With comic book movies dominating the box office, one has to wonder if publishers are assessing the cinematic potential when selecting new titles. “I would be surprised if that sort of thinking wasn’t in the back of everyone’s mind, but I hope companies are assessing a comic title based more on publishing merits,” states Mike Maihack who is creating a new series of Cleopatra in Space adventures for Graphix. “If comics were simply a pitching business for Hollywood, the industry would become stagnant very fast. I suppose that has happened some, but the creative output in comics is still strong and there are a lot of popular titles that wouldn’t translate well to film. Marvel’s current Hawkeye by Fraction and Aja is a good example: as a comic it’s one of the most interesting ones out there but as a movie, especially in the tone Marvel Studios has created for their cinematic universe, it could likely put viewers to sleep [although honestly I’d still watch it].”
As to Cleopatra in Space getting a theatrical release, Maihack notes, “I’ve had quite a few people tell me they think Cleo has a lot of big screen potential, but I don’t know. It has a lot of hurdles to jump just in its concept to make it work. All the talking cats, for instance, could come across as kind of creepy unless they’re animated. Not to say it couldn’t work, but if it was ever to move to a different medium, it’d probably need certain aspects changed. It would need to be its own thing. Right now I’m content just focusing on CiS as a comic.”
