10 Obscure Comic Book Titles That Deserve To Be Movies
10. Mantra - Mike Barr
Originally a title from Malibu Comics' Ultraverse, this one may not be possible because Marvel got their talons in and tried to bring it into their line, before nigh-on abandoning it. However it's a clever story well worth adapting to film, and one well ahead of its time. A powerful warrior named Lucasz was engaged - essentially as a pawn - in a war between two wizards, Archimage and Boneyard (okay, so the names are a bit black and white, but consider that this was done last century), and whenever killed, his spirit was put into a new body. After a seriously bad turn in the war, Lucasz found himself in the body of Mrs. Eden Blake, a beautiful woman with a life, husband, and kids of her own; and additionally, this was going to be his final incarnation. Despite this seemingly reductive turn of events, Lucasz/Eden have the advantage of Blake's latent magical power, incidentally awakened by Archimage...once they come to understand them. So there you have it: a modern-day character with fantastic elements, issues of gender identity atop a solid story. What's not to admire? If they hadn't allowed themselves to be bought out by Marvel, Malibu might have remained around in some form to this day with a significant following. Of course, it might have been that Malibu couldn't afford to continue - this author follows the comics, not the bank accounts - but the ideas of stories from "outside the box" always appeal.
Michael Marcus is a game designer, author, and mad scientist living in Hamtramck, Michigan; his current project list include a series of comic short-stories collectively called "One-Punch," a book on hypnosis and language called "The Prometheus Codex," a collaborative game project called "Art War," and a fun spy story called "The Adventures of Jack Uzi" at http://tinyurl.com/JackUziChannel (for those interested).
