With alt-comics god Daniel Clowes in Columbus this weekend for the launch of two exhibits at Ohio State, plus screenings of his comic-book-adapted movies (“Ghost World” and “Art School Confidential”), we thought we’d rank the top 10 alternative comics we’d like to see become a movie.
10. “DMZ” by Brian Wood
America’s embroiled in civil war and Manhattan’s on lockdown as a demilitarized zone (aka a largely lawless metropolis run by secessionists) in this gritty, street-level political thriller.
9. “Preacher” by Garth Ennis
A Texas preacher goes looking for God to make him account for all the evil in the world. As gorgeously violent and crass as it sounds. If Tarantino ever did a comic adaptation, it should be this one.
8. “Asterios Polyp” by David Mazzucchelli
The narrator is the protagonist’s stillborn twin brother, which, combined with the book’s architectonic design, thrusts the comic into a heady examination of duality, including form and function, destiny vs. free will and nature vs. nurture. Yeah, it’ll never see a movie screen.
7. “The Death-Ray” by Daniel Clowes
A teenage boy realizes smoking cigarettes triggers his ability to vaporize people with a death-ray gun given to him by his father.
6. “Sweet Tooth” by Jeff Lemire
All newborn babies are now human-animal hybrids. This is really stinkin’ cute, but it also brings about the end of humanity and questions of faith, morality and redemption. Blockbuster gold!
5. “Y: The Last Man” by Brian K. Vaughn
All men on Earth are gone, killed by some mysterious trigger. The last two left, a man and his monkey, are on the run.
4. “Blankets” by Craig Thompson
The melancholy and loss of faith so often found in coming-of-age stories has never been this beautiful.
3. “We3” by Grant Morrison
Like “Homeward Bound,” if the cute puppy and kitty (plus a bunny) were bred and trained to be ruthless killing machines. I smell Pixar!
2. “Bone” by Jeff Smith
Homer-ism aside, “Bone” is about as perfect a fantasy epic as exists.
“Black Hole” by Charles Burns
Teens in 1970s Seattle take acid and are beset by a new breed of STDs, some of which are gaping flesh wounds with teeth. Naturally, David Fincher’s been attached for years.