Category: Detective

No, you are never too old for these comic books!

Published on by lopaaaaa12 Comments

If it was the larger than life characters which inspired my last post, today, it is those forever-been-there characters of my life which inspires this post. Comics, the word itself invokes so many happy memories and vivid characters that I wonder if I will ever get over them! I am sure that I am not the only one who won’t miss reading a comic clip, not just from a newspaper or a magazine but even from some torn, rumpled packing paper used by my local store to wrap stuff with. Whenever anyone is watching a show of my favorite comic characters, I can never resist watching it again as if it is for the first time. So, you can imagine how tough it was for me to  pick the list for today. Finally, I chose three of my favorite comics which I started reading as I grew from a child to a teenager to a adult:

1. Dennis the Menace

Be honest, didn’t you just smile reading that header?  Isn’t he adorable, of course, as long as you are not his neighbor, Mr. Wilson or his parents or his teachers, because this neighborhood hurricane, Dennis Mitchell spares no one with his antics. Dennis the Menace comic strip made its debut in the daily newspapers of U.S in March, 1951 and continues being published till today. Originally created by American cartoonist, Hank Ketcham, Dennis the Menace was drawn and written by him till his retirement in 1994. Today, his youngest son, Scott Ketcham continues the legacy.

Hank Ketcham created the character Dennis Mitchell, inspired by his four year old son, Dennis Ketcham, and his boyish pranks. Very soon, the mischievous, freckle-faced five-and-a-half-year-old character with the blonde cowlick became a brand by itself. Hundreds of books compilations, comics series have been translated into multiple foreign languages across the years, creating worldwide popularity for Dennis the Menace. So also followed numerous adaptations of the character in television as well as the silver screen. 

dennis

As a kid, Dennis was one of the first comic characters I remember sketching all over the place. I bought a lot of the merchandise too. I read every little comic strip I could find as well as tons of the comic books and could never get enough of it. So, you will understand when I tell you that I also watched many of the cinematic adaptations too, though not all, as there are way too many.  So, from all the ones that I have watched so far, I would rate the first adaptation as still the best. This was a TV series which ran for four seasons from 1959 to 1963. The series starred Jay North as Dennis Mitchell and though it is a pretty old black and white version, it sure is as entertaining as the actual comics. The actors have done such a good job. I love the expressions Dennis (aka Jay North) has on him when he is up to some mischief, equally matched by the always irritated look on Mr. Wilson (played by Joseph Kearns.) Yes, this really old series still endures. So, do check it out.

2. Archie Comics

If you were / are a fan of Archie and his gang, it would have sure made up for any kind of fun that you ever missed out in your own high school.  Every character of this comic series helped build up the popularity of this comic series. I mean, every teenager’s friend circle always has a forever hungry Jughead Jones, a geeky Dilton, a big Moose…well, I can go and on with every character.

Archie, set in the fictional small town of Riverdale, made its first appearance in December, 1941. Writer, Vic Bloom and artist Bob Montana, built up a story of a college romance between Archie Andrews, Veronica Lodge and Betty Cooper along with tales of friendship and loyalty which appealed to the imagination of teenagers around the globe. Supporting characters like Jughead Jones and Sabrina started a cult following too and so many parallel comic series came up around them. Guess, this is how legends are created! Archie comics is easily one of the most popular American comics across the world for years now. Nevertheless, it also led to the highest number of inspirations for TV series, animation movies as well as movies. Can’t help but also add this trivia here — beginning of this month, the royal baby was named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Archie Comics paid a tribute to the baby via Twitter, saying: “I’m Baby.” Immediately. the name, “Archie” climbed to the top rank for baby names, worldwide.

Archie

For a long time, as a teenager into adulthood, Riverdale High was the dream school / college for me.  I would save every month to buy the latest Archie digest and read them again and again. So, I have been a avid watcher of almost every major adaptation of movies as well as TV series. Sadly, I haven’t like any of them. Even the latest versions of modern Archie did not appeal to me. So, I stay disappointed and won’t make a mention of any of the adaptations and / or inspirations of Archie comics. I never lose hope though. I have read about plans for a Broadway show being written especially for Archie and won’t that be a treat, worth waiting for!

3. The Adventures of Tintin

Tintin is considered the most popular European comic brand across the world. Created by Belgian cartoonist, Herge, the series first appeared in French in January, 1929 in a youth supplement to a Belgian newspaper. Across the years, it became so popular that it inspired Herge to produce and distribute the iconic Tintin albums which got translated to 70 languages, worldwide from 1950. The series, set in the background of the 20th century, starred Tintin, a brave young Belgian reporter and adventurer as the protagonist. Tintin and his faithful dog, Snowy solved several mysteries with the help of the skeptical Captain Haddock and their adventures took the readers to places around the world. Haddock’s “blistering barnacles” and “thundering typhoons” made readers howl with laughter and ask for more! As expected, with the rise of popularity came innumerable cinematic adaptations. But we had to wait for another legend to do justice to Tintin when Steven Spielberg’s directorial movie, “The Adventures of Tintin” released in 2011. This is my choice of the best adaptation ever.

My fascination for Tintin started in high school and has stayed with me since. The album books were always expensive and I found a like-minded group of friends who used to buy in turns and share. I still hold my copies as treasures of my library. I had watched a TV series on Tintin way back in school which was created by Herge himself and is a must watch for every fan. It ran for three seasons in 1991 and every episode was as best as it could have been done by the creator himself.

However, 10 years later, Spielberg decided to contribute and he created history. The best part of Spielberg’s movie is that he kept the original characters intact, looks, mannerisms, everything and worked his magic with the help of the latest technology on the other aspects of the movie, like cinematography, special effects etc. That made the old generation fans happy and attracted new generation fans to these lovable characters all over again. This movie is also a must watch for every Tintin fan.

I would also like to recommend a visit to the Herge Museum, if you are someone who can never have enough of Tintin. I visited this museum in 2015 and the original artworks remain etched in my memory. The beautiful museum building is quite a drive from Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, set in a beautiful forest, but the drive and the effort, both will be worth it, I promise!

I stop here for today, but I hope I have rekindled the kid in you with today’s list. Yes, you are never too old for a comic book or a movie or a TV series, I am a living proof of it and proudly claim so. These endearing characters are classic yet can adapt to modern avatars and enthuse generations across generations. Thank you for stopping by. I will love to know about your favorite comics and why you still love them so much, so please leave me your comments below. Keep reading, keep watching, till next time!

3 most-loved books made into wow movies!

Published on by lopaaaaa12 Comments

Wondering whether to read the book or to watch the on screen adaptation? Yes, I have been wrestling with that, book by book, movie by movie and TV series by TV series, year after year and it never gets easier, ever. So here I am to help you choose, though today it is not so much of a choice but rather a list of equals across different genres. Here, I have a list for you today, my list of three awesome books (series) which met their equally magnificent cinematic adaptations:

1. Gone with the Wind   

This classic American novel by Margaret Mitchell published in 1936 needs no review. Set in Georgia, during the American Civil War Era, the world fell in love with the duo of Scarlett O’Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner and her hero, Rhett Butler. As if the book was not enough to take over the world, the movie adaptation in 1940 captured the imagination of the most cynical skeptics too. I never get tired of saying this every time I watch this movie, “Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh were born to play Rhett and Scarlett.”

 

I read the novel for the first time in high school, was love struck; watched the movie years later and swooned over again. The cast, the direction, the cinematography, everything was so perfect, just the way I imagined as I had read. If the not-so-happy ending of the book haunted me for years, the last words by Rhett Butler in the movie echoed inside my mind for years too “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” to Scarlett O’Hara, in response to her tearful question: “Where shall I go? What shall I do?”  I give a lot of damn, both for the book and the movie and I hope you do too!

2. Harry Potter Series

 The Harry Potter (HP) series of seven fantasy novels written by British author, J.K. Rowling was for children to read about magic, wizards witches and all that stuff. What really happened surprised Rowling more than anyone else. From the first book, “The Philosopher’s Stone” published in 1997 to the last one, “The Deathly Hallows” in 2007, the books wove magic on children and adults all over the world, popularity, critical acclaim, commercial success, yes, these books lapped all of it. The eight movie series based on the seven books, distributed by Warner Brothers started with “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone“ (2001) and ended with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” (2011). Riding on the popularity of the books, yes agreed, but each movie with its most intricate detail were impeccable adaptations by their own rights too.

      HP2

If Rowling took six years to write her first HP book, I give her an ode to her patience by waiting for 15 years from the first book’s release to actually buy the entire series in 2012. I read them at a voracious speed one after the other in less than a  month, juggling with a demanding job, and was that fun! The next day, I binge watched all the eight movies on a four-day holiday weekend! And it was worth the wait, worth every missed out conversation among friends, the spell jokes among colleagues which I didn’t understand, yes, the endurance was worth it all. The books weave magic on you and the movies only tighten the web making you shout for more. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter is immortalized I guess, difficult for any of us to see him play any other role in any other movie. Kind of like a curse actually for such a good actor! I  am sure many of you reading this will have crazier stories for the HP series, do share them with me. I still feel the euphoria all over again. Maybe time for another read, another watch?

3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The only TV series in the list and no, last does not mean least by any means. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created “Sherlock Homes” one of the most enduring character in crime fiction and wrote 60 stories. The first 12 stories were published in 1892 and from then on, Detective Holmes and his friend, Dr. Watson became a worldwide phenomenon. Doyle was conferred knighthood for it and even today, 127 years since the first story, Sherlock Holmes lives on. In fact, the author got so fed up with the obsession over Holmes that he killed him in one of his books (The Reichenbach Fall) but had to bring him back to life out of pressure from the fans worldwide with the author even getting death threats. The review of the astronomical  number of movies and TV series adaptations done on Sherlock Holmes around the world will fill up another series of books and I am still counting.

        Holmes

 

I watched a Sherlock Holmes TV series when I was in middle school and did not understand much of it then. In high school, I started reading Sherlock Holmes and no surprises, got hooked on to it totally. From then on, I have tried to watch as many adaptations of movies and TV series, including the portrayals by Benedict Cumberbatch as well as by Robert Downey Jr.  But my thoughts kept going back to that old TV series from school. Thanks to the internet, I retrieved the series and watched both the seasons at one go, recently. And I rate that as the best adaptation ever of this detective series. This TV series was first released in 1984. Jeremy Brett played Sherlock and David Burke played Dr. Watson. The aquiline nose, the top hat, the pipe and his eccentricities, Jeremy Brett has the character of Holmes embedded in every look, every gesture and every word. One series I will recommend to every aficionado of Sherlock Holmes!

I hope you loved reading this list as much as I loved penning it. To be honest with you, I have repeatedly read each book and watched each cinematic adaptation umpteen number of times to help me choose, the book or the theatre. And I just couldn’t, every repeat only reinforced my wonder of such fine adaptations that matched the books, every word to every act!. Please leave me your comments below, I will really love to hear back from you. I will like it even more if you come up with your own views about this list, which may help me choose the better of the two. And, yes, that will also mean I do another repeat read and watch with your valuable inputs, an opportunity I don’t want to miss. Keep reading, keep watching, I will be back soon!