Comics In Film/TV

[Sgt Major Secrets]

The thread about the comic rack in Becker got me thinking about comics popping up in other film and TV shows. I'm not talking about adaptations, but comic books and other comic paraphanelia.

The most obvious would be The Big Bang Theory, perhaps the first really successful TV show that deals with Nerd Culture in a positive way. I never really faithfully watched the show, but after attending the Big Bang Panel at Comic-Con I've started catching up. While the characters are portrayed as geeky and out-of-touch, the actors and the writers make them human and not some one-note joke characters.

There's also the small subplot (among many subplots) on Lost around the Flash/Green Lantern Faster Friends comic book. They've never really delved back into that since Walter was written off the show, but maybe it'll come back in the final season.

On the old TV show, M*A*S*H, Radar was a comic book fan and they occassionaly would show him reading comics. The odd thing was, they didn't use the right comics. I remember one episode where he was reading the Avengers, even that came out long after the Korean War was over. Or maybe they were just trying to show how good a supply clerk Radar really was.

In movies, of course there's the Chasing Amy's and Fanboy's that revolve around comic culture, but I'm sure there must be films were comics pop up.

[Duffman_Comics]

I have only just woken up to "Big Bang Theory" too. I didn't watch it first time around (the promos for it just turned me off) but I am now a devoted follower. The show revolves around Sheldon, easily the "character of the decade" and I hope the writers don't go too far and go all "Fonzie" on him, thus ensuring the show "Jumps the Shark".

The MASH thing I remember very well. I believe the Avengers was the following - a "floating heads" cover and as pointed out, totally anachronistic.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u158/pwing75/Avengers60.jpg


Now, I have been waiting to get a DVD of "The Summer of 42" for what seems forever. I saw this film on release (in 1971 #oldie#) and there is a scene (funny) in a drugstore circa 1942 that has a rack of comic books. Now, back then it wouldn't have been too hard (or expensive) to buy/rent the real things and I've long wanted to freeze frame and go through the books just to satisfy my own curiosity. It's a pretty good "coming of age" film too.

I have seen the movie "Comic Book Villains" which has as its centrepiece the whole comic book collecting business. It's a great flick for those who "know" comics and collectors.

[toz1960]

The Avengers comic book showing up in M*A*S*H wasn't the only thing.I remember one episode that had a Hershey Bar with a "Bar Code" on the wrapper.

[Capitalrecoveryman]

As much as I hate to admit watching a movie with Richard Gere, I remember a film where he read aloud from Silver Surfer funny books...and I'll be damned, as I was typing this I went to youtube and found a video


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkUcTlbhj9I

[pasnat54]

In the movie Crimson Tide, starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, Washington's character intercedes in a debate between two crew members about whether Mobius' Silver Surfer was better than Jack Kirby's.

[Drakesfuture]

In the movie Crimson Tide, starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, Washington's character intercedes in a debate between two crew members about whether Mobius' Silver Surfer was better than Jack Kirby's.


I was just gonna reference that--thunder stealer!!

How about Jerry Seinfeld being a Superman fanboy? He had Superman stuff in his apartment and even talked and argued about it a couple times during the run of the show.

[Drakesfuture]

Adventures in Babysitting--THOR!!


Kevin Smith--Silent Bob--Pretending he is wolverine in Mallrats. Jay even said "SNikty Snikt" at 1 point I think

[stupidman]

In the movie Crimson Tide, starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, Washington's character intercedes in a debate between two crew members about whether Mobius' Silver Surfer was better than Jack Kirby's.

And what's the real answer? Buscema!

Anyway, don't forget Coyote Ugly, with the ASM # 129.

[stupidman]

Adventures in Babysitting--THOR!!


Kevin Smith--Silent Bob--Pretending he is wolverine in Mallrats. Jay even said "SNikty Snikt" at 1 point I think

He also pretended to be Batman - he shots his grappling rope to the roof to escape, and Jay yells "Fly, fat ass, fly!"

[Duffman_Comics]

And what's the real answer? Buscema!

Anyway, don't forget Coyote Ugly, with the ASM # 129.

Wasn't there an episode of "Diff'rent Strokes that had as its centrepiece a morality tale of a stolen ASM #1?

I love Google. Here it is: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0560052/

"The Big Heist", from memory, doesn't actually have a Spidey #1 - the book shown is a ASM #14.

[capt.steel]

Of course the Simpsons has made mention of both real comics along with their fictitious ones on many occassions. (I'm sure Family Guy has done so as well).

Didn't the kids in "Lost Boys" consult comic books for their info on vampires? (It's been so long I don't remember).

There's an old Lewis & Martin movie called "Artists and Models" all about comic books. It bases a major courtroom scene in the story on the Frederick Wertham induced Congressional Hearings on comics! Dean plays a comic book artist who comes up with stories based on comic geek Jerry's bizarre dreams. Shirley MacLain plays a the model for the comic character "Bat Lady".
Not their best film in my opinion, but interesting for comic fans & historians, and it's uncanny in the way it comments on the state of the industry in the mid 50's.

[capt.steel]

Oh, I also forgot - Captain Marvel (and his comic) is disucssed (and his comic appears) in the movie version of West Side Story!

[Scarecrow1983]

I'm trying to find out whether the movie "Reckless" in 1984 with Daryl Hanah and Aidan Quinn referenced the Silver Surfer. It seems like I remember Aidan reading a comic at the beginning of the movie. Anyone know?

[Sgt Major Secrets]

How could I forget "Free Enterprise." While the film revolves around Star Trek and William Shatner, the characters are big fans of comics. One of the plot points revolves around a girl writing her number on an expensive X-Men comic, which the guy then has to buy.

It's kind of unique for nerd-films in that the main characters manage to have sex with some frequency.

[capt.steel]

In "The Ice Storm" the movie begins with Tobey Maguire (Pre-Spider-Man) giving a monologue all about the Fantastic Four.

[Capitalrecoveryman]

Hey, maybe the producers of MASH were inserting 60's comics as a jab to the censors and a not so subtle reminder that the show was about Vietnam. Do I get a no prize for that line of reasoning?

Also, remember the discussion from Stand by Me that centered around who was the strongest between Superman and Mighty Mouse? I think Supes won because he was a real guy.

[Duffman_Comics]

I'd forgotten "Stand By Me" - another wonderful non-horror Stephen King yarn turned into a terrific little movie.

It also had (and this is from memory) that lovely observation "Now Mickey is a mouse, Donald's a duck and Pluto is a dog - but what the hell is Goofy?"

[Sgt Major Secrets]

Goofy is a dog. Garsh.

[capt.steel]

I found another entry for this thread...

I just watched "The Departed", and in the beginning Jack Nicholson asks a kid (who grows up to be Matt Damon's character) if he likes comic books.
The kid nods and Nichloson shoves an issue of "Wolverine" (original maxi-series) into his shopping bag.

Now I'm not sure if this qualifies as one of those wrong-era deals also -
Originally, I thought the movie started out in the late 60's (but that may have been an even earlier flashback). If the bulk of the movie takes place in present day and Matt Damon is supposed to be in his mid-twenties to mid-thirties, then he very well could have been handed an issue of Wolverine when he was about 12 or so.