Comics to Film (and Back Again): A Study in Stylistic Remediation from 1978-2009

342 Pages·2012·6.36 MB·English

UCLA
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Comics to Film (and Back Again): A Study in Stylistic Remediation from 1978-2009
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1jp6q352
Author
Morton, Drew Anthony
Publication Date
2012

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
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Comics to Film (and Back Again):
A Study in Stylistic Remediation from 1978-2009

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy
in Film and Television

by

Drew Anthony Morton

2012
© Copyright by
Drew Anthony Morton
2012
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

Comics to Film (and Back Again):
A Study in Stylistic Remediation
from 1978-2009

by

Drew Anthony Morton
Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Television
University of California, Los Angeles, 2012
Professor John Caldwell, Co-Chair
Professor Denise Mann, Co-Chair

In this dissertation, I will examine the formal interchange between American film and
American comic books from 1978-2009. Building upon the theory of remediation defined by
Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, I describe a contemporary facet of the relationship
between these two media forms as exemplifying stylistic remediation, or the representation of
one medium’s stylistic characteristics within another medium. Through the following chapters, I
will investigate the complex and ever evolving formal relationship between these two media
forms, which are also experiencing convergence at the levels of the industries which produce
them and the customers who consume them. Moreover, I will also offer commentary upon the
potential economic future of stylistic remediation and what new hybrid forms of media these
trends in form and conglomeration have begun to produce. To this end, this study applies
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theories of form out of Comic Studies, Film Studies, and New Media Studies to analyses of texts
in both media. Moreover, in order to fully contextualize these stylistic developments, I will draw
upon an analysis of the industrial and popular presses representing both industries that I will
elaborate upon with subject interviews.

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The dissertation of Drew Anthony Morton is approved.
Janet Bergstrom
Henry Jenkins
John Caldwell, Committee Co-Chair
Denise Mann, Committee Co-Chair

University of California, Los Angeles
2012

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DEDICATIONS
Writing a dissertation can both be an exhilarating experience and, at those bleakest early
morning hours (many of which involved the inevitable and necessary task of revision), a lonely
and depressing task as well. Through every step of the process, I had the emotional and financial
support of my loving wife, Nicole Alvarado. She accompanied me to San Diego Comic-Con for
a handful of years, aided me in tracking down interview participants, gave me swift kicks to the
backside when it came to over simplifying aspects of her favorite medium---animation, and
provided an abundance of hugs and kisses when I hit the psychological skids. The dissertation is
a milestone of transformation in the life and career of an academic. At times, I felt an incredible
confidence in the venture, spurred on by my research and analysis. At other times, a young
academic (despite being in the academy for eight years when I began this study, I was still in my
mid-twenties) is faced with a bout of acid reflux that comes with feeling as if they are an
inexperienced writer and researcher. Nicole has been with me through this draining cycle with
her kind words of support, an occasional beer, and her abundance of love and care. I dedicate
this modest study to my beautiful, thoughtful wife.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I: Comics are in Right Now, Part 1: Overview of Topic 1
Part 2: An Overview of Related Scholarly Material 14
Part 3: Methodology 23
Part 4: Limits of Investigation 40
Part 5: Chapter Breakdown 44
Chapter II: The History of Remediation between Comics and Film 56
Part 1: Comic Books, Film, and Television Before
the Blockbuster (1934-1968) 58
Part 2: The Superman Cycle (1978-1987) 67
Part 3: The Batman Cycle (1989-1997) 75
Part 4: The High Fidelity Cycle (2000-2009) 97
Chapter III: Stylistic Remediation in Comic Book Films 101
Part 1: An Early Attempt at Graphical Remediation in

Dick Tracy (1990) 104

Part 2: The Remediation of the Multiframe in Hulk (2003) 120

Part 3: The Remediation of Time and Space in 300 (2006) and Watchmen

(2009) 132

Part 4: Textual Remediation in American Splendor (2003) 151

Conclusions 162

Chapter IV: Remediation Beyond Comic Book Films and an Initial Consideration of

Transmedia from a Stylistic Perspective 166

Part 1: Action Lines Become Bullet Time in The Matrix (1999) 166

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Part 2: Spaghetti Western Style in The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born

(2007) 180

Conclusions 196

Chapter V: Remediation as a Cyclical Cultural Process 199
Part 1: There is Nothing Funny about a Clown in the Moonlight: The Graphical
Remediation of the Joker 204
Part 2: The Curious Case of Frank Miller 221
Conclusions 244
Chapter VI: The Future of Stylistic Remediation Between Comics and Film 246
Part 1: The Form and Marketing of the Perpetual Motion (Comic)

Machine 246

Part 2: Stylistic Remediation Becomes Transmedia Style in the “Scott

Pilgrim Experience” 268

Conclusions 286
Conclusion: Comics are in Right Now? 289
Bibliography 305

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: The Multiframe in the Hulk (2003). 3
Figure 1.2: High Contrast, Low Key Lighting in Sin City (1991). 4

Figure 1.3: Action Comics #1 (1938). 12

Figure 1.4: Superman Returns (2006). 13

Figure 1.5: Little Sammy Sneeze (1905). 27

Figure 1.6: Fred Ott’s Sneeze (1894). 27

Figure 1.7: The Zoom or Camera Dolly Out in Watchmen (1986). 28

Figure 1.8: Remediation and Re-Remediation in Sin City. 29

Figure 1.9: McCloud’s Graphic Representation. 33

Figure 1.10: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966). 48

Figure 1.11: The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born (2007). 49

Figure 1.12: The Man Who Laughs (1928). 51

Figure 1.13: Batman: The Man Who Laughs (2005). 51

Figure 2.1: Lurid Subject Matter and Gore in EC’s Vault of Horror #18 (1951). 62

Figure 2.2: “You’ll Believe a Man Can Fly,” a Poster Advertising

Superman (1978). 70

Figure 2.3: Roger’s Map of Comic Book Production. 81

Figure 2.4: Rogers’ Map of Sales and Distribution in the Comic Book Industry. 82

Figure 2.5: Burton and Furst’s Gotham City in Batman (1989). 90

Figure 2.6: The Garish Costumes of the Riddler and Two-Face in
Batman Forever (1995). 94

Figure 3.1: McCloud’s Pyramid of Representation. 108

Figure 3.2: The Generic Quality of Warehouse Mise-en-Scène in
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