being treated just like the original sequential books. Each book is an episodic tale in the lives of these heroes and for Captain America, Marvel wisely turned to the origins of the story, back in World War II when soldier Steve Rogers was the first, and ultimately the only, subject of the U.S. government’s super soldier program. He fought the Nazis.
But regardless of whether or not it is Captain America, or even the least excitable X-Men film (see Rhoades review of this film on this page), one thing all of these releases have in common is CGI, or computer generated imagery.
It is this technology that is making the exploits of these heroes possible, says Rhoades and Franco.
“It’s pure exhilaration,” says Franco of watching his favorite characters in live action.
All those years reading about your favorite character, imagining the description of his or her super abilities are now brought to a sort of virtual reality thanks to CGI and modern filmmaking. You can watch Spidey crawl up a building or swing on a web across Manhattan, or experience mach speed flight with Iron Man.
While not all of this summer’s releases are Marvel Comic characters, there is a bigger game afoot for the likes of Thor and Captain America. Franco and Rhoades have pointed out that fans who stick around for the end of film credits will know that hints have been dropped about the upcoming 2012 release of The Avengers.
The Avengers front man Nick Fury played by Samuel L. Jackson, was introduced in Iron Man 2 when he began recruiting Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) for his team of superheroes. Next summer Fury, Iron Man, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and more will ban together to fight evil and wow fanboys and moviegoers alike. Until then, there seems to be plenty of activity in the Marvel universe and beyond to keep folks well entertained.
By the way, Rhoades says Marvel has 5,000 characters in its stable, so it goes without saying that Hollywood has plenty of fodder for future fanboys, and plenty more summers in its future.
Jose A. Aviles
http://avicast.blogspot.com
http://jose-aviles.blogspot.com
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