Top Cow’s Crosshair to be Developed as Feature Film

One thing that became abundantly clear over the last week is the grease that moves the wheels of comicdom come from the oilcan of Hollywood.  The motion picture and television industry keep the fires burning in comics, at least from a financial perspective.  Further proof of that comes with the announcement that Top Cow's Crosshair is being developed by Mandeville Pictures as a feature film. 

Haven't heard of Crosshair, with a story by Jeff Katz and Marc Silvestri, art by Allan Jefferson, and a Silvestri cover? That's because the comic is scheduled to be released on October 6 of this year. 

But the fact is, that's how things work these days.  Just ask Mark Millar. 

You've got to ask yourself the question of whether or not that's a bad thing.  On the one and, there is the risk that comics get made simply as a way to bring in Hollywood money. On the other hand, without those Hollywood dollars, the landscape of the comics industry looks very different.  Now, more than ever, comics are the nephew of rich Uncle La-La-Land, and without those checks, comics can't pay the rent.

Also, having further media in mind when creating comics isnt necessarily a bad thing.  If you ignore that aspect, of the business, then you're probably planning to lose money.  There's nothing wrong with being noble, sort of the same way there's nothing wrong with getting a job at Kinko's so you can get by trying to make comics in your off-hours.  There's nothing wrong with it at all, but it does kind of suck. 

And the thing is, it's not necessarily a given that a comic book is going to suck just because it's being made into a movie.  Crosshair's premise reads like so:

After settling into the life of loving husband and devoted father in the suburbs, a former assassin for the CIA learns he’s been brainwashed to kill the President of the United States. To his horror, Justin Weller has discovered that in less than 48 hours something or someone will trigger his suppressed program and send him into deadly and irreversible action. Weller must discover his triggering mechanism and uncover who is behind the conspiracy that will pitch the world into chaos.

Sounds like a fun movie right?  It also sounds like a fun comic book.  They're not mutually exclusive, so it doesn't have to be a bad thing.  Personally, if comics have to do a little dance for Hollywood now and again to keep the gears meshing, I'm for it.  Because if I wasn't, I'd have to get a real job.

Terrifying!