the comic-movie embargo

I hate Bryan Singer.

Not for having a revisionist take on X-Men, not for his Christ-esque take on Superman, and not for "The Usual Suspects" or "Apt Pupil." I dislike Singer because X-Men succeeded.

I was probably one of the few comic book fans who were able to divorce the movie property from the comic; as is such, I liked it a lot. But along with the success of the X franchise (as well as other films such as "Sin City," "Fantastic Four," "Spiderman" and "V for Vendetta"), now we have a bunch of studios readying more comic flicks: "Fantastic Four 2," "Iron Man," "Green Hornet," "Watchmen," and "Wolverine" are a few titles that are being eyed for release.

I can really imagine all these movies coming out and just bricking -- "Captain America" style. I didn't mind "X-Men" as a movie because a) they've been talking about doing an X-Men movie for 15 years or so (even toying around with Clint Eastwood as Wolverine at one point) and b) due to the popularity of the title, it was inevitable.

But a "Watchemen" movie? Seriously, folks, unless it's an animated feature with an "R" rating, I'm hesitant to believe that such a production would yield positive results. In fact, even dead titles like "Brigade," "Gen 13" or "Power Man and Iron Fist" would probably suck, too.

Part of the excitement of reading comics is that your imagination is still being exercised and now with the Hollywood money machine trying to bank on every property, it will cheapen the thrill of comics.

So Hollywood, stop screwing with my comics and go work on a remake of "Dutch" or something, since remakes seem to be all the rage these days.