Nowadays the comic book industry's interactions with Hollywood are almost entirely positive, a marked improvement on the days when Captain America starred in straight-to-video films played by JD Salinger's son wearing rubber ears (that is a thing that actually happened). Now the link between comics and films have never been better, with funnybooks providing the raw materials for half of the summer's biggest blockbusters. Superheroes aren't the be all and end all of comics, though, with plenty of thoughtful and down-to-earth stuff being put out by small press and indie creators. Like, for example, Dan Clowes, whose work has been adapted into films like Ghost World. Both Clowes's comics and their adaptations have come in for considerable praise, so it's not surprising an aspiring young filmmaker would want a piece of that action. It's just that the filmmaker in question was Shia LaBeouf, and the short film Howard Cantour.com he made about a grouchy film critic was quite clearly taken from Clowes's story Justin M Damiano. And he didn't bother to credit him. Or ask permission. But still shopped the movie around to film festivals and put in online. Then he apologised by getting a plane to sky-write I'M SORRY DAN CLOWES. Good thing he's not famous any more, eh.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
