Although hes better known as a novelist (check out his semi-autobiographical book, The Fortress Of Solitude its excellent), Jonathan Lethem has dabbled in comic book writing on numerous occasions. Notably, his Omega The Unknown Volume 2 series for Marvel takes the superhero mythos in some very interesting directions. However, Lethem isnt fond of comic book movies (he particularly dislikes, again, Sin City). "The movies insist on transforming a form into another form, he explained to TheAtlantic.com. The result of this transformation is, in Lethem's words, that the results fall into a hideous void between them." He also thinks that movies are incapable of conveying the "mystery of the evocativeness of a comic book panel, the stillness-in-action, and the secret silence of the gutter between the two panels. He continued: "The nearest I've ever seen to someone really reaching for that was that really aggressive and sort of horrible Frank Miller movie, Sin City. Which was still compelling because they seemed to be aware of the problem, and were trying to seize control of it. But it's a little bit like, playing rock and roll on a harp or something. Movies are actually a very, very poor fit for the comic aesthetic. Lets not hold our breath for an Omega movie, then. At least not with Lethem's involvement. That's a shame, really, because Lethem's Omega - which revitalised an almost-forgotten Marvel hero - could make for a great film.
