Welcome back to We Want Comics, our column exploring the world of licensed comics. This month, Chris ponders the possibilities for several animated series and films he’s been enjoying in lockdown, and some more random films that’s been on his mind lately. This is We Want Comics for February 2021.
Soul
Amazingly, Pixar’s Soul was released on Disney+ almost two months ago, and one gag especially sticks out as potentially forming the basis of a graphic novel: the sequence that shows virtually every major historical figure mentored 22, and failed to persuade them to leave the Great Before. I don’t expect Soul to become as many books as most Pixar films (it is easily the most adult-aimed film they’ve ever made), but this is easily a topic Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey (“Action Philosophers,” “The Comic Book History of…”) would excel with. (The names on 22’s wall even include Jack Kirby!)
Scooby-Doo
Maybe it was a delayed reaction to Scoob!, perhaps it was the passing of his creators Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, but I spent a good portion of late last year watching a lot of video retrospectives on the many Scooby-Doo series and movies we’ve had.
Now, we’ve had a lot of Scooby-Doo comics as well, but I couldn’t help but think about a series that was as sophisticated as Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, or the late ’90s DTV movies that began with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, where you never knew if something genuinely supernatural would appear or not. DC’s “Scooby Apocalypse” ran for three years, so there’s definitely appetite for a Scooby comic with a more traditional setting, aimed at a (slightly) older audience.
Small Soldiers
Shout out to Henry Varona for bringing up Joe Dante’s 1998 military satire, which played like a brutal, live-action Toy Story. The film, which was sold to kids as soldiers vs. evil aliens, actually depicted the AI-controlled action figures of the title as psychotic maniacs, and the sentient Gorgonite toys as the heroes. It remains a strikingly bold anti-war film given its target audience, and deserves a follow-up in print form.
Dog Soldiers
From one kind of soldier to another: over the holidays, I watched director Neil Marshall’s 2002 debut, Dog Soldiers, an impressive, low-budget horror film about a group of soldiers on a training exercise in the Scottish highlands, who come under attack from werewolves. There were plans for at least two sequels, involving premises like an American squadron of werewolf soldiers, and werewolf DNA being obtained, neither of which seem like they’ll ever happen, but they could become comic book series instead — they’d certainly be a fun way to mark the film’s 20th anniversary next year.
Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes
2021 will mark twenty years since Tim Burton’s disappointing Planet of the Apes reboot, which, while financially successful, was a dispiriting enough experience that a big screen sequel was never made, despite the blatant (and bewildering) cliffhanger that tried to outdo the original’s infamous twist ending. Dark Horse published a couple of series continuing the story of the humans and apes’ struggle on the planet Ashlar, but presumably declined to follow on from the film’s ending in case a sequel did happen.
Since it has been two decades now, I think it’s safe for any creators to pitch a follow-up to BOOM! Studios (the current license holder), and give the middle child of the Apes film continuities some love: it may have been a bad film, but there are no bad settings, only bad writing, and it would be great to see more of the fully modernized ape society, as well as Tim Roth’s terrific General Thade.
And the Rest
Disney+ is over a year old now, and it’s disappointing a revival of Gargoyles isn’t already on the cards, despite the animation boom caused by the pandemic. Part of me suspects Disney would rather reboot the series for a new generation, than continue creator Greg Weisman’s “master plan” for the series, so perhaps a print continuation would be preferable. Artist Christopher Jones recently revealed a revival of the comic didn’t transpire in the last decade because of Joe Books’ bankruptcy, so hopefully it’ll happen sooner rather than later at one of Disney’s current license holders (namely IDW or Dark Horse).
While on the subject, animated series I’ve enjoyed lately include Disney’s The Owl House (created by Dana Terrace) and Amphibia (Matt Braly), and Netflix’s Kid Cosmic (Craig McCracken) — the worldbuilding in them is exquisite, and I hope to do columns on them… after seeing everything they’ve had to say. Anyway, Owl House is my favourite animated series now She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has ended; Amphibia might be “Bone” with frogs; and Kid Cosmic is a love letter to superhero comics — I’d buy a tie-in for each of them!
Let us know what properties you’d like to see discussed in a future edition of We Want Comics.
