The other comic book adaptation Fincher seriously considered is much more up his alley, involving as it does an unsolved series of serial killings in a fraught period of American history. Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko's Torso was a six issue limited series from 1998 which told the true life story of the Cleveland Torso Murderer, who was active during 1934 to 1938 and so named because he left only the torsos of his victims, with the lack of advanced crime scene investigating techniques in the era leading to his identity still remaining a mystery. That's despite the fact that Cleveland Safety Director and former head of the Untouchables Elliot Ness was the first person investigating it. In 2006 it was reported that David Fincher was on board as director of a film adaptation, because clearly he had a true crime itch that needed scratching. It's just that it turned out Torso wasn't it, and he instead went on to the very similar Zodiac instead. Which is a shame because, great though Zodiac is, the Torso film could've been just as enthralling and, would've featured the all-star cast of Matt Damon, Rachel McAdams and Casey Affleck. Then again it also involved Spawn creator Todd McFarlane amongst its producers and the script was being penned by Ehren Kruger, best known for the awful Reindeer Games and writing the screenplays for the last three Transformers films.
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/
