Thanks To This, I Think I'll Track God Down, Too.

So here comes a mixed bag.



On the one hand, the one project I've been screaming over and over again for the past 3 years is finally coming to fruition -- Preacher will be an hourlong show on HBO. This comic series is perfect for this format and for HBO. It's dark and compelling, as there's the through storyline of Jesse Custer tracking down God and finding out how he can be such a horrible sonovabitch. There's also tons of action, blood, and death to keep fans of Deadwood, Rome, and The Sopranos sated. Add into that quirky, quotable, funny, and brilliant characters (like Cassidy, an Irish vampire, and the Saint of Killers) and you have the makings of a huge hit. Preacher is still my favorite comic book series, and everyone should do themselves a favor and go pick up the 9 TPBs that are currently in print and at your local comic shops, book stores, and online retailers. I think Garth Ennis perfectly captures all of America in this work, commenting on our past, present, and future while dealing with sex, drugs, rock n roll, religion, war, capitalism, and Love.

So that's great news, right? Hell, it makes me envious and frustrated that this whole thing is goin ahead and i have nothing to do with it. But then the next bit of news hits:

It's being brought to the screen by Mark Steven Johnson. Mr. Johnson (or Mr. Steven Johnson? whatever) is responsible for the abominable movie adaptations of Daredevil and Ghost Rider. Faak! While I respect Mr. Johnson's apparent love for comics, and he is very well versed in everything he brings to the screen - his abilities as an artist are nonexistent. Not only did he use crap F/X in Daredevil (and appears to be doing that again in the even cheaper looking Ghost Rider), but he also managed to make such a bungled clusterfuck of that entire movie. Now, I don't care if they made the Kingpin black, or that Daredevil killed a dude. Whatever, that's small potatoes - I'm not a purist. But his direction was terrible - with Colin Farrell's Bullseye being an over the top homicidal leprechaun, Affleck being fairly stilted (even for Affleck), and Jennifer Garner not having much to do outside of simply tell the world that she's upset.

I'm sure there are people out there who simply look at the actors' names listed above and believe that it can't be MSJ's (cuz i'm hip with the industry lingo) fault--these aren't the greatest thespians to grace the silver screen. However, MSJ did write the script, a horribly distracting piece of rubbish that subsituted Young Matt Murdock's youthful act of selflessness that left him blind but with enhanced senses with a skateboarding accident. WTF? I feel like this whole thing is gonna end up with me screaming at the TV a lot and eventually tracking down MSJ like the Saint of Killer stalks Jesse, and eventually killing the sumbitch.

Goddammit.

Anyways - here's some links to the story:
From CHUD.com
From The Onion A.V. Club
From Ain't It Cool News