What DC Stories should be adapted into animated Direct to DVD movies?

[Mister Mets]

http://www.newsarama.com/SDCC06/DC/dcu.html

From the DCU panel at the San Diego Comic-Con

Paul Levitz stood to make an announcement, and spoke about a new strategy for DC to move into direct-to-video animation.

Working with Warner Bros. Home Video and WB Animation, the company will launch a new line of direct-to-video DC animated movies that are being designed with DC Comics fans in mind, Levitz said.

He continued, saying that DC is looking to do a series of titles that will tell the character bits and stories that were important to fans, and will be working with the comic book creators on them. The first title will be the previously-leaked animated film version of Darwyn Cooke's The New Frontier. Cooke will work with Stan (JLU) Berkowitz on the film, with Cooke providing key art direction.

Another title in the series, Levitz continued, will be Superman/Doomsday, which will take the "essence" of the Superman/Doomsday story - and will be directed by Bruce Timm and written by Duane Capizzi, who's currently working on The Batman animated series.

The third title in the series will be an animated version of the classic story Teen Titans story “The Judas Contract”, written by Marv Wolfman. Tom DeStano (X-Men) will join Wolfman as co-writer and producer on the film.

"This is just the beginning," Levitz said. "We're sitting around and thinking of more...so send all your suggestions in."

"We're going to take the marquee-value characters that have love across the generations," Levitz said. "And use the stellar characters so that the parental generation will reach out and share it with their kids. We're looking at all the great stories, and cases where we can find the best stories of a long run."

Levitz also added that George Perez will be working on the animated Judas Contract as well, and that Bruce Timm will be overseeing all the animated films.

"We’re looking at more than the last five minutes of history," Levitz said in regards to what will differentiate this from movies such as Ultimate Avengers.

Clarifying the direct-to-video animated movies, DiDio said that the animation will be similar to the art in the comics, rather than working existing stories into currently existing animated styles for the DC animated properties.


The big question is what stories would you like to see adapted into Direct to DVD movies.

Some of my choices....
Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
Kingdom Come
JLA: Earth 2
Batman: The Long Halloween
Superman: For All Seasons

And of course...
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

[Jack Zodiac]

Awesome. That's pure awesome. An animated Superman versus Doomsday? I hope they branch out a lot and do features for other great characters and casts. One based on Giffen's League would be great. Or a movie introducing the character of The Question to people. This is an ingenious way to introduce people to lesser known characters and important backstories for firmly established A-list characters.

[van-zee]

Morrison's run on Animal Man... guest starring Grant Morrison.

[Jack Zodiac]

Ooh, like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" That'd be hilarious!

[mrc1214]

Im looking foward to the Judas Contract. My other choices would be
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Dark Knight Returns
Kingdome Come and some others but this should be cool to see.

[The Batman]

Dark Knight Returns and Year One. though with Batman and Superman animated series already out there something focusing on the other members of the DC pantheon might be interesting. a great Flash or Green Lantern story.

JLA: Earth 2 would be cool as all get out. so would Knightfall.

[Gargus]

New frontier.

Crisis on infinite earths.

Red son.

Death of superman, could weave in the hunter/prey origin story of doomsday in it. Of course putting his ressurection in there might be tricky.

Knightfall.

Dark knight returns.

A full on green lantern corps story would be cool, no supes or bats just the corp.

[EZMOHR]

Entertainment Weekly had an article on it yesterday. They seem to theorize that Identity Crisis is a "for sure," in the being made department.

[Hellstormer]

Morrison's run on Animal Man... guest starring Grant Morrison.
Definately :D

[Jack Zodiac]

They should extend this into Vertigo's realm, too. I'm sure all of us would crap out pants if they started making The Sandman movies.

[saintsaucey]

Identity Crisis
Knightfall
Knight's Quest
Knight's End
Nightwing Year One
Teen Titans/Young Justice Graduation Day
Batman War Drums
Batman War Games
Green Lantern Rebirth


Tons more, but these are the ones that come to me. I know most won't agree with me but i liked these stories

[EZMOHR]

I would be cool with Identity Crisis except for one thing. These movies are still aimed at kids. Do you honestly think we will get a "true" Identity Crisis adaptation.....ie the two fates of Sue Dibny, The turning of Jean Loring, and the look Dr. Light had on his face.

[saintsaucey]

Your right most likely we will get them fighting alieans with members on the teams that didn't show up till the second arc and characters which are completely different from the comic issues....

Oh wait, thats what Marvel did with The Ultimates

[Jack Zodiac]

Third-degree burn!

Aside from it not being true to the comics, that movie was awesome, though.

[EZMOHR]

Your right most likely we will get them fighting alieans with members on the teams that didn't show up till the second arc and characters which are completely different from the comic issues....

Oh wait, thats what Marvel did with The Ultimates


You know, The Ultimates one is actually turning out to be so bad to watch...it is actually good.

[saintsaucey]

I'm sorry I'm just such a fan of the series that the movie was just a slap in the face. They aren't even trying with the second one.

[EZMOHR]

Whatever, I'm stoked about seeing Halle Berry's Catwoman playing the Black Panther!:D

[Count Vertigo]

Janus Directive
Ostrander's Suicide Squad
That storyline that crossed over the annuals, Pulp Hero was it?
War of the Gods
JSA: Liberty Files

[Ronnigon]

With no hesitation whatsoever, here's my nominee:

27936

This beloved character and her entire franchise were totally squandered by DC. The potential for her was huge... and it's never been even remotely tapped to reach that potential.

The characters were astounding... particularly the story's profoundly evil and narcissistic villain, Dark Opal, and Amethyst's crafty and yoda-esque magical mentor, Citrina, the witch-mother. Ernie Colon's art was exhilirating and elegant. The entire mythos and geography of Gemworld was so painstakingly and lovingly fleshed out, it still feels like a real place to me, even to this day. The richness of inner being imbued in each character through both the writing and the artwork actually caused me to think of them as real people who I cared very deeply for, and missed deeply when the series was over.

It was that damn good. No joke.

You could do an entire animated film on this character, as well as an animated series on television, and the spin-off from action figures and merchandise would be huge.

Not only that, but Amethyst isn't a parasite closet call girl, like Barbie... she actually has conscience, courage, and character. She would be a truly positive role model.

[JeffreyWKramer]

I agree that Amethyst could be quite good, if done right.

My choices would be DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and KINGDOM COME. Not too original, I know.

Personally, I would also love to see them do a series of SWAMP THING stories, including the better of the Wein/Wrightson tales and the Alan Moore ones, aimed toward a mature audience.

[Smarty Jones]

"Entertainment Weekly had an article on it yesterday. They seem to theorize that Identity Crisis is a 'for sure,' in the being made department."

I hope not. Do we really need to something that on a larger screen -- namely, superheroes everyone associates with high morals reduced to thugs, incompetent storylines and graphic sexual violence?

Any way, here are a some I would love to see:

1.) LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, "THE GREAT DARKNESS SAGA."

2.) THE JLA, "WORLD WAR III."

3.) HAL JORDAN GREEN LANTERN, "EMERALD TWILIGHT."

4.) BATMAN, "A DEATH IN THE FAMILY."

Though I thought as a storyline in the comic books it was superficial, BATMAN, "HUSH" is a perfect storyline for this medium. You would have Batman's biggest enemies and supporting characters, a romance with Catwoman and a new villain all rolled up in one storyline.

I would like to see an animated version of the second-generation Titans' search for the killers of The Doom Patrol.

[Ronnigon]

Hey!

What about the storyline that ran in the 1980's run of New Teen Titans, called "Runaways"?

It centered around the stories of runaway teenagers in New York, and how the Titans try and get them off the streets.

It was very poignant.

[Ronnigon]

Jeffrey,

I would say that Kingdom Come and Dark Knight Returns would be truly powerful choices. They should and must be done.

Also, I would very much like to finally see Watchmen.

[Ronnigon]

Smarty,

You know, the first time I ever heard of Darkseid or Apokolips was when George Perez drew the issues of Justice League of America called "Apokolips, Now!"

That was a pretty cool series.

I would very much like to see a New Gods series. Or maybe a Forever People series.

[Smarty Jones]

"I would very much like to see a New Gods series. Or maybe a Forever People series."

The only problem with making a Fourth World animation DVD is that those characters have a very small niche audience in the comic book community, and because they are obscure I can't see them grabbing a non-comic book community audience.

[West Mantooth]

"The killing Joke" would be awesome!

[Crimson Avenger]

I nominate The Golden Age. :)

[van-zee]

I would be cool with Identity Crisis except for one thing. These movies are still aimed at kids. Do you honestly think we will get a "true" Identity Crisis adaptation.....ie the two fates of Sue Dibny, The turning of Jean Loring, and the look Dr. Light had on his face.

You did see that the press release said these are being marketed for and aimed at fans, right? Not kids.

[EZMOHR]

You did see that the press release said these are being marketed for and aimed at fans, right? Not kids.


"Hey kids, here is that JLU show you love. Let's buy it. Identity Crisis, uh. Maybe the Heroes are brainwashed into forgetting their heroes. Oh, wow, that lady was just burnt to a crisp. Oh that same lady is getting poked in the butt by the guy with the weird helmet. Oops, they just cooked his brain. Oh, they just killed Robin's dad and he flipped out. Oh, it seems all the heroes ganged up on Batman. Wow, it was the little dudes wife who brought a flame-thrower, "just in case." Wow, she's nuts."

"Dear Warner Bros. My name is Stock Soccer Mom #27. Since I'm an idiot, and I did not read the label on your DVD, you know, because you've always made the JLU for "kids of all ages" and I did not realize there would be a burning and a raping in your film, I will be suing you. And you will settle or it will go to a jury, and I will win, because the only people dumber than me are juries. And America is all about thinking about the children. So, thanx for the money. Signed, Stock Soccer Mom #27."


Yeah, anybody that says these will just be for the fans, have to realize the "fans" of DC related animation starts at 5 years old and goes up to adult. So, you can live in your world were you think we will get a blood shed IC, but the truth is, you will get a watered down....probabally just as good version.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW? and THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS are no-brainers.

O'Neil & Adams' GREEN LANTERN & GREEN ARROW might be interesting to adapt, although I'm not sure if those stories would work very well without some major overhauls.

I don't know how you could possibly pull off KINGDOM COME in animation, unless you used some kind of combination of live action and cgi. The whole visual style of book is too hyper-realistic to work in animation.

THE GOLDEN AGE would be fantastic, although perhaps it would be better to do a film about the formation of the Justice Society or All-Star Squadron first. Dunno how stand alone this story is without prior knowledge of these characters.

If they're condencing of the whole bloated DEATH & RETURN OF SUPERMAN story works out, I think it'd be cool to see an attempt to jam the EMERALD TWILIGHT to REBIRTH/RECHARGE saga into a manageable length. It might end up making for a better story with all the ten years of crap cut out.

An adaption of Siegel & Shuster's first year of ACTION COMICS stories would be facinating. Those stories are extraordinarily political. It would be fitting to show everyone what the original character was like before he evolved and changed into the icon of today.

Oh, and I can't believe I forgot this, but I'd love to see JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD done in true Kirby style, with all the trimmings. Give us the story of Orion, Scott Free, Lightray, Barda and the rest without trying to shoe-horn it into a Superman or Justice League story.

[Duy]

This is an unbelievably exciting development for all of us. Without any hesitation, I want to see the Timmverse adapt both Crises and Kingdom Come.

And, quite honestly, if they extend to all the properties owned by DC, I nominate Top Ten and Watchmen, the former because it'd be really cool, and the latter because if ANYONE'S going to try to film Watchmen, I want it to be these guys.

[Ontir]

the Legion of Super-Heroes: 5 Years Later

Have Kieth Giffen do the model sheets and provide the background samples, in the style he was using when the series launched, and do a series of films that DOESN'T diverge from what he wanted to do, and continues to it's intended conclusion, where Earth is liberated, and the Legion is fully restored in a new hopeful era.

the Metropolis Line

This proposed sereies of books is where Miller's Dark Knight Returns came from, but it wasn't the only one. Steve Gerber was going to do Wonder Woman, and his intended Hawkman saw life briefly as the gruesome Void Indigo, and Howard Chaykin had intended to do Superman. I'd really like to see a series of R-rated adaptations of these ideas.

Legion of Super-Heroes: the Great Darkness Saga

Again, very Giffenesque, and the whole story from soupt to nuts!

Crisis on Infinite Earths

Take Marv Wolfman's novelization, and George Perez' designs, and do the whole thing.

the Legion of Substitute-Heroes Special!

OH!!! ...and...

AMBUSH BUG!!!

[Legato]

Kingdome Come.

[Jack Zodiac]

OH!!! ...and...

AMBUSH BUG!!!

:mad: Goddamn right! :mad:

Also, a Forever People movie series would be the coolest thing ever. Anything involving Kirby's Fourth World would rock.

[DWEarhart]

http://www.mycomicshop.com/res/unprocessed/fullsize/GJUT.jpg

http://www.mycomicshop.com/res/images_products/import_from_office/largepics/BACIF003.jpg

[Pinnacle]

I really hope these are good.

I think Crisis on Infinite Earths would be an excellent starting point if done right for many other series. New Frontier could be the same and since they picked it. We'll see. I like everybody else's ideas. Let's do them all.:D

[Erebus]

DC animation is teh shiznit. Of course, all the big storylines like Rebirth, DKR, and Kingdom Come would be cool, but I think it'd be also pretty sweet if they did some bits about the minor charecters, like Wildcat, the Question, etc.

[the film freak]

Call me crazy but I'd rather see some new stories featuring the Justice League or Batman characters.

Like whatever happen to Nightwing in Batman Beyond? Or the near Apocalypse of 2009 that Ra's Al Ghul was part of?

[LtMarvel]

I nominate The Golden Age. :)
The Golden Age was one of mine, dang it! :)

I mean, "I second the excellent nomination."

I'll also nominate Captain Marvel Adventures #100 (Sivana darn near kills Shazam, and at one point, he blackmailed Captain Marvel into creating an army of Sivana robots. All Captain Marvel had to do was create new elements to stop him!), The Monster Society of Evil (all of Captain Marvel baddies organized under Mr. Mind!), and JSA: Stealing Thunder (Ultra-Humanite actually conquered the Earth and had almost all of Earth's heroes under his control!)

Kingdom Come and Dark Knight Returns are obvious choices.

[DWEarhart]

http://www.mycomicshop.com/res/unprocessed/fullsize/B3001775B.jpg

Also, Jack Cross done anime style, and anything with Hitman.

[Erebus]

Ooooh, I'd love to see some Vertigo titles, like Y: Last Man, 100 Bullets (Done "Paranoia Agent" style), and of course, Sandman.

[Cayman]

The best JLA story - "Rock of Ages".

A WWII-era JSA story.

Jack Knight, Starman.

Cay

[Duy]

Oooh, Starman.

I'd love them to take a crack on a Starman series.

[JeffreyWKramer]

Oooh, Starman.

I'd love them to take a crack on a Starman series.

Yup, that could be very good.

[Duy]

It'd have to be in a different universe altogether; the Shade and Gavyn's appearances in JLU would be a hindrance to the entire thing.

[Grazzt]

Also, they probably won't be doing JLA: Earth 2, because Bruce Timm has his own Crime Syndicate story that he wants to do.

[stealthwise]

About time they realized that the best way to adapt a comic is to use animation (quality animation, of course).

Let's get us some adult-rated Hellblazer.

[Michael P]

2.) THE JLA, "WORLD WAR III."

So very seconded.

Also, Young Justice and Secret Six.

[Indigo Al]

Personally, I would also love to see them do a series of SWAMP THING stories, including the better of the Wein/Wrightson tales and the Alan Moore ones, aimed toward a mature audience.

With the right animator, American Gothic and A Murder of Crows would be fantastic.

[Cayman]

So very seconded.

Also, Young Justice and Secret Six.

WWIII would be cool.

I love the part where we all fly up into space to save Superman

Cay

[LtMarvel]

The Rueters news item (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060724/film_nm/dccomics_dc_1)indicated that these will be PG-13 films. Hard to imagine that they will try to pigeonhole JLU's past on these films.

[ScottDMSimmons]

A DOOM PATROL cartoon would be great to see...

http://www.zaldivacomics.com/images/gn/sep22_04/doompatrol_thepaintingthatate_tpb%20(Large).jpg

Then I'd love to see this JLA/JSA crossover that absolutely rules...

http://www.fm3d.com/collectables/comics/jla/184.jpg

Only to top it (for me) with a CLASSIC ALL-STAR SQUADRON story....

http://ralf-h-comics.de/comics-ass/a03.jpg

Scott

[Jack Zodiac]

I emphatically second an animated version of Morrison's Doom Patrol and Animal Man. Especially Animal Man, because I can't convince my girlfriend to read it to show her how awesome it was, but I could probably get her to watch it. :p