Comic/Adaptation Club, Season One: New 52/DCAMU!

[VengeanceNightBatman]

One of the best things about the DC Animated Original Movies is that they often serve as direct adaptations of classic comic book stories, frequently with only minimal changes to edit out the often confusing backstory in order to make it stand alone. And it’s not just the movies; the TV shows often make a point of adapting popular comic stories as well! I’ve always wanted to experience the adaptations of DC’s classic stories side-by-side with their inspirations, and now I have the perfect vehicle to do it!

In the tradition of the several Book Clubs and Watch-Alongs fostered by this community, I’d like to announce the first installment of the Comic/Adaptation Club!!! Every session, I will assign a comics story that has been directly adapted to a film or television episode to be read over two weeks, at which point we will all watch the adaptation together! Also, every Season of this club will have a different theme, like Frank Miller adaptations, Teen Titans, or BTAS episodes!

For instance, this season’s theme is the New 52 and the DC Animated Movies Universe. The DCAMU began with Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox in 2013, which appropriately adapted the “Flashpoint” storyline that began DC’s New 52 two years earlier. Over the next two weeks, anyone who wants to join this club will read the original comic book story of Flashpoint and then watch the film adaptation together on Saturday, May 4th (exact time TBD). We can discuss things like why changes were made, what shouldn’t have been left out, and how the adaptation compares to the original overall.

I’m open to suggestions on how to proceed from here. Should we read the tie-ins and build-up to Flashpoint (and other adapted event stories) as well as the main series? Should I assign issues to be read over the two weeks, or assign the story in installments every other day? Do we discuss the comic as we read it, or mostly focus out discussions upon the movie? What time of day should we watch the movie?

Over the next few days, I’ll be watching this thread for answers to these questions, as well as any others that you may have. And then on Saturday, I’ll set down a specific time for the reading and watching portions of this club.

I hope you all are as excited about this idea as I am! Hope to see you soon!

[Applejack]

@VengeanceNightBatman, this sounds amazing!! I hope it takes off.

I know that a lot of people really love Flashpoint, so I think that’s a great place to start.

I do appreciate the notion of including tie-ins and build up to Flashpoint, as I notice a lot around the service that people ask where the best place to start is, what the reading order is, etc. etc. It’s a big challenge to organize all this lore, so this sounds like a particularly good exercise in approaching what is otherwise sometimes unapproachable.

I think it’s also fun to know the full big picture as a reader, and then see where the animators picked up on those elements and easter egg them throughout the movie/show. It’s sometimes equally fun to criticize when those AREN’T picked up on ;p

Saturdays are tricky and I haven’t quite nailed down a time that works for everyone. We’ve done Saturday Morning Cartoons at 8am PST/11am PST and the attendance is a bit light, plus I think people are trying to get errands and such done.

I think that could be a good question to ask the people that join the reading group once it kicks off so you can get a sense from the people who are most interested in participating.

Otherwise, there’s no harm in throwing out a time that works best for YOU (you are the leader, after all) and then if you don’t get the attendance you’re hoping for, try another time the next round! It’s jazz, baby.

The functionality is a bit challenging, so even if people don’t “bite”, don’t take it personally. This is a great idea, and when Community 2.0 rolls out, it’ll be much easier for these sort of things to have higher visibility.

I hope this helps, and please feel free to ask myself or the other mods their insights into how to best execute an event here on the forums!

[VengeanceNightBatman]

Thanks, Applejack.

In that case, Friday or Saturday afternoons would be the best times for me to host these discussions.

If no one else responds by Saturday, then I’ll call it quits and try again when the new Community features roll out.

[toonatonian]

I am all over this idea! I use Flashpoint for a Time Management lesson, so that is a familiar storyline for me. I need to snag my copy from the office & I can do Saturdays @ anytime (& starting May 17th-Aug. 5th Fridays 5a-6p CDT). This is one of my all-time reasons I love DC. I really enjoy comparing the books to the animated & onto the live action.
Ideas for after we do Flashpoint, Would be the Suicide Squad animated compared to Big Screen (gotta figure out the source material from the comic pages on this one, that’ll be fun, right?! Then, we have the Wonder Woman animated to the live action (can you believe they left the Ice Cream Cone scene out of the Live Action?!) Just throwing out some ideas.
BTW. My calendar has a social gap now that DCU bailed on the SMC WAL (eventhough it’s on the calendar). … Off to do chores & work since I know I am getting stood up again for the SMC. I gotta learn not to put my faith in big entities again. Ouch!
Thanks for caring about this idea & I hope we get to do this! I am bookmarking it now.
Have a Super Day Super Fan!