“Down These Mean Streets A Man Must Come. A Hero Born, Murdered, and Born Again”
An Analysis of the Graphic Novel Film Adaptation and The New Hero
Hardboiled fiction influenced film noir, which eventually influenced the graphic novel, which ultimately influenced contemporary neo-noir comic book film adaptations. Obvious noir elements have carried over into the world of comic books and graphic novels, including character archetypes, settings, plot devices, themes, mise-en-scene, language, and the masculine protagonist. However, there is one fundamental difference that the graphic novel introduced to the neo-noir adaptations. The evolution of film noir, from 1940s classic noir to the contemporary neo-noir, has led to the graphic novel adaptation, which introduces a new kind of noir hero. Classic noir heroes, and many neo-noir heroes, are realistic representations of men, while the graphic novel and its subsequent film adaptations present a fantastical hero. The mundane, realist portrayal of earlier noir protagonists has evolved into a fantastical superhero, which is a hyperbolized version of the classic noir hero. Graphic novel based neo-noirs are highly stylized, using colour and computer animation to symbolize visually to audiences the new noir protagonist. Through the analysis of Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City (2005), James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta (2006), and Frank Miller’s The Spirit (2008), while building off the work of Danny Fingeroth, Frank Krutnik, Umberto Eco, and Peter Coogan, we can delve deep into this evolutionary stage of the neo-noir genre, discussing what the fantastical hero representation is in reaction to, as well as what this popular representation of masculinity and heroism says about our society.
Mark Bould asserts that tensions between low-key and high concept, and between film noir and blockbuster aesthetics shaped the development of the neo-noir (95). Once film noir had been recognized and was recognizable as a genre in the late 1960s and early 1970s, “it represented a pre-sold concept to be repackaged and resold” (Bould 95). James Naremore states that many neo-noir films use coloured light “not only to heighten the atmosphere of sex and violence, but also to evoke the monochromatic tradition of high-contrast, black-and-white thrillers” (192).
While many contemporary neo-noirs employ the classic noir aesthetic including expressionism, high-contrast chiaroscuro lighting, dark city streets, and at times the use of black and white photography, these adaptations originating from noir inspired comic books utilize computer generated graphics and animation to enhance the live action filmic image. The aesthetic is highly stylized, reminiscent of classic noir’s use of German expressionism, but in a new, technology rich, visually stimulating way. Emphasis is put on specific noir motifs, which are indefinitely recognized as such. The aesthetic style simultaneously stays true to the graphic novel and the classic film noir.
Frank Krutnik’s essay “Masculinity and its Discontents” discusses the representation of masculinity in the classic noir genre, asserting, “patriarchal culture relies upon the maintenance of a gender-structured disequilibrium. This involves not merely a power-based, and power-serving, cultural hierarchy of male and female, but also the establishment of normative ‘gender values’ which are internalized by both sexes” (75). The classic film noir hero must resist temptation of the femme fatale character and her sexuality. He must prove his masculinity by accomplishing his mission and by avoiding manipulative and deceptive women who use their sexuality as a weapon. Male subjectivity is the perspective the audience is most often offered in the classic noir film, and it is the male anxieties that the noir genre predominantly depicts thematically, in reaction to World War II and the Depression. Women are entering the workforce and men must reclaim their dominance.
Krutnik delves into a discussion of the Oedipus complex, explaining the male identity, desire and law, “the Oedipus myth concerns questions of individual (male) desire and identity, as they relate to an overarching law” (76). He states that the “moral of the Oedipal drama is the need to know and accept one’s place under the law – or face devastating consequences” (76). The male subjectivity offered in classic films noirs allows audiences to engage with the fragmented identity of the protagonist through flashback sequences and voice-over narration. The obstacles that male protagonists must face are often in the form of a forbidden desire of which they are tempted and must learn to avoid. If they do not succeed, they are punished and must face dire consequences.
Fingeroth offers a definition of the hero, “a hero can be said to be someone who rises above his or her fears and limitations to achieve something extraordinary […] A hero embodies what we believe is best in ourselves. A hero is a standard to aspire to as well as an individual to be admired” (14). He expands stating that a hero is “someone who has exhibited selfless bravery in the face of near-impossible odds and life-threatening possible consequences” (15).
The protagonists in graphic novel film adaptations are hyperbolized versions of the classic noir hero. The prominent difference between the two types of heroes is that the classic noir hero is a realistic representation of a human hero, while the graphic novel hero is a fantastic superhero with superhuman abilities. Peter Coogan provides a definition of the superhero, “a heroic character with a selfless, pro-social mission; with superpowers – extraordinary abilities, advanced technology, or highly developed physical, mental, or mystical skills […] Often superheroes have dual identities, the ordinary one of which is usually a closely guarded secret” (77).
This is demonstrated in James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta. The film is set in the near future in Britain. The hero in V for Vendetta is a woman named Evey, but the character with whom she engages with throughout the film, V, is a superior being as he claims that his identity is not important, that he is an idea, and the idea is more important than his identity as a person. V seeks vengeance against those who wronged him in the past, and fights for Britain’s freedom, employing terrorist tactics to retaliate against the fascist, totalitarian government system that dominates and oppresses the society. Evey learns throughout the film what V is meticulously planning to do to restore freedom to Britain as it is ridden with political corruption and cruelty. V sets out to finish what Guy Fawkes had started years ago, resulting in the revolutionary rise of the people as V reminds Britain of a brave man named Fawkes.
The fact that V wears a mask throughout the entire film, never once revealing his face, agrees with his assertion that his identity is not important, and that his identity as a person was killed many years ago. Now, what remains, is the idea behind the mask.
Evey goes through a series of transformations throughout the film. Before she meets V, she appears to be sweet, innocent, and harmless. She immediately regrets breaking the law and staying out past curfew upon her capture. V saves her from the street criminals and corrupt secret police, and takes her under his wing, ultimately assisting in her development and growth as a person. He puts her through a torturous, cruel exercise to harden her, to rid her of her natural human fear of death. During this process, he shaves her head, which visually represents Evey’s transformation. She has transformed into a strong hero figure, as she becomes V’s unlikely partner.
Coogan explains that superheroes are “champion[s] of the oppressed’ who combat ‘evil and injustice’ […] The superhero’s mission is pro-social and selfless, which means that his fight against evil must fit in with the existing, professed mores of society and must not be intended to benefit or further his own agenda” (Coogan 77). This is demonstrated in Frank Miller’s The Spirit. The protagonist in The Spirit, Denny Colt, was a rookie police officer who was murdered, and returns from the grave in the form of a spirit, determined to bring justice to his crumbling city. The Spirit’s true identity is unknown to most, but his superior abilities to heal are often questioned and commented on as he takes bullets and stabbings unnoticed. He wears a black mask that covers part of his face, symbolizing his hidden identity. He wears a fedora and trench coat, but his clothes (and hat) are entirely black (apart from his signature red tie). The classic noir hero costume is presented in black, as he is a ghost of the 1940s noir protagonist, returning to fight city crime and corruption. Flashbacks and voice-over narration reveal narrative content from the Spirit’s past, also a noir convention. It is also suggested that he is representative of the city, in that he is the city’s spirit. He also refers to the city as his mother, and lover. He is a super human character and he is one with the city, referencing the many classic films noirs, and many theoretical frameworks on the representation of the city in film noir.
Coogan discusses the superhero identity and the comic book’s conventional method of conveying the hero’s dual identity: the codename and the costume (78). The Spirit and V both utilize codenames and dress in costume to conceal their true identities.
Meanwhile, Frank Miller’s original series and Rodriguez’s film Sin City do not feature costumed crusaders with concealing codenames, but visualizes the new noir hero identity differently. The men in Sin City are each visually symbolic of their inner character. Marv is a muscular brute that is determined to find his true love’s killers. He is a grotesque, monstrous man, standing over seven feet tall. He wears black combat boots, black leather pants, a white undershirt, and a trench coat. His face is heavily scarred, and he has a flattop buzz cut. His height and broad stature, paired with the heavy make-up Rourke was required to adorn, result in this giant terminator or soldier resemblance that both embodies Marv’s inner character, and lends to his superiority to the average man. Hartigan has a scar across his face, a scar that everyone can see. He is vulnerable and naïve throughout the film. He is betrayed by his partner, and sent to prison for assaulting a potential rapist. After eight years he finally confesses so they will release him, and is then tricked into leading the antagonists to his beloved Cordelia/Nancy. The scar on his face is a symbol of his damaged character and his susceptibility of his own naivety and trust in a dishonest world.
Coogan puts forth three elements that establish the superhero genre: mission, powers, and identity (82). Sin City, The Spirit, and V for Vendetta each display characters that embody these three elements. The intertwined stories in Sin City each reveal a character that has a mission, has superior powers (morals, strength, immortality, and unstoppable perseverance), and a dual identity. Marv’s mission is to track down Goldie’s killers, while Hartigan’s mission is to do his job as a cop, and to keep Nancy safe. Josh Hartnett’s character, The Man, is a hit man and therefore his mission is to kill those he has been hired to kill. Dwight’s mission is to catch up with Jackie Boy and his friends and teach them a lesson. Marv’s powers are his incredible strength, his combat skills, and a rigid moral code by which he lives. Hartigan’s powers are his undying hope for this twisted, corrupt world, and his apparent invincibility as he withstands multiple bullets without collapsing, as well as willing himself back to life after being hanged.
The Spirit’s mission is to restore justice in his beloved city, he has superior abilities to heal, and his identity is concealed and unknown to most. V is on a mission to kill those who had wronged him in the past and to destroy the fascist, totalitarian government, to bring freedom to the oppressed future Britain. His powers are his intelligence, his meticulous planning, and his unmatchable fighting skills. His identity is concealed as he wears the Guy Fawkes mask throughout the entire film, asserting that his identity is not of importance, and that it is his idea that must be recognized. Evey becomes a hero over the course of the film, as she comes to believe in V’s mission, co-opting it as her own. Her power is that V has taught her to no longer fear death, and her identity transforms throughout the film as she too learns that the individual identity is not important, but that the collective consciousness pursuing an idea worth fighting for is what is truly important.
It is only within the last three decades, “with the success of films like Superman (1978) and Batman (1988) and their sequels, that Hollywood has developed a real interest in the comics as a source of inspiration” (Somigli 279). Fingeroth provides a historical context from which the hero, and eventually, the superhero have developed, “there are, and always have been, fictional heroes: Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe, Sherlock Holmes come to mind. These individuals, though imaginary, are putatively human” (15). Classic noir heroes are human, while graphic novel superheroes are superhuman.
“Biblical and mythological heroes are clearly precursors to superheroes” (Fingeroth 16). “The realm of superheroes is occupied by individuals with fantastic powers […] some sort of strength of character […], some system of […] positive values, and a determination to, no matter what, protect those values […] The superhero […] has to represent the values of the society that produces him […] The superhero must also possess skills and abilities normal humans do not” (Fingeroth 16-17). “One thing a superhero will usually not do, at least permanently, is die” (Fingeroth 18). Toward the end of V for Vendetta, V dies. This does not detract from his status as a superhero. He completes his mission, and he has passed on his knowledge, wisdom, and powers to his successor, Evey. His sacrificial death was the last part of his plan and it was executed on his own terms. He was not murdered or defeated. He died with dignity.
In terms of social, cultural, and historical issues and anxieties, comic books address certain issues directly by inserting the issue in the narrative, or they are addressed indirectly in a symbolic manner. Like film noir, comics and subsequent superhero protagonists are created “to satisfy the demands and expectations of the popular audience […] The superhero has become a vivid figure in the mainstream of modern culture” (Pyle n.p.). Audiences engage with cinema to escape reality. They engage with films that offer social commentary and reflect social anxieties in order to appease their own fears and concerns. They engage with superheroes as they represent all that is good in the face of evil. Superheroes provide audiences with reassurance that justice and moral integrity will prevail.
A common theme in Sin City, The Spirit, and V for Vendetta is corruption of law enforcement, crime, and politics. Classic noir films focus on a shift of gender roles, positioning strong women as the ultimate male anxiety. Neo-noirs often reflect anxieties pertaining to corruption and power, which is demonstrated in contemporary graphic novel adaptations as well. Although the social anxieties have shifted, repositioning the antagonist, the neo-noirs (and graphic novel adaptations) perpetuate the representation and reflection of social anxieties.
Furthermore, “the positive hero must embody to an unthinkable degree the power demands that the average citizen nurtures but cannot satisfy” (Eco 107). A superhero offers audiences an ideal role model for all of their moral decency, but also for their power. In an industrial society “where man becomes a number in the realm of the organization which has usurped his decision-making role, he has no means of production and is thus deprived of his power to decide” (Eco 14). In addition to power, the superhero represents individual strength. In an industrial society, “individual strength […] is left abased when confronted with the strength of machines” (Eco 14).
Scholars have asked questions regarding the comic book reader and film spectator who admires and aspires to be like their favourite superheroes, when in reality, these heroes are fictional, fantastical fabrications. Readers are able to identify with superheroes that exhibit dual identities, as one identity is often a mundane, realistic identity (such as Peter Parker/Spiderman, or Clark Kent/Superman). The superheroes are recognized in society as an average citizen, keeping their super human identity a secret in fear of being perceived as different, or so as not to receive praise. Readers are able to identify with Superman since his alter ego is his Clark Kent persona, “who appears fearful, timid, not overly intelligent, awkward, near-sighted, and submissive to his matriarchal colleague, Lois Lane […] Clark Kent personifies fairly typically the average reader” (Eco 14-15).
This discussion of superheroes as admirable icons speaks loudly to the classic superheroes such as Superman, Batman, and Spiderman, but does not carry to the contemporary graphic novel adaptations such as Sin City, V for Vendetta, or The Spirit. However, it is important to note the historically evolving transformation of the superhero. Furthermore, the concept of the dual identity still remains a defining quality of newer graphic novel films (as discussed earlier), but less literally speaking. Rather than a literal dual character, these contemporary adaptations are concerned with characters that exhibit complex layering identities.
In summation, it is evident that the contemporary graphic novel film adaptation is rooted in film noir and departs in its construction of the new noir hero: the fantastical superhero. The superhero protagonist reinvents earlier representations of character identity, masculinity, and heroism. The evolution of the hero and superhero reveals the need for audiences to connect with a meta-narrative and hero figure as a means of reassurance and comfort. Social, cultural, and historical shifts present society with fluxing anxieties and concerns, which are reflected and appeased through the superhero myth. The evolution of hero, from classic noir’s realistic human hero, to graphic novel adaptations’ fantastic superhero is in reaction to the shift in social anxieties and subsequent antagonists. In classic noirs, protagonists must face strong women. In graphic novel adaptations, protagonists must face a skyrocketing crime rate, police corruption, political corruption, and terrorism. The average man cannot compete with these diabolical antagonists, hence his replacement, the superhero.
Works Cited
Bould, Mark. “Film Noir: From Berlin to Sin City.” Great Britain: Wallflower Press, 2005. Print.
Brooker, Will. “Batman Unmasked.” New York: Continuum, 2000. Print.
Coogan, Peter. “A Comics Studies Reader.” Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2009. Online.
Duncan, Randy, and Matthew Smith. “The Power of Comics: History, Form, and Culture.” London: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2009. Print.
Eco, Umberto. “The Myth of Superman.” New York: The John Hopkins University Press, 1972. Online.
Fingeroth, Danny. “Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society.” New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006. Online.
Gravett, Paul. “Graphic Novels: Everything You Need to Know.” New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2005. Print.
Harvey, Robert C. “The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History.” Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996. Print.
Keller, James. “V for Vendetta as Cultural Pastiche: A Critical Study of the Graphic Novel and Film.” Jefferson, NA: MacFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2008. Print.
Mason, Lizabeth. “American Masculinity in Crisis: Trauma and Superhero Blockbusters.” N.d. Online.
Naremore, James. “More Than Night: Film Noir In Its Contexts.” Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2008. Print.
Sin City. Dirs. Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. Perf. Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke. and Clive Owen. Dimension Films, 2005. Film.
Somigli, Luca. “The Superhero with a Thousand Faces: Visual Narratives on Film and Paper.” Play it Again, Sam: Retakes and Remakes. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998. Online.
The Spirit. Dir. Frank Miller. Perf. Jaime King, Gabriel Macht, and Dan Gerrity. Lionsgate, 2008. Film.
Wolk, Douglas. “Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean.” United States: Da Capo Press, 2007. Print.
V for Vendetta. Dir. James McTeigue. Perf. Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, and Stephen Ria. Warner Brothers, 2006. Film.
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