Daniel Broye The British Invasion in Comics Adapted THE BRITISH INVASION IN COMICS ADAPTED : THE TRANSMEDIAL SUCCESS OF SUPERHEROES IN CINEMA AND TV ABSTRACT In order to shed light on the current worldwide success of Marvel’s comic-book inspired Endgame and the overall rise of “heroes in tights” in cinematic as well as televised form for the last decade or so, one must consider a phenomenon that revolutionized the US comics’ mainstream industry, the British Invasion, which started in the early 1980’s and lasted for about thirty years. It also seems to have played a key role in the recent transmedial success of comics, and its influence seems to grow even more as the quality of those productions improves. Daniel Broye daniel.broye@unil.ch INTRODUCTION1 With Endgame2 , the latest installment of Marvel’s Avengers series, on the verge of becoming the most profitable movie so far for the American and worldwide markets (with, as of the 15th of May 2019, a gross worldwide profit of more than 2.5 billion dollars3), the current overwhelmingly widespread success of comics’ cinematic and televised adaptations seem to establish a new standard in popular entertainment. Although these transmedial adaptations are by far not a new trend (the first Superman radio show aired already in 1940, the Man of Steel having been created in 1938), its real popular success, beyond sporadic hits and specialized fandom following, started around the early 2000’s. In order to try to contextualize this rise in fame of transmedial adaptations from a somewhat niche media and despite its often studied cultural impact, it will be necessary to understand what might have 1 This article was written as a project for the Specialization in Science Historique de la Culture (SHC) at the University of Lausanne (Unil). It partly synthesizes and completes my Master’s thesis : John Constantine : The Bastard Spirit of the British Invasion in Comic-books (2019), which was supervised by prof. Martine Hennard Dutheil (who also gave me precious feedback for this article) and expertized by prof. Philippe Kaenel (who also supervised this article). 2 RUSSO, Anthony and Joe, et al., Avengers: Endgame, Brazil: Brazil Production Services, USA: Double Negative (DNEG), Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, 2019, 181 min. 3 « Avengers : Endgame », imdb.com, <https://www.imdb. com/title/tt4154796/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1>. University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 happened in American mainstream comics’ history that changed the general public’s and, most importantly, the creatives’ and studios’ perception of the four-colored adventures of “heroes in tights” from a children and young teens’ entertainment, to a pertinent mature storytelling device able to engage even the most demanding public. As this study will demonstrate, the current comics’ adaptations phenomenon can find one of its main sources in what has been coined the British Invasion in comics, which spanned from the early 1980’s, ended in 2013, and involved, in those three decades, British authors working for American mainstream comic books. In order to put this important era of the comics industry in perspective, we will have an overview of its origins, its main actors, and how they lastingly impacted their medium. Once familiarized with the British Invasion, we will then have a look on how it transmedially impacted the cinematic and televised fields in their own right, and what other factors might have also facilitated their adaptations. Using the British Invasion as an entry point to understand the global success of transmedial adaptations of comics will not only propose a better view of the whole phenomenon, but will also permit us to see how a handful of British authors, experts in their craft, have unintentionally played a major role in the success and fortune of the popular TV and film industry, to the point where a movie with “heroes in tights” will most likely be the most lucrative production on the big screen for a while. 1 The British Invasion in Comics Adapted FROM PILOTE TO 2000AD Before addressing the British Invasion in comics itself, it is capital to understand its origins in European comics and how a triangular transatlantic communication was established between the Franco-Belgian bande-dessinée, the British comics and the American comic-books genre. It will be surprising for many to discover that the initiator of a movement that would have a lasting impact in three of the most prolific comics industries was Asterix Le Gaulois’ author and co-creator André Goscinny (1926 - 1977). In 1959, the French bande-dessinée’s soon to be legend, freshly returned from a six years stay (from 1945 - 1951) in the USA where he learned his craft notably alongside Mad (a satirical magazine started in 1952 and still in print today, that allies comics, short articles and parodies spanning from politics to cultural icons) magazine’s Havey Kurtzman, co-founded (alongside his lifelong friend and collaborator, the Belgian artist and Asterix co-creator Albert Uderzo, and four others) Pilote magazine, a publication that was supposed to be the youth’s version of the famous French actuality-driven magazine Paris Match, and included comics, film reviews, current local and worldwide events, and would, after the May 1968’s events, include political contents and music critics to reach a more mature audience. Pilote has been home to the crème de la crème of Franco-Belgian bande-dessinée for decades, including authors and artists like Marcel Gottlieb (a.k.a Gotlib) (famous for his absurd irreverent humor and voluntarily verbose and filled with wordplay word bubbles, notably in Rubrique à Brac, Rhaaa Lovely or Gai Luron), Claire Bretécher (one of the rare female authors of the time, if not the only one to reach such level of fame, who is known for her strong and existentially challenged, yet comedic, female lead characters notably Agrippine), Nikita Mandryka (who is known for his absurd humor, notably with his masked cucumber hero in le Concombre Masqué), Jean Giraud (a.k.a Mœbius) (a versatile author who would as much work on dark Western comics like Blueberry; that he would sign as Jean Giraud, or science-fiction, which made him famous worldwide, notably with l’Incal;that he would sign as Mœbius, Enki Bilal (most notably known for his retro-futuristic science-fiction work, deeply imbued 2 Daniel Broye by his trauma of Communist-era’s Yugoslavia that he left at a young age, like the Nikopol trilogy) and Philippe Druillet (famous for his often esoterically-influenced and psychedelic science-fiction, notably in Lone Sloane) amongst a plethora of others. However, the mid-1970’s saw the rise of tensions and dissatisfaction within Pilote’s creative team. After the departure of Gotlib, Mandryka and Brétecher, who slammed the magazine’s door to create L’Écho des Savanes in 1972 (and after its economical failure, Gotlib created Fluide Glacial in 1975. Both magazines are heavily inspired by Mad’s irreverent tone and format. Gotlib was even a lifelong fan of Kurzman’s work), Giraud and Druillet also left Pilote, although more peacefully, and would be later joined by journalist and bande-dessinée’s author Jean-Pierre Dionnet, as well as fi nancial director Bernard Farkas, to found the publishing company, specialized in science-fiction and fantasy, Les Humanoïdes Associés in 1974. In 1975, they published the first issue of Métal Hurlant, a maturethemed science-fiction and fantasy bande-dessinée’s magazine that would also include reviews of science-fiction, crime novels and, with the arrival of Philippe Manoeuvre (a famous French Rock critic) in 1976, would even review Rock albums. Métal Hurlant and its 1977 independent but related US iteration, Heavy Metal, would take the young adults’ publication industry by storm, and their impact would be felt beyond the pages of the magazine as Giraud and Druillet collaborated notably on cult movies like George Lucas’ Star Wars (1977) and Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979). Given their atypical and mature contents, similarly as their relative creative freedom, Métal Hurlant and Heavy Metal would even visually and thematically inspire movies like Mad Max (1979) and Blade Runner (1982) among many others. As Métal Hurlant was already a success in France and feeling the forthcoming science-fiction tide (although doubtfully anticipating its span) of the late seventies early eighties that would be notably symbolized by Star Wars, Alien and E.T (1982), and would even stimulate the Star Trek franchise’s relaunch in cinematic form in 1979 with Stark Trek : The Motion Picture, the British publisher IPC Magazines, already a strong player in British youth’s publications, tasked in 1975 the comics University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 Daniel Broye author, Pat Mills, to create a magazine targeting the teenagers and young adults market on the isle. Sharing a creative and thematic kinship with the creators of Métal Hurlant, Mills was strongly inspired by it to create 2000AD in 1977. However, Mills and his creative team added a very British twist to their creations, a dark and absurd sense of humor that was overall less prominent in the French publication (humor being seemingly left to Fluide Glacial). A good example of this vitriolic approach of science-fiction can be notably seen in their most internationally famous (due to two cinematic adaptations: one in 1995, Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone as Dredd, and the other, Dredd, in 2012 with Karl Urban, himself a 2000AD fan.) Mills co-created character, Judge Dredd. This futuristic antihero’s adventures are set in a post-apocalyptic America around the 23rd century, where the justice system has been replaced by the judges, a form of ultimate lawmen and women who are police officers, judges and executioners. Although action-based and rather violent for the time, Dredd’s dystopic stories often contain ferocious comments on contemporary society (that still remain pertinent today) including consumerism, law and order politics, racism, religion, etc. Similarly as Métal Hurlant, 2000AD enjoyed a relatively broad creative freedom, which not only allowed authors and artists to thrive in their craft, but also to approach, as we have briefly seen with Dredd, sensitive subjects with a new and often iconoclastic perspective. Although common in science-fiction’s literary form, this somewhat punk approach of the world was new for comics and their more mature readership. Another aspect that also emerges from this fast travel through the genesis of what would later be known as the British Invasion in comics, offers some clues about the link between comics and cinema. Comics creators, especially in the case of Métal Hurlant’s Giraud and Druillet, were already deeply involved in movies that were not only acclaimed successes by critics and the public alike, but also became worldwide cultural phenomenon overnight. Although still not transmedial adaptations of comics in fi lm format, the two universes were already starting to collide while familiarizing with each other, as well as preparing the public for their creative universe. However, for comics to become relevant for US University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 The British Invasion in Comics Adapted mainstream cinema in terms of adaptations beyond animation, children entertainment, or niche genre cinema, other steps were needed to allow this transition, and the fi rst one was going to be taken by a former LSD enthusiast and bearded pagan from Northampton, eager to transform an almost forgotten horror character, and turn it into what has been perceived as the first guide-book of the new US mainstream comics writing. ALAN MOORE: THE BIRTH OF AUTHORSHIP IN MAINSTREAM COMICS To understand the depth of Alan Moore’s impact in American mainstream comics, which transformed a mostly artists-led into a writers-led media, we must first address two elements that are as relatively obvious for the Anglo-American public, as they are mostly alien for the European one, but are essential for the overall understanding of the mainstream US comic-books industry: the questions of character-centered productions and their ownership. Since the creation of Superman (conventionally considered as the fi rst superhero) by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel in 1938 for DC Comics, a fairly new business model regarding comics emerged. It relied on the fact that any creations made for a publishing company belonged to it, which meant, in turn, that a character could change creative hands at the whim or commercial imperatives of the company owning it. This is the main source of the character-centered politics adopted by Marvel and DC, the two biggest, and periodically only, players in the mainstream comics field at least since the 1960’s. Although this lack of ownership by the creators has led, through the decades, to countless legal battles (even involving Shuster and Siegel themselves), it is still today the main model adopted by the companies that control the roster of the most famous and popular characters in comic-book form. Another capital element necessary to understand the shift instigated majoritarily by the British Invasion is that up until the early 1980’s and the progressive arrival of a first wave of British authors, the comic-book industry was mainly led by artists. The most famous and prolific of them was Jack Kirby who created visually countless characters as much for Marvel as for DC during the Silver Age (a conventional superhero comic-book era that spanned 3 Daniel Broye The British Invasion in Comics Adapted from the 1950’s to the early 1970’s), including the Avengers created in 1963. This artists’ predominance is summed up by Greg Carpenter as such : When Jack Kirby draws the Thing punching out Doctor Doom and Stan Lee adds the phrase, “It’s clobberin’ time!” the image can be understood and processed in a quarter of a second – Oh, the Thing is punching Doctor Doom. While a reader might go back and revel in the energy of Kirby’s art, the dialogue is merely an enhancement of the image.4 However, this practice was about to change as in 1983, a yet unknown writer for the American mainstream comic-book readership partook in the complete revamping of a horror title with decreasing sales, Swamp Thing, created in 1971 by writer Len Wein (who later became a respected editor at DC) and artist Bernie Wrightson. Alan Moore, born in 1953 in Northampton, rapidly made a name for himself in the UK by starting his mainstream career in the pages of 2000AD, then notably revamped in 1982 a declining Silver Age series for Marvel UK (UK’s branch of the American editor), Marvelman (know in the US as Miracleman), and writing the iconic 1984-esque anarchist tale V for Vendetta (the Guy Fawkes mask worn by the main protagonist, V, has even become the symbol of the hackers group Anonymous) for the now defunct magazine Warrior (the rights of V for Vendetta belong to DC now). Remarked by DC as his star was shining bright in the UK, Moore was tasked to write the adventures of Alec Holland, a scientist turned plant monster known as Swamp Thing. In the pages of The Saga of the Swamp Thing, the British author would start to impose his own brand of comics writing, deeply influenced by esoterism, a broad spectrum of literary works spanning from Victorian-era Romanticism to Science-fiction, and independent comics. But beyond his more mature writing style, Moore also established working techniques that were revolutionary for the time in mainstream comics. Instead of the more common issue to issue writing, Moore was planning his narrative arcs for a year, and was writing full scripts for artists to draw inspiration and scenographic cues from. His working method was described by Watchmen‘s co-creator and artist Dave Gibbons : Alan did quite a detailed synopsis plot-wise, [...] Alan came up with the names and a sort of character description, but not 4 4 CARPENTER, Greg, The British Invasion ! : Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, and the Invention of the Modern Comic Book Writer, Edwardsville (IL) : Sequart Organization, 2016, p.31. anything specific about how they would dress. [...] There was one day that Alan came to my house, and we spent the day going through the sketches and talking about possibilities.5 Although Moore’s relationship with the cinematic industry was going to be chaotic at best, as we will see further in this study, it is interesting to note how his working methods were similar to cinema’s practices in terms of pre-production. As Gibbons underlines in terms of details, Moore’s synopsis could be compared to a film’s, as well as his high level of control and interactions with the artists might remind us those of a director. These working methods might have also played a role in the multiple transmedial adaptations Moore’s work stimulated, but we will discuss this further. Beyond his working techniques, Moore also had a plan for his comic-book career and the duty he felt he had towards his readership : I’ve always believed that if you could write something intelligent in plain language, then that will raise people’s consciousness.[...] [I]nstead of producing a generation of morons as your audience, you might be able to wake people up a little bit, raise their expectations, get them to demand more intelligent fare[...] Which I think would be good for everybody, if that were the case, if people were a little bit more demanding. If they didn’t just reward the same formulaic pap, over and over again with their attention.6 With his intent to better the comic medium beyond the “formulaic pap” he felt was predominant in mainstream comics, the British writer revealed a new sense of authorship vis-a-vis the comic book media. This version of the author’s politic, initially theorized by François Truffaut for cinema in Les Cahiers du Cinéma in 1955, was replacing the artist by the writer at the creative epicenter of comics’ creation, and the sales improvement, linked to critical and public acclaim for his take on Swamp Thing, which progressively turned the science-monster horror story into the metaphysical adventures of a plant elemental, thus introducing ecological elements and pagan natural beliefs into his narratives, seemed to prove him to be on the right path. His success would progressively increase as the years went by and as he wrote short stories for most of DC’s main roster of superheroes like Superman or 5 “A Portal to Another Dimension: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and Neil Gaiman”, The Comics Journal (TJC), Seattle : Fantagraphic Books, n° 116, July 1987, p. 80 – 89, <http://www. tcj.com/a-portal-toanother-dimension-alan-moore-davegibbons-and-neil-gaiman/>. 6 CARPENTER, The British Invasion !, p. 48-49. University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 Daniel Broye Green Lantern. However, it is really in 1988 with The Killing Joke, a 48-page Joker’s origin story that would redefine the Clown Prince of Crime and his tortured relationship with Batman for the following decades, that Moore’s take on more classical superheroes would reveal all its creative strength. However, Moore’s most notable impact on the “heroes in tights” would come from what is often considered as his masterpiece, Watchmen. It even became the first mainstream comic book (although the fancier term “graphic novel”, which was often used for British authors’ collected comic books editions, is often used) to be in the New York Times’s best-seller list. This seminal questioning of the superhero trope, as well narratively as meta-narratively, through the lens of Golden (the Golden Age in comics spans from the mid-1930’s to the early 1950’s) and Silver Age heroes inspired by Charlton Comics’ (a publisher whose characters had been bought by DC in 1983) characters, and first published between 1986 and 1987, was one of the most complex and mature publications in mainstream US comics of the times (alongside Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns published in 1986). Beyond the superheroes and their multi-layered personalities, the story addressed the Cold War, Reaganism (although hidden behind a Nixon “mask”), as well as many sociocultural and political aspects that have been studied at length even at an university level, and still continue to fascinate today. Despite its critical and public acclaim, Watchmen seems to be a deep wound in Alan Moore’s career due to a bad deal made with DC that ultimately dispossessed Moore of his fi rst mainstream original creation on US soil. This disastrous experience would make him slam DC’s door in 1989, thus depriving the publisher of his talent (although ironically, ABC (America’s Best Comics), the imprint that he founded for the then-independent comics studio WildStorm (itself part of Image Comics, a seven studio publisher founded in 1992 by disgruntled former Marvel artists), was bought by DC in 1999, the same year Moore published his first work for it) . As any precursor, Alan Moore had to endure the brunt of the resistances often opposed to mediachanging ideas and their instigators. Nevertheless, the following British Invasion’s waves were going to stimulate new rapports between publishers and authors, as well as bring further narrative University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 The British Invasion in Comics Adapted revolutions in the mainstream comics media. THREE WAVES AND THIRTY YEARS OF BRITISH INVASION IN COMICS The British Invasion’s start is commonly associated either with the arrival of Alan Moore, or the success of the comic-book Camelot 3000, drawn by Brian Bolland (the artist who collaborated with Moore on the Killing Joke), depending whether you decide to focus on the writers or the artists. Since this study is focused on the authors to show the switch from an artists-led to an authors-led media, which is, in my opinion, more revealing in terms of deep and lasting changes within the comics industry (although it is also true that the art should not be neglected, but I consider it more incidental than the writing for this specific era) and their transmedial adaptations, I situate the start of the British Invasion in 1983 with the fi rst issue of Saga of the Swamp Thing that we discussed above. However, since the study of this phenomenon is still relatively new, the end of the British Invasion-era has yet to be conventionally defined. As my research revealed, the phenomenon that interests us in this chapter reaches an ending point with two capital elements. The fi rst one being the last Hellblazer, the 300-issues tale of a tortured chain-smoking working-class magician from Liverpool named John Constantine, himself created by Alan Moore in the pages of Swamp Thing in 1985, and introduced as the antihero of his own comic-book by Jamie Delano in 1988. The role of this character, who has been predominantly in British hands (as much artistically, than textually) for 25 years, and was written by most of the legends of the British Invasion, is an invaluable tool to obtain an overview of this phenomenon. Although the character still exists within DC’s main roster of heroes and, as we will see further, also enjoyed many transmedial adaptations, his last appearance as a British almost-exclusive character in Hellblazer #300 in 2013, marked the end of an era. The second element that marked the formal end of the Invasion was the departure, the same year, of editor Karen Berger from Vertigo, the DC imprint that was initially tailored in 1993 to publish contents (including Hellblazer) that had no official place in DC’s main titles. Vertigo was the first mature-oriented mainstream comics publication, 5 Daniel Broye The British Invasion in Comics Adapted and majoritarily home (at least in terms of sales and recognition) of the British Invasion’s authors and artists. Although the importance of Vertigo as a flagship of the British Invasion led by Berger for 20 years won’t be treated further here, it is still important to be aware that one of the great innovations brought by this imprint within the mainstream industry was a creator-owned comics’ policy (although their creations could not be published anywhere else than Vertigo), most likely in fear to lose another Alan Moore, but also to attract and nurture new talents in a relatively free creative environment. Now that we have delimited the span of the British Invasion, we can discuss what happened within the thirty years it lasted. As I have mentioned above, the systematic analysis of the phenomenon is still at his larval state, hence the fact that even if what I will mention here seems to be already well integrated by comic-books aficionados, its formal structure needs to be clarified for the purpose of this study. When addressing the British Invasion, in order to keep the war-like lexical field, it is commonly understood to have happened in three main consecutive “waves”. For the purpose of this text, we will focus on each wave’s main writers, selected by their recognition within the media and their impact beyond the comic-books’ pages, given our interest in their work’s transmediality. Nevertheless, it is important to note that beside what could be considered as “star” authors, the British Invasion also revealed star artists, as well as lesser-known artists and authors who also actively participated to its success, though with less visibility for the general public. The first wave which was launched by Alan Moore, and it is most likely his success that encouraged DC in 1988 to hire, the same day, two young writers who also started their career within the pages of 2000AD. Those writers, namely Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman, would soon become DC’s icons, after Moore’s departure, for high quality comics, all-along the late 1980’s and the 1990’s. Gaiman was tasked to revamp, after the successful revamping of Black Orchid (a human turned plant-elemental superheroine) which made him known to the American public, another forgotten Golden and Silver Age character, The Sandman, a pulp literature inspired hero created in 1939, who would fight crime with dream powers, and he would even go further in his character’s reinvention than 6 Moore did with Swamp Thing. In Sandman7, from a The Spirit-like character, Gaiman made of Dream a personified concept of dreams, surrounded by his highly dysfunctional family, the Endless, each representing their own conceptual realm (Destiny, Death, Destruction, Envy, Despair and Delirium). The author explored in each new issue complex metaphysical ideas, while integrating them in situations that would span from everyday mundanities, like feeding pigeons, to the love stories of astral bodies. Although fewer than any other authors described here (he is also heavily invested in literature, television, cinema and children’s books as we will discuss further), Gaiman’s comics are still landmarks in mainstream comic-book history, and the very personal universe he tends to transpose in every media he touches, makes his work a very identifiable one. Morrison was also given an almost forgotten Silver Age title, Doom Patrol. This super-team of misfits under the Scottish author’s penmanship would, as Moore did with Watchmen, use the superhero trope to explore complex themes like authoritarianism, corporatism, human relations, etc. The exact opposite of Gaiman on this aspect, Morrison is probably one of the most prolific authors of the British Invasion. After his work on Doom Patrol and Animal Man (another revamp but with animal protection, ecological tones, and meta-narrative elements where Morrison even becomes an antagonist in his own story), Morrison became in the late 1990’s to the late 2000’s the author behind more than five, sometimes simultaneous, Batman storylines (it is important to note that after Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns and Moore and Gibbon’s Killing Joke and their ensuing worldwide success, Batman’s main storylines were, and still are, often given to recognized authors who proved themselves sales and praise-wise notably at Vertigo). He was also hired to launch the New X-Men for Marvel, and since 2016, he is even Heavy Metal’s editor-in-chief. Two men are at the center of the second wave, namely Garth Ennis and Warren Ellis, who also started their careers at 2000AD. Garth Ennis’ US career started in 1991 when he took over Jamie Delano on Hellblazer for which he had been the longest-running author. Despite being already 7 GAIMAN, Neil, et al., Sandman, New York : DC Comics (as Vertigo), 2010-20124, (1988 – 961), 10 trade paperbacks. University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 Daniel Broye successful with his take on John Constantine, Ennis’ rise to widespread fame was with Preacher at Vertigo; a defrocked priest hunting for God to hold him accountable for abandoning humanity. Then in the early 2000’s and for five years, Ennis was given the declining series The Punisher. He completely revamped the character of Frank Castle by introducing one of his trademark themes, his fascination for war veterans, their multiple traumas and their difficulty to readapt to civilian society. Another of the Irish writer’s recognizable narrative elements is his extreme use of violence, often going hand in hand with his blacker than pitch irreverent humor, as a device to mock and offer cathartic revenge for the reader (and most-likely himself) on the powerful and the sacred. Ennis’ friend and colleague, Warren Ellis, started his US career at Marvel between Hellstorm, the story of the Devil’s son, Daimon Hellstorm, and his fight against demons as well as angels, and 2099, an imprint focused on an “elseworld” (an alternative reality to the main storylines) of the Marvel universe (term used to describe a publisher’s extended world that runs between titles and tries to create a cohesive reality merging all of them). As Ennis, it is with an original story for Vertigo that Ellis rose to fame. Started in 1997, Transmetropolitan relates the quest for truth of Spider Jerusalem, a dissident gonzo-journalist trying to overthrow the president of the USA in a close future. Although apparently more comfortable with original stories, Ellis also wrote for many X-Men titles and partook in the development of WildStorm’s universe, notably Stormwatch and The Authority (a more politically charged, ironic, and ruthless version of DC’s Justice League), and his own title, Planetary, published for the first time in 1999. Since 2017, Ellis is even completely rebooting the whole universe after a five year hiatus. Unlike Ennis or Gaiman, Ellis doesn’t have easily identifiable writing style and themes, but tends to follow in Moore’s and Morrison’s footsteps by adapting his approach with each new title he worked for. Finally, we find two main authors for the third and last wave of the British Invasion, Mark Millar and Mike Carey. Millar, who also worked on the Authority and Swamp Thing, and started his career at 2000AD, but is the only British author chosen for this study not to have worked on Hellblazer (Gaiman and Morrison have been guest authors University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 The British Invasion in Comics Adapted on one issue for the former and two for the latter). However, it is really his work for Marvel that made him known to the mainstream public. Notably, his work on the Civil War saga (which is part of Marvel’s eponymous fi lmic adaptation that would lead to Endgame) for the Marvel Universe and Old Man Logan, an elseworld story, published in 2008, set in the future where an aging Wolverine has to fight for the last remaining mutants in a partly desolated USA. Unlike most of the authors used for this study, Millar’s independent work has been the most adapted, and although I chose not to focus on the other authors’ rich independent careers for relevance purpose, it is still worth to note his work on Kick-Ass, started in 2008, a teenage superhero fighting crime in what is considered by Millar as our real world (reprising here tropes set notably by Alan Moore and Grant Morrison), and The Secret Service Kingsman in 2012, where a young “chav” (a British antisocial youth dressed in sportswear) becomes a spy for an independent agency, the Kingsmen. The main stylistic type the Scottish author relies on is the question “what if ?”, where he often takes an improbable and apparently absurd situation (like an old Logan, a teenager fighting crime in the “real” world, or a lower-class Londoner becoming a spy), and weaves his narrative around it. The same can be said for Wanted, published between 2003 and 2004, where an office employee becomes a superkiller, and answers the question, “what if supervillains won the war for Earth’s dominion ?”. The relatively lesser-known of the British Invasion’s authors, Mike Carey, was also the only one chosen for this study to start his mainstream comics career directly in the US (although he later also worked for 2000AD) with Lucifer, a spinoff of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman started in 2001, in which we follow Lucifer Morningstar, a Promethean Devil archetype, who abandoned Hell and tries to create his own “pocket-creation”, an alternate universe detached from our dimension and the powers of the Christian God. As he was writing Lucifer, Carey would also become Hellblazer’s main author from 2002 to 2005. He would also receive praises for his own creation, the Unwritten, a Harry Potter inspired comic-book about the meta-narrative powers of stories. As we have seen here, every author of the British Invasion has his own writing identity and style. However, aside of Millar, most of the authors chosen 7 The British Invasion in Comics Adapted for this overview of the phenomenon also share thematic similarities, including a strong interest for esoterism and pagan beliefs, a will to meta-narratively question the comic book media and the superhero trope (which Millar also shares), as well as a will to question society’s mechanisms and limits to incite their readership to push the boundaries of their understanding of the world through well crafted, mature and complex storytelling. All those aspects and the success all these authors encountered with a broadened readership well beyond the limits of what could be considered as traditional comics’ fandom, including a new generation of films’ and series’ writers and directors, might be a preponderant part of the success and the frequency of the transmedial comic book adaptations of the last decade, as we will now discuss. THE BRITISH INVASION ADAPTED FOR CINEMA Since we are familiarized with the British Invasion and most of the main authors responsible for its longevity, it is now time to address how the impetus started in the four-colored pages of comic books’ spread to cinema, and why it might participate in explaining the superhero genre’s current success worldwide. As I noted in this text’s introduction, comics’ cinematic adaptations are not a new phenomenon in itself, we can notably remember Richard Donner’s Superman in 1978, or Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989 and their respective success worldwide, as well as their cult status in popular culture. Speaking of Burton’s Batman, we already have a fi rst British Invasion-linked incursion in the cinematic media. As the American director noted himself, while discussing the inspirations he used to write his film, he talks about how he drew ideas from The Killing Joke’s Joker (played by Jack Nicholson), adding “It’s the first comic I’ve ever loved”8. It is capital to note that this character’s benchmark, established by Alan Moore’s narration and Bolland’s art, would survive transmedially, even within the children-oriented Batman : The Animated Series, launched in 1991 after Burton film’s success, and created by Paul Dini (who notably created the character of Harley 8 8 BURTON, Tim and SALISBURY, Mark (as editor), Burton on Burton 2nd revised edition, London: Faber and Faber, 2006, p.71. Daniel Broye Quinn for the show) and Bruce Timm (who has been DC’s main animation producer since) , where the Joker was voiced by Mark Hamill (Star Wars’ Luke Skywalker). Then Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight in 2008 reused the same Joker’s interpretation (interpreted by the late Heath Ledger) and was also acclaimed by the public and critics alike. But Alan Moore’s work would have an even more direct impact on cinema. Despite Watchmen being optioned by Warner Bros (DC’s owner since 1972) already in 1986 and supposed to be directed by Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam (the only American within the British comedian group. Gilliam also has an illustration and animation background that would notably be used in Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969 - 1974) and Holy Grail (1975). Gilliam’s art would first be introduced in France by Gotlib), it is really Moore’s Top Shelf’s published From Hell (starring notably Johnny Depp) that would be adapted for cinema and released in 2001. The eponymous fi lm would be a relatively loose adaptation of Moore’s esoteric revisiting of Jack the Ripper’s murders in late XIXth century Victorian London. Although displeased by his work’s treatment, especially given its personal nature for the author, it is really ABC’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’s (the first story’s arc used for the movie was published between 1999-2003) adaptation that would incite Moore to cut all ties with the cinematic adaptations’ of his work. This poorly received movie (which still earned more than twice its 75 million dollars’ cost in worldwide gross revenues despite its 5.8/10 rating on IMDB, the Internet Movie Database that was used for most of this study’s complementary information) is a complete betrayal of Moore’s Victorian literature’s heroes “superteam” (term coined for a team-up with three or more iconic heroes from different books or comics). From a literary-savvy exploration of Victorian tropes (the fascination for science, strict societal rules, colonialism, etc.), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen became an inept action-based explosion fest that even changed the team’s leader Mina Archer (Bram Stoker’s Dracula main female protagonist) to Allan Quatermain (Ridger Haggard’s colonial-adventurer who is one of Indiana Jones’ inspirations), thus negating the whole gender-role exploration in Victorian UK made by Moore in the comic-books. This poor experience would even incite Moore, since University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 Daniel Broye then, to reject any affiliation with further adaptations, abandoning his shares of the royalties to the co-creating artists (which earned him respect from fans and comics creators for his artistic integrity given the vast sums he was rejecting on principle). Despite yet another deception for Moore from mainstream media, adaptations of his work would continue and further the cause of cinematic comics’ adaptations. In 2005, the Wachowski sisters (the Matrix saga’s directors) would direct an adaptation of V for Vendetta. Although integrating most of the graphic novel’s anarchist elements, it seems to have been heavily watered-down, and relies more on action-based scenes than Moore’s dialogue and character’s psyche-oriented work. However, and unlike The League, V would be considered a commercial success for Warner. The same year, Constantine, another of Moore’s creation was released and starred Matrix’s Neo, Keanu Reeves as John Constantine. Loosely based on Garth Ennis’ “Dangerous Habits” story-arc from Hellblazer, where John has lung cancer and tries to make a deal with the Devil to save himself, this blockbuster would once again essentially concentrate on action, and ignore most of Constantine’s defining traits (like, for example, being British, blond and often funny). Nevertheless, and despite what could be considered as an almost complete betrayal of the source material, the movie was, once again, a relative public and commercial success worldwide (grossing around 230 million dollars for a 100 million production cost). The last of Moore’s work mainstream adaptations to date is Zack Snyder’s 2009 Watchmen. Snyder already gained public and critical recognition with another comic-book’s adaptation with his 2006 interpretation of Frank Miller’s 300. From all the directors cited so far, Snyder seems to be one the most comics-savvy one (it is amusing to note that although not related, another Snyder, Scott, is since 2011 the main author on Batman, and was remarked with his Vertigo’s title American Vampire), and made of what is often considered as Moore’s mainstream magnum opus a pertinent adaptation (especially in the Ultimate Edition with 30 minutes of added scenes, and the animated adventures of the Black Freighter, a pirate ship story and comic book within the comic book, that already served as a narrative tie-in in the comics), often using a panel by panel version of Gibbons’ iconic scenographic structure University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 The British Invasion in Comics Adapted and Moore’s texts adapted in cinematic form, and with a great attention to details, including, but not limited to, the use of the music suggested in the comics’ version. Beyond the cosmetic aspects, Snyder’s Watchmen also uses most of the sociocultural and political elements and critiques dear to Moore as well as the meta-narrative questioning of the superhero’s status in the “real” world, which is, as we have already discussed above, central to the whole of the British Invasion’s reinterpretation of US mainstream comics. The ending is the only real infidelity to the source material, however within the context of a post-9/11 world, a worldwide terror attack targeting major cities seemed more pertinent than the very pulp science-fiction, and arguably ridiculous, ending of the comic books, simulating an alien attack in the form of a genetically-modified giant squid falling on New York. The second most adapted British Invasion’s author, Mark Millar, saw his fi rst adaptation by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov’s Wanted in 2008, which notably starred the future Professor X for the new generation of Fox Marvel-inspired X-Men, James McAvoy. This very loose adaptation of Millar’s work mostly reprised the main character and the assassin’s cult from the comics, however, although vastly different in content, both iterations of Wanted share a similar essence strongly imbued by Millar’s authorial identity that included his use of graphic violence and tongue-in-cheek humor to revisit the antihero trope. Despite Wanted’s commercial success (340 million dollars made worldwide for a 75 million cost), it is really with the two next adaptations of Millar’s work that would have a greater public and critical reach, respectively Kick-Ass in 2010 and Kingsman: the Secret Service in 2014, both directed by Matthew Vaughn (who was also involved in the Kingman’s comics). Although we already discussed about the content of the comics, it is important to note that although some liberties were taken for their transmedial adaptations, they mostly enjoyed a rather true-to-the-original material treatment, and started the trend of US R-rated movies based on comics targeted at young adults part of the “geek” culture (like for example, the now famous 2016’s Deadpool starring Ryan Reynolds, who was deeply implicated in this movie’ production). Beyond their 9 The British Invasion in Comics Adapted sequels, respectively in 2013 for Kick-Ass2 and 2017 for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, another British author could be integrated in this adaptation’s trend, Warren Ellis. With RED (the acronym for Retired and Extremely Dangerous), directed by Robert Schwenke and released in 2010, a group of retired ultraviolent Cold War era spies, notably played by Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovitch, Brian Cox and Helen Mirren, go on a last adventure to foil a conspiracy within the US government. This very liberal adaptation of Ellis’ one-shot WildStormpublished comic book (a full story contained within a single standard 124 pages collected-edition graphic novel), which was initially a revenge story criticizing and mocking the US government’s training, use of ultraviolent spies and the consequences it entailed, became a revival of what is often known as the Reagan-era action films (which famously dedramatized extreme violence with humor and is underlined by Willis’ presence). Tapping in a similar pop-culture vein as Kick-Ass and Kingsman, but more oriented in a 1980’s nostalgia, also currently recurrent in most media (for example in 2018’s Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One), RED had a sequel, RED 2, in 2013 directed by Denis Parisot and with the same cast. The last adaptation that we will study for this text is James Mangold’s 2017 Logan, the once again very liberal adaption of Millar’s Old Man Logan. Unlike most of Moore’s adaptations that tended to minimize the characters’ depth established by the author, Logan tends to do the opposite despite a simplified story. In this fi lm, we follow Logan, a.k.a Wolverine, on his last adventure and how he will save X-23, a young girl cloned from his mutant DNA. Oscillating between action and a road movie focused on the characters, Mangold’s interpretation of Millar’s work is emotional for the spectator on two levels. Firstly, at the narrative level, since we will ultimately witness Logan’s last adventure as he dies at the end, as well as his mentor and friend Charles Xavier (a.k.a. Professor X). Although nearly all comic book characters have died at least once in the course of their sometimes 80 years of stories, which tends to render the effect of death less impressive than in other media (death is even often considered as a marketing stunt to boost declining sales), Logan’s and Charles’ death in this film also marks, at the second meta-narrative level, the end of 10 Daniel Broye respectively Hugh Jackman’s and Patrick Stewart’s interpretations of their characters after more than 12 years of X-Men films, which means that although obviously neither characters are dead even within the extended Marvel Universe (that will most-likely merge the X-Men and Avengers, since Disney, owner of Marvel since 2009, announced in 2018 the acquisition of Fox’s entertainment activities, owner of the cinematic X-Men’s rights since 1994), but their deaths also meant the end of their interpretation by those fan-favorite actors. This aspect, instead of impoverishing Millar’s work, seems to have instead made it resonate even more with the public, hence its widespread success. Now that we have a better understanding of the cinematic transmedial adaptation of British Invasion’s authors’ work, it is important to note that in 2008, the same year Nolan’s The Dark Knight confirmed to the world and the industry that quality blockbusters could also come from comic-books’ adaptations, also started what would become the first installment of the Avengers’ 11 years serialized saga, Jon Favreau’s first Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. As we have seen, although the comics’ adaptations treated above vary greatly in quality of their adaptations, or in the overall quality of the movies themselves, their public success seems to have opened the road for more and more adaptations with a better understanding from producers and/or studios that comic books were not only for children or eternal teenagers anymore, which, in turn, encouraged the hiring of critically recognized directors that already had this knowledge as comics readers, or were able to recognize a good script’s potential when confronted to one and apply their vision to it. However, the spreading success of comic book adaptations on the big screen would also reach the small one as we will now discuss. THE BRITISH INVASION SERIALIZED FOR TV Although one might rightfully think that transmedial mainstream comic-books adaptations, given their serialized episodic nature, would be even better suited for television, their current widespread public success was initiated by cinema, as we have observed. However, it is still important to note that some of the first transmedial superheroes’ adaptations were University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 Daniel Broye indeed made for TV as the Adventures of Superman (an extension of the eponymous serialized radio program) was first aired in 1952, or the iconic 1960’s Batman series, starring the late Adam West, has become a cultural icon. However, those series were sporadically made, and even though programs like Lois & Clark : The New Adventures of Superman (1993-1997), or the teen Superman-inspired soap, Smallville (2001-2011), were huge successes worldwide, they shared a common denominator: their choice to opt for a family-friendly approach. This choice, that we briefly hinted at when we discussed about cinema, was most likely due to a persisting belief by the production companies that comics were still perceived by the general public (because let us not forget that comic books are, since the Silver Age, a niche market with a relatively small readership) as a relatively tame entertainment targeted at children or teenagers. To extend to a TV format, the more mature comics’ adaptation phenomenon, spearheaded by the British Invasion, would depend on three progressive steps. The first one was the generalization of what is actually known as “quality TV” series, which meant televised fictions that were reaching cinematic-level quality with better actors, directors, writers, and more budget, thus offering more complex plotlines, fewer (between 10 to 13, instead of 24), but longer episodes (switching from the standardized 45 minutes format to nearly an hour), and season-wide stories instead of independent episodes with a loose plot connection. The impulse for this democratization of quality TV series was started in the early 2000’s with the worldwide success of David Chase’s The Sopranos (1999 – 2007) for the cable channel HBO, which set new quality standards for TV’s serialized fictions. The second step that we already discussed above at length was the progressively spreading success of cinema’s more mature-themed comic-books adaptations. The third and final step was the birth in the mid-2010s of legal streaming services like Netflix, allowed by generalized higher internet speeds which finally permitted the seamless transmission of HD-quality video data in real time. These new technological and ideological evolutions in entertainment even led to the spread of a mode of series’ consumption, which was initially exclusive to aficionados buying the DVDs, called “binge watching”. Binge watching implies that instead of having to University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 The British Invasion in Comics Adapted wait patiently each week at a given time to watch one episode of any series (or record it), the public would have the leisure to watch entire seasons in a night (or a week), which meant, in turn, the need to produce more content than ever before, while still trying to reach the expected standards established by quality TV. This need for new material and the success of the cinematic comics’ adaptations seems to have led networks and TV production companies to also turn towards the rich content created by the British Invasion, and as Moore and Millar are the most cinematically adapted comics authors, second wave author Garth Ennis is incontestably their equivalent on TV. The first transmedial serialized adaptation of the Irish author’s work is Preacher, which started in 2016, and although it takes some liberties with the source material, seems, after 3 seasons, to capture Ennis’ twisted sense of humor and the essence of the characters he co-created with Steve Dillon, as well as the various intrigues of the comics. It is also interesting to note that Preacher’s co-producer, Canadian actor Seth Rogen, produced another of Ennis’ creator-owned comic book that will be released later this year, The Boys, which relates the story of a young Scottish man whose girlfriend died in the crossfire during a fight between a superhero and a supervillain, and is hired to join a CIA-sanctioned team of black ops, simply known as the Boys, tasked to regulate the behavior of super-powered people. The second series that we will discuss here is The Punisher (2017-2019), the third series of Netfl ix’s iteration of the Marvel universe, which already included Frank Miller’s take on Daredevil, and Jessica Jones. Although not necessarily adapting a specific adventure of the murderous vigilante, it is clearly Ennis’ take on the character that we can find in the series, especially the PTSD due to his military past (although for timeline purposes, the Vietnam war was replaced by Iraq) and his family’s brutal death, as well as his overall taciturn and brutal nature. Garth Ennis also enjoyed two earlier cinematic adaptations of his The Punisher. A first one in 2004, which was an adaptation of the storyline “Welcome Back Frank”, where Frank Castle (a.k.a The Punisher), freshly returned to New York, takes on the Italian mafia family who murdered his own 11 The British Invasion in Comics Adapted (although this link is more obvious with the 16 minutes longer fully re-cut director’s cut version, where some secondary characters get more treatment and the plot becomes deeper) and in 2008 where, although it didn’t reprise an identifiable story, it was an adaptation of Ennis’ Punisher Max series (an even more violent and darker storyline with an older Frank Castle). Since this phenomenon is still fairly recent, Ennis’ current dominion is likely to be surpassed progressively, notably with the current production of a Watchmen prequel series in 2019, based on the comic book series Before Watchmen, a prequel of Moore and Gibbons seminal work reprising the main characters’ backstory, published in 2012, or Swamp Thing, also to be released this year. The following series, released in 2017 and although a relatively faithful adaptation to Grant Morrison’s one-shot story Happy!, published by Image Comics in 2013, is less similar to the Scottish author’s usual work than Ennis’. In the eponymous serialized televised fiction and comic book alike, a cop, broken by the powerlessness of witnessing too many gruesome murders, becomes an alcoholic and ultraviolent hitman. On Christmas eve, while temporarily incapacitated by a heart attack, he is enrolled by a little girl’s imaginary unicorn friend to help him find her after she was kidnapped. This black-humor Christmas tale of violence and revenge with a PTSDsuffering morally corrupt ex-cop seems very similar to Ennis’ Frank Castle or The Boy’s leader John Butcher (who, in the comic books, is also a British war veteran who lost his wife in a gruesome way and will be played by Dredd’s Karl Urban for TV). However, the second season, released on Netflix as I was writing this text, departs almost completely from the initial material and, although still irreverent in tone, seems to have been more oriented towards action-comedy style narrative, losing some of its darkness and depth in the process. Earlier than Ennis’ and Morrison’s televised adaptations, was the “Arrowverse”’s (a term coined for a multi-series universe based on DC’s characters which started with Arrow in 2012 starring Green Arrow, a costumed superhero inspired by Robin Hood) Constantine in 2014. This series dedicated to John Constantine’s (played by Welsh actor Matt Ryan who is still Constantine’s “official” voice in animated form) supernatural battles against 12 Daniel Broye Heaven, Hell and the monstrosity of human nature was truer to the British working-class magician’s original material in Hellblazer that its cinematic interpretation. It even included the plot-relevant and character-defining relationship between Chas (a cab driver with a family) and John. Chas, a character created by Jamie Delano in the early issues of his run on Hellblazer has been a recurring and capital secondary character in the comic-books and was almost completely overlooked in 2005’s fi lm (although played by Shia Labeouf). Although seemingly promising and generally met with a relatively good public reaction, the series was interrupted abruptly due to poor audiences on an inadequate timeslot late at night. The final series linked to the British Invasion, Lucifer, that we will discuss here is based on the Promethean Lucifer created by Neil Gaiman and reprised in Mike Carey’s eponymous spinoff. Started in 2015 and seemingly successful enough to have its distribution taken over by Netflix after a cancellation in 2018 by the Fox Network which raised a public outrage, is however a complete betrayal of the source material and an average, at best, quality TV series. From the Devil’s metaphysical odyssey to try to distance himself from God’s creation and the shame of his banishment from Heaven that can be found in the comics, Lucifer has become for television a cop-drama with supernatural elements, and a Lucifer Morningstar who goes to a psychoanalyst (here reprising the trope of a fundamentally evil character needing therapy that can be found notably in the Sopranos) to solve his identity crisis. Although containing most of the comic-book’s cast of characters, the series chose to distance itself from any other elements of its original material, especially in spirit and lyrical approach, making Lucifer a mostly vulgar and bi-dimensional character very far from the refined Machiavellian one sketched by Gaiman and developed by Carey. As we can see in this chapter, differing from the cinematic adaptations, even though TV comic books avatars vary in quality of adaptation and the series themselves, the serial nature inherent to both medias seems to offer a more pertinent format for comics’ transmedial interpretations. Especially if we take into consideration the complex storylines weaved by British authors that are allowed more temporal space to develop, expand and even breathe. University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 Daniel Broye With the rapidly spreading binge-watching habit of quality TV, and the generalization of streaming platforms that allow a similar creative freedom, especially towards the usually strict network censorship (a small but pertinent example of this censorship can be found in Constantine, where John, usually chainsmoking and foul-mouthed in Hellblazer (especially on Ennis’ run), was only allowed to smoke off-screen and keep his language clean on Warner’s channel) than cable-channels like HBO. This tendency of British Invasion-inspired adaptations seems to be on the rise and is likely to expand in the following years, if the comic-book heroes’ trend is still able to engage a broader and broader public in a new and entertaining way. However, this phenomenon, as we have noted above, is still fairly recent for the TV format and would need to be followed closely in the coming years to see if the British Invasion would have a similar impact as on cinema. Now that we have addressed British Invasion’s inspired transmedial adaptations of comic books, for which the roles of the original authors span from marginal (or for Moore, non-existent) to a non-descriptive executive producer’s role on the big and small screen, we can now observe the peculiar case of a former musical journalist that engages in the transmedial adaptations of his multimedial work more fully. THE PECULIAR CASE OF NEIL GAIMAN As we have seen with cinema and television, although preponderant for the spreading and success of comic books’ transmedial adaptations, the British Invasion authors’ role seems generally passive, or difficult to assess precisely (which is a recurrent issue when the original author of any media is implicated in the transmedial adaptation of his/her work). However, between Alan Moore’s overall deception and Mark Millar or Garth Ennis’ fruitful adaptations, there is Neil Gaiman, an author so “alien” in each media he works for, and yet able to adapt his own universe to each with a similar creative mastery, that analyzing his work’s transmediality deserved its own treatment. Although I mean it in the most respectful way, and in lack of a better word to describe his work, the alien nature of Gaiman can already be felt in Sandman because of its unusual scope and the University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 The British Invasion in Comics Adapted difficulty to describe it fully. Beyond the story, there is also something that could be compared to a metaphysical experience when confronted to the jumps between the macro and micro the British author does seamlessly, dragging us along for the trip, while reassuring us. But although this aspect could deserve a further analysis, it is really the mediabending aspect of Sandman that interests us here. Although he could rely on expert artists to carry and enhance his vision(s), we can already feel that Gaiman’s understanding of comic books runs deep, which, in a way, could also explain the permanent delay of his work’s adaptation for the small or big screen, despite having been in post-production for years. Sandman’s storytelling is essentially made for comics and pushes the boundaries of the media while seemingly belonging exclusively to its pages. Another interesting example is Stardust, an illustrated revisiting of the fairytale genre published in comics format by Vertigo in 1997-1998. It talks about a young man falling in love with an embodied star and who will go through countless adventures to be with her. Although illustrated fairytales are a commonplace in literary form, the object produced by Gaiman is an uncommon hybrid that was usually reserved to independent comics. Despite its format’s strangeness, Stardust was still adapted for cinema in 2007 and directed by Matthew Vaughn. Although this movie is rather true to the original story by capturing most of its narrative elements and characters, ironically, it somehow failed to capture the eerie fairytale aspects (unlike, for example, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings adaptation, this work that Tolkien himself described as a fairytale for adults), making it a swashbuckling fantasy story. Beyond his comic’s adaptations, Gaiman’s work has extended to cinema for two animated films. The first one being the adaptation of the old-English medieval text Beowulf also in 2007, for which he wrote the script and which although some justifiably arguable artistic choices, that still nourishes a debate that would be too long to treat here, still remains the most interesting adaptation of the literary classic to date in cinematic form, likely helped by Gaiman’s fascination of Norse mythology and sagas (he even wrote a book in 2017 on the subject). The second film is a 2009 cinematic Claymation adaptation of his novel, Coraline, directed by the Nightmare Before Christmas’ Henry Selick, in which he was 13 Daniel Broye The British Invasion in Comics Adapted involved as a consultant. This movie is about a young girl, sharing the movie’s name, who feels the world around her is not what it seems and discover that an alternative reality is trying to take over her own. Strong with this experience, Gaiman also wrote two episodes for one of his childhood-favorite TV series, the cultural icon’s relaunch of Doctor Who (for which Alan Moore also wrote for the comics’ version while he was still working for UK comics). Both episodes, respectively from season 6 and 7, were deeply imbued by Gaiman’s brand of writing, especially “The Wife of the Doctor”, where the Doctor’s spaceship that doubles as a time machine and looks like a police telephone box, the T.A.R.D.I.S’ “soul” is incorporated in a woman’s body, and allow them both to communicate for the first time in hundreds of years. Once again, we can find this notion of mixing scales between the macro and the micro, where the supposedly most powerful ship in the galaxy takes human form to allow an emotional relation between her and the almost immortal Doctor. The last transmedial adaptation of Gaiman’s work that we will discuss here is from his literary career, but still integrates the same universe found in the comics. American Gods, published in 2001 and released in 2017 as a TV series, treats of the battle between the old gods of numerous worldwide mythologies (including the Christian one) lead by Mr. Wednesday, who reveals himself to be the Norse god Odin (his name is a word-play on Wotan’s day from which derives the name of the day of the week, Wotan being Odin’s Germanic appellation), against the gods of modernity embodied by TV, technology and consumerism for USA’s soul. It is also interesting to note that although American Gods is initially a novel, it is since 2017 adapted in comic book form by Dark Horse. This is of course an overview of Gaiman’s work that also extends to poetry, children’s books and the forthcoming short TV series adaptation of Good Omen, a novel about Armageddon that he co-wrote with British fantasy legend Terry Pratchett in 1990 (which, amusingly enough, stars David Tennant, who famously also played the 10th Doctor in Doctor Who), and for which he closely collaborated. However, we can note that similarly to Giraud and Druillet, Gaiman’s closeness with cinema and TV series also denotes another aspect of the British Invasion and its impact on both medias, the ability of those authors 14 to change the support they work on and, when given the opportunity, the ability they have to translate their comics’ knowledge to other media with similar talent and quality standards. CONCLUSION As we have seen through these pages, the British Invasion in comics had a deep and lasting impact in mainstream US comic books during its thirty years of existence. Although this study focuses on some of the key actors, we can observe that beyond illustrious names, the Invasion is above all a phenomenon that crystallizes three of the most influential comics tradition in the Western world, namely the French bande-dessinée, the American and the British comics, which all enriched each other through a process of artistic communication deeply rooted in popular culture in its noblest form. With its transmedial adaptation to cinema and television, the British Invasion was somewhat revived for a whole new and larger public, thus allowing the works of authors like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, Mark Millar and Mike Carey to move from the shelves of enthusiastic aficionados to the homes of a globalized public thanks to US cinema’s and TV’s hegemonical status. This hegemony once again explained by the American entertainment industry’s ability, despite often only concerned by the market, to become a cultural melting pot able to digest and readapt a broad array of creative talents’ productions. Although, and as we have also discussed above, the understanding of the British Invasion’s narrative depth and spread seem often to elude, or are voluntarily ignored by, the studios and producers of multinational entertainment conglomerates, as well as the directors and writers working for them, the omnipresence of the British influence in the expansion and, more importantly, public success of the comic-books’ adaptation appears not only to give us, as entertainment consumers, the opportunity to enjoy an ever-improving flow of productions, but also, as Alan Moore prophetized, to expect more than the “formulaic pap” that would ultimately turn us into “morons”. Of course, this process also generates great gaps between various productions in terms of quality and public reception. However, it is still well within the process instigated by those University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 Daniel Broye “dissident” authors who started their careers under Pat Mills’ patronage at 2000AD and indirectly led to the production of Endgame and its record-breaking worldwide success. Given the overview status of this text and the fact that the British Invasion as a phenomenon beyond illustrious names is still a fairly new field of study, especially in the case of its transmedial adaptations’ analysis that tends to focus on a handful of productions inspired by said illustrious names, it would be necessary to investigate all the elements suggested in this study with more depth. Nevertheless, we can already conclude that what the British Invasion did for comics is far more in terms of quality and long-lasting impact than it is in quantity, which is also likely to influence the small and big screen productions similarly. The British Invasion in Comics Adapted BIBLIOGRAPHY SOURCES British Invasion’s works by authors and by publications’ chronological order FIRST WAVE Alan Moore’s selected Bibliography MOORE, Alan, et al., V for Vendetta, New York : DC Comics (as Vertigo), 20054 (1982 – 831), 295 p. MOORE, Alan, et al., “Book One”, Saga Of The Swamp Thing, New York : DC Comics, 20124, (1983-841), 206 p. MOORE, Alan, et al. “Book Two”, Saga Of The Swamp Thing, New York : DC Comics, 20092, (1984-851), 222 p. MOORE, Alan and BOLLAND, Brian, The Killing Joke (Deluxe Edition), New York : DC Comics, 20083, (19881), 64 p. MOORE, Alan and GIBBONS, Dave, Watchmen, New York : DC Comics, 20083, (1986 – 871), 334 p. MOORE, Alan and CAMPBELL, Eddie, From Hell, Marietta (GA) : Top Shelf, 20066 (19891), 576 p. MOORE, Alan, et al., The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, La Jolla (CA) : WildStorm (as America’s Best Comics), 2000 – 20032, (1999-20031), 2 volumes. Grant Morrison’s selected Bibliography MORRISON, Grant, ROBERTSON, Darick, et al., Happy, Berkeley (CA) : Image Comics, 2013, 112 p. Neil Gaiman’s selected Bibliography GAIMAN, Neil, et al., Sandman, New York : DC Comics (as Vertigo), 2010-20124, (1988 – 961), 10 trade paperbacks. GAIMAN, Neil, Stardust, New-York : DC Comics (as Vertigo), 19982, (1997-981), 223 p. GAIMAN, Neil, American Gods, London : Headline Publishing Group (Hachette), 20134, (20011), 640 p. SECOND WAVE Warren Ellis’ selected Bibliography ELLIS, Warren, et al., RED, La Jolla (CA) : WildStorm, 20092, (20031), 125 p. Garth Ennis’ selected Bibliography ENNIS, Garth, DILLON, Steve, Preacher, New York : DC Comics (as Vertigo), 2009-142, (1995 – 20001), 6 collected editions. ENNIS, Garth, et al., The Punisher : Welcome Back, Frank, New York : Marvel Comics, 20142, (2001-021), 288 p. E N N I S , G a r t h , e t a l ., T h e P uni sh er : T h e C ompl e t e Collection, New York : Marvel Comics (as Max), 20162 , (2003 – 20041), 4 collected editions. ENNIS, Garth, ROBERTSON, Darick, et al., The Boys, Runemede (NJ) : Dynamite Entertainment, London : Titan Books, 20122, (2006 – 081), 12 collected editions. Mark Millar’s selected Bibliography MILLAR, Mark, JONES, J.G., Wanted, USA : Top Cow Productions Inc.(as Millar World), 20082, (2003-041), 208 p. MILLAR, Mark, ROMITA, John jr., et al., Kick-Ass, New York : Marvel Comics, 20102, (20081), 208 p. MILLAR, Mark and MCNIVEN, Steve, Wolverine : Old Man Logan, New York : Marvel Comics, 20172,(2008-091), 224 p. MILLAR, Mark, ROMITA, John jr., et al., Kick-Ass 2, New York : Marvel Comics, 2012, 208 p. MILLAR, Mark, ROMITA, John jr., et al., Kick-Ass 2 Prelude : Hit Girl, New York : Marvel Comics, 2013, 136 p. MILLAR, Mark, GIBBONS, Dave and VAUGHN, Matthew, The Secret Service Kingsman, New York : Marvel Comics (as Millar World), 20142, (20121), 160 p. University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 15 Daniel Broye The British Invasion in Comics Adapted THIRD WAVE Mike Carey’s selected Bibliography CAREY, Mike, Lucifer, New York : DC Comics (as Vertigo), 2013-142, (1999-20061), 5 collected editions. Collective Work DELANO, Jamie, et al., John Constantine. Hellblazer, New York : DC Comics, 1988- 2013, 300 issues. Cinematic and TV adaptations by authors and releases’ chronological order FIRST WAVE Alan Moore’s adapted works HUGHES, Albert and Allen, et al., From Hell, USA : Twentieth Century Fox, Underworld Entertainment, 2001, 122 min. NORRINGTON, Stephen, et al., The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, USA : Angry Films, International Production Company, JD Productions, Twentieth Century Fox, DE : Mediastream Dritte Film GmbH & Co. Beteiligungs KG, 2003, 110 min. WACHOWSKI, Lilly and Lana, et al., V For Vendetta, USA : Warner Bros., Virtual Studios, Silver Pictures, Anarchos Productions, Warner Bros., DC Comics, Germany : Studio Babelsberg, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, 2005, 132 min. SN Y DER, Zack, et al., Watchmen (Ultimate Cut), USA : Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Legendary Entertainment, Lawrence Gordon Productions, DC Comics, 2009, 215 min. Grant Morrison’s adapted works MORRISON, Grant, TAYLOR, Brian, et al, Happy!, USA : Original Film, Syfy, Universal Cable Productions, 2017-2019, 2 seasons. Neil Gaiman’s adapted works VAUGN, Matthew, et al., Stardust, USA : Paramount Pictures, Marv Films, Vaughn Productions, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Ingenious Film Partners, Truenorth Productions, 2007, 127 min. FULLER, Bryan, Green Michael, et al., American Gods, Canada : Canada Film Capital, USA : Fremantle, 2017, 2 seasons. SECOND WAVE Warren Ellis’ adapted works SCHWENKE, Robert, et al. RED, USA : Summit Entertainment, Di Bonaventura Pictures, DC Entertainment, 2010, 111 min. PARISOT, Dean, et al., RED 2, USA : Summit Entertainment, Di Bonaventura Pictures, DC Entertainment, Etalon Film, NeoReel, Saints LA, 2013, 116 min. Garth Ennis’ adapted works HENSLEIGH, Jonathan, et al., The Punisher (extended cut), USA : Lions Gate Films, Marvel Enterprises, Valhalla Motion Pictures, Artisan Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, St. Petersburg Clearwater Film Commission, Germany : VIP 2 Medienfonds, VIP 3 Medienfonds, 2004, 140 min. ALEXANDER, Lexi, et al., Punisher : War Zone, USA : Lionsgate, Marvel Knights, Marvel Studios, Valhalla Motion Pictures, Germany : MHF Zweite Academy Film, SGF Entertainment, 2008, 103 min. LIGHTFOOT, Steve, et al., The Punisher, USA : ABC Studios, Disney-ABC Domestic Television, Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Television, Netflix, Walt Disney Television, 2017 – 2019, 2 seasons. CATLIN, Sam, GOLDBERG, Evan, ROGEN, Seth, et al., Preacher, USA : Short Drive Entertainment, Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kickstart Productions, AMC Studios, Sony Pictures Television, DC Entertainment, 2016 - 2019 , 3 seasons. 16 GOLDBERG, Evan, K RIPKE, Eric, ROGEN, Seth, et al., The Boys, USA : Amazon Studios, Original Film, Point Grey Pictures, Sony Pictures Television, 2019, 1 season. THIRD WAVE Mark Millar’s adapted works BEKMAMBETOV, Timur, et al., Wanted, USA : Universal Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Relativity Media, Marc Platt Productions, Kickstart Productions, Top Cow Productions, Germany : Ringerike Zweite Filmproduktion, Russia : Bazelevs Production, 2008, 110 min. VAUGHN, Matthew, et al., Kick-Ass, USA : Marv Films, Plan B Entertainment, 2010, 117 min. WADLOW, Jeff, et al., Kick-Ass 2, USA : Universal Pictures, Marv Films, 2013, 103 min. VAUGHN, Matthew, et al., Kingsman : The Secret Service, USA : Twentieth Century Fox, Marv Films, Cloudy Productions, TSG Entertainment, 2014, 129 min. VAUGHN, Matthew, et al., Kingsman : The Golden Circle, USA : Twentieth Century Fox, Marv Films, Shangri-La Entertainment, TSG Entertainment , 2017, 141 min. MANGOLD, James, et al., Logan, USA : Twentieth Century Fox, Marvel Entertainment, TSG Entertainment, Kinberg Genre, Hutch Parker Entertainment, Donners’ Company, 2017, 137 min. Mike Carey’s adapted works KAPINOS, Tom, et al., Lucifer, USA : Aggressive Mediocrity, DC Entertainment, Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Vertigo, Warner Bros. Television, 2016 -, 4 seasons. Collective works’ adaptations LAWRENCE, Francis, et al., Constantine, USA : Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, DC Comics, Lonely Film Productions GmbH & Co. KG., Donners’ Company, Batfilm Productions, Weed Road Pictures, 3 Arts Entertainment, 2005, 121 min. CERONE, Daniel, GOYER, David S., et al., Constantine, USA : DC Comics, Warner Bros. Television, 2015, 1 season. British Invasion’s inspired or influenced works BURTON, Tim, et al., Batman, USA : Warner Bros., The GuberPeters Company, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, 1989, 126 min. NOLAN, Christopher, et al., The Dark Knight, USA : Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment, Syncopy, DC Comics, 2008, 152 min. Complementary Sources RUSSO, Anthony and Joe, et al., Avengers: Endgame, Brazil: Brazil Production Services, USA: Double Negative (DNEG), Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, 2019, 181 min. SECONDARY LITERATURE On American Comics and the British Invasion “A Portal to Another Dimension: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and Neil Gaiman”, The Comics Journal (TJC), Seattle : Fantagraphic Books, n° 116, July 1987, p. 80 – 89, <http:// www.tcj.com/a-portal-toanother-dimension-alan-moore-davegibbons-and-neil-gaiman/>, consulted, 20.10.2018. “The Birth Of Vertigo Comics: Karen Berger Explains How It Began”, Behind The Panel, USA : SyfyWire, January 2018, 16 min., <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3HzdbLiff8>, consulted 26.10.2018. CARPENTER, Greg, The British Invasion ! : Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, and the Invention of the Modern Comic Book Writer, Edwardsville (IL) : Sequart Organization, 2016, 479 p. ELLIS, Warren, Do Anything. : Thoughts on Comics and Things, Rantoul (IL) : Avatar Press, 2010, 48 p. University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 Daniel Broye The British Invasion in Comics Adapted MILLIDGE, Gary Spencer, Alan Moore, Paris : Huginn & Muninn, Dargaud, 2011, 328 p. On British Comics and 2000AD BISHOP, David, Thrill Power Overload : Forty Years of 2000AD, London : 2000AD, 2017, 400 p. GOODWIN, Paul, et al., Future Shock ! The Story of 2000AD, UK : Deviant Films, 2014, 110 min. On French Bande-Dessinée, Pilote and Métal Hurlant AESCHIMANN, Eric and BIDET, Eric (a.k.a. Nicoby), La révolution Pilote : tome 0, Paris : Dargaud, 2014, 144 p. P ODROV N I K , Gui l laume, R ené Goscinny, notre oncle d’Armorique, France : Jaraprod, 2017, 52 min, <https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=eWpXQD1Axes>, consulted 09.10.2018. POUSSIN, Gilles and M A RMONNIER, Christian, Métal Hurlant 1975 – 1987 : La machine à rêver, Paris : Denoël, 2005, 296 p. VIDAL, Guy, GAUMER, Patrick and GOSCINNY, Anne, René Goscinny, profession : humoriste, Paris : Dargaud, 2018, 192 p. On Transmediality JENKINS, Henry, «Transmedia Storytelling », MIT Technology Review, 15 janvier 2003, <https://www.technologyreview.com/s/401760/transmedia-storytelling/>, consulté le 26.04.2019. JENKINS, Henry, « Transmedia 202: Further Reflections », henryjenkins.org, <http://henryjenkins.org/2011/08/defining_ transmedia_further_re.html>, consulté le 30.04.2019. LETOURNEUX, Matthieu, « Des feuilletons aux collections populaires : Fantômas, entre modernité et héritages sériels », Belphégor [En ligne], 11-1, 09 juillet 2013, <http://belphegor. revues.org/286>, consulté le 12.12.2018. SAINT-GELAIS, Richard, Fictions Transfuges : La Transfictionnalité et ses enjeux, Paris : Seuil, 2011, 602 p. SCHWERZMANN, Katia, « Introduction au dossier critique « Théorie des média » », Acta fabula, vol. 19, n° 9, « Théorie des média », Octobre 2018, <http://www.fabula.org/revue/ document11596.php>, consulté 30.04.2019. TORO, Alfonso de. . « En guise d’introduction. Transmédialité. Hybridité– translatio – transculturalité : Un modèle », Translatio. Transmedialité et transculturalité en littérature, peinture, photographie et au cinéma. Amériques – Europe – Maghreb, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2013, p. 39-80. University of Lausanne (Unil) - Switzerland - July 2019 17