HalLane wrote:
Scathach80 wrote:
Again, I find it odd that attempts to produce prolific film franchises based on prose adventure fiction written for adults has not panned out that well in recent, post-1950's, decades (e.g. only two Dirk Pitt films [PG and PG-13 at that, a compromise], no Tom Clancy films in theaters in the last ten years or so), yet these comic book based films have come out and produced sequels.

Well that's not surprising. Prose adventure fiction, and the films they inspire (like Tom Clancy movies), are designed and crafted as self-contained, stand-alone units, even when referring to previous work. Comic books on the other hand are intended to be continuous, ongoing little dollops of serialized story, and recent films follow suit, by design. Seems a fundamental difference, to me. The trend to look at here is change in the nature of how we perceive the idea of film.
http://monsterkidclassich...etective-Novel-Trilogies


Intriguing point. Outside of the paranormal adventure series such as the Lensmen, Harry Potter and Bilbo Baggins/Lord of the Rings, prose adventure fiction does try to keep itself self-contained, with recurring foes uncommon. These series tend not to build up to an arc with a victory over a recurring foe (although Bulldog Drummond faced Carl Peterson four times).