投稿類別 : 英文寫作類 篇名 : Superheroes: Comics vs. Movies 作者 : 王香云 苗栗高商 應外科三年 2 班周莨淇 苗栗高商 應外科三年 2 班洪靖嵐 苗栗高商 應外科三年 2 班 指導老師 : 王雅蘭老師

Transcription

1 投稿類別 : 英文寫作類 篇名 : 作者 : 王香云 苗栗高商 應外科三年 2 班周莨淇 苗栗高商 應外科三年 2 班洪靖嵐 苗栗高商 應外科三年 2 班 指導老師 : 王雅蘭老師

2 Abstract The aim of this research was to discuss how superheroes are presented and whether comic books and movies affect the sales of each other s. Literature research and questionnaire were adopted More than one hundred and fifty teenage participants took part in our survey. We found that box office movies would affect the sales of comic books., both movies and comic books success would promote each other s sales. Another finding is that teenagers prefer watching movies to reading comic books. Though, there is a limitation Taiwanese are not so familiar with the companies which superheroes 這個研究的目標是探討超級英雄如何呈現以及漫畫書和電影是否互相影響彼此的銷售量 文學研究和問卷是採用維基百科,Worldscreen 網站, 和一些網路上的文章 超過一百五十位青少年參與我們的研究 我們發現電影銷售量會影響漫畫銷售量 明顯地, 結果是電影和漫畫的成功都會促進彼此的銷售量 另一項發現是青少年偏愛於觀賞電影勝過閱讀漫畫書 但有個限制就是台灣人不是很熟悉超級英雄是出自於哪家公司, 以致於有些數據可能會被影響 Keywords: Superheroes, Comic books, Movies, Marvel, DC i

3 I. Introduction I.1 Background If you were a comic book fan, you should feel that there is less joy greater than seeing your childhood heroes onto the big screen. Superhero films from comic books. In the past, there were not superhero movies because techniques of films were underdeveloped at that time. There are two big companies: one is DC Comics, and the other one is Marvel Comics. These two big companies produce material featuring numerous well-known heroic characters. DC Comics well-known characters, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow and so on. Marvel includes superheroes such as Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Thor, Hulk, Deadpool and Ant-Man. Table 1 lists some representative characters from these two major companies. Table 1 Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, DC Comics Aquaman, Green Arrow Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Thor, Marvel Comics Hulk, Deadpool and Ant-Man I.2 Motivation A superhero movie comes out and a crowd of audience goes to watch the movie and there is something interesting about why superhero movies always have highest premierebecause either teenagers or adults like to watch superhero movies.why do superhero films continue to thrive? In an interview, the comic book legend Stan Lee (2016) said, Young kids love fairy tales because they re stories of giants, witches and magicians. The kids get a little older and they can t keep reading fairy tales but along come these superhero stories and they re really fairy tales for older people with people who can fly and are super strong and have super power. How can you not be fascinated by that if they re written well for grown-ups, but simple enough so kids can enjoy them? Also, based on Live ABC (2016), the superpowers shown on those early comic book pages have certainly packed a much greater punch than their creators ever dreamed of. Out of curiosity, we want to figure out why people like superhero comics or movies and find out the different elements between movies and comics. I.3 Research and questions 1. Do people notice that the movie is from DC comics or Marvel comics? 1

4 2. Should superhero films better reflect the comics? 3. Which do people prefer, superhero movies or comics? II. Methods The study is to figure out people s different thoughts of comic books and movies in terms of their popularity, ways of being portrayed. We want to know whether people prefer comics or movies, so we have used the questionnaire to conduct the research. II.1. Participants More than one hundred and fifty teenagers and adults in northern Taiwan participated in our study. The ages of the participants range from fifteen to forty-five. However, we had more teenagers and young adults as the subjects because we thought they have had better understanding of comics and movies. We also wanted to figure out the different opinions between these two groups of people. Chart 1 is our procedure down below. Chart 1 Decide a topic Design questionnaire Distribute questionnaire Conclusion Analyze results Data & Questionnaire collection II.2. Instruments II.2.1. Literature Search When we were doing the study, we read some articles and find some information from magazines and on the Internet. Then, we took notes regarding our topic of research. II.2.2. Questionnaire The questionnaire included ten questions, divided into two parts: people s impressions of superhero comics and their impressions of superhero movies. III. Literature Review 2

5 Nowadays, many people like superhero movies and comic books. However, according to the figure we found from WORLDSCREEN.COM (2012), WIKIPEDIA.ORG (2016), and MOJO BOX OFFICE.COM, superhero movies are more popular than superhero comic books. We take Spider-man and The Avengers for example. Spider s box office is more than 1.3 billion and the selling volume of the comics is only 150 million. The Avengers box office is more than 1 billion; however, its comics selling volume is only 135 million. But there are some questions for our topic. Do Superhero movies affect the sales of Superhero comic books? We used the list to show you the comparison of movies and comics. Robert Frost (2014) said that comic book store owners have continuously reported that superhero movies do not boost their sales of the analogous books. He also said, Avengers books do not sell more after an Avengers film. Nonetheless, there is an exception that is Watchmen. The sales of Watchmen comic books did increase in the year before and after the film. Furthermore, Zaki Hasan (2012) said, Different franchises freely cross-pollinating with one another. From Iron Man to Thor to Captain America to, finally, the Avengers, the superhero movie has finally arrived in its purest form though it may well have killed the superhero comic in the process. Additionally, Eric Garneau (2012) said, I think those fair-weather fans if that's an acceptable term feel somehow validated by superhero movies. In a sense, that's what comics and movies are designed to do and it's great for business. My point is that mostly, comic books and movies don't change the essence of the characters. If you're someone who's going to see Avengers, but you have no interest in picking up an Avengers comic. Honestly, why is that? Is it that you like the ideas and characters but just don't like the comic book medium? Is it a time or money thing? Or am I over-thinking this and you just straight-up like action movies no matter if they've got tights? Because that is very possible. In short, according to WORLDSCREEN, WIKIPEDIA, and MOJO BOX OFFICE, the sales of box office movies are better than sales of comic books. However, comic books and box office movies do affect each other s sales and popularity. Indeed, still some other people think that movies and comic books would either increase or decrease the sales of both of them. There are some examples shown in Table 2 below. US dollar Spider-man series The avengers series Box offices More than 1.3 million More than 1 billion Comics selling volume 150 million 135 million Table 2 3

6 IV. Findings and Discussion The research findings consist of two sections. Superheroes can be presented in two forms: one is comic books; another is movies. The first section is about comic bookssuperheroes originated from comics. In the past, most people read the comics before the movie companies released the superhero movies. Superhero movies arecomic books In what forms do you like to see your ideal superheroes, comic books and movies? is regarding movies; 4% 96% comic books Figure 1 movies (Figure 1) In what forms do you like to see your ideal superheroes, comic books Figure 4: The reason why you like Marvel comic books? Others The style of comic books Others Close to reality To envy the character has superpower The background of story is attractive Making audience feel creative 2% and movies? When we learned superheroes movies come from comic books so we did a questionnaire in order to know in what forms people like to see their idea superheroes. And about 96% of participants prefer movies, and only 4% participants prefer comic books. So we found that our participants like to see their superheroes in movies. 19% 22% The reason why you like Marvel comic books? 52% 56% 58% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Would you notice which movie is a DC or Marvel one? Which comics do you prefer, DC or Marvel? 28% 72% Yes No 65% 35% DC comics Figure 2 Figure 3 Marvel comics 4

7 (Figure 2) Would you notice which movies is a DC or Marvel one? (Figure 3) Which one do you prefer, DC or Marvel Comics? (Figure 4) The reason why you like Marvel Comic Books? Figure 2 shows that only 28% of participants would notice which company do superhero movies come from, but 72 % of them had no idea about it. Additionally, among these 28% of participants, most of them prefer Marvel Comics. Andrew James Myers (2017) said in the article From Scientific Romance to Disney Superhero: Genre Fluidity and the Marketing of John Carter, With Marvel, not only could Disney expect multiple hit tent pole film releases each summer and ongoing third-party licensing income from existing contracts, but it could also explore a whole galaxy of long-term synergistic possibilities, including animated and live-action series for its TV subsidiaries, brand-crossover projects, and insertion of Marvel characters into its parks and retail stores. We think this is why our participants like Marvel because its popularity is higher than DC. From figure 4, the main reasons that they like Marvel include: first, movies from Marvel Comics appear to be more creative for the audience; second, the background stories of the superheroes are inviting; third, the participants envy the superheroes superpowers. In short, the participants prefer superhero movies because they offer the audience much more imagination and creativities, and Marvel Comics make these superhero characters appear real, charming, and the backstories of these characters can be extended unlimitedly. Furthermore, it was mentioned in Live ABC(2016) that Marvel has grown into the world s leading comic book publisher, beating out even its archrival, DC Comics. Figure 5: Do you think it is necessary for movies to present all contents of comic books? Figure 6: If the adapted content is different from comic books, would you still suppoet the movie? 56% 44% Yes No 18% 82% Yes No (Figure 5) Do you think it is necessary for movies to present all contents of comic books? (Figure 6) If the adapted content is different from comic books, would you still support the movie? 56% of participants think it is not necessary for the movies to present all contents coming from comics. However, 82% of participants would still support the superhero 5

8 movies even if the adapted comic content is different from the original comics. Obviously and interestingly, most superhero fans would stay loyal to their favorite superheroes even though they would be portrayed differently on movies. (Figure 7) Do you think the selling volumes of box office movies and comic books affect each other? Do you think the selling volumes of box office movies and comic books affect each other? Figure 7 35% According to figure 7, 56% of participants think comics would increase movies box office; 36% of participants movies would increase the selling volume of the comic books. Apparently, the majority of subjects think that movies box office and comic books selling volume would affect each other. The bond between movies and comic books is closely linked. 0% 2% 7% 56% Yes, it will increase the box office Yes, it will increase the selling volume No, it will decrease the box office No,it will decrease selling volume No, it is nothing to do with it Would you support Marvel and DC comics to cooperate to do a series of superhero movies? 31% Figure 8 3% 66% Yes No No comment (Figure 8) Would you support Marvel and DC comics to cooperate to make a series of superhero movies? Figure 8 indicates that amazingly, 66% of the participants want these two big comics companies to cooperate and make a series of superhero movies. 6

9 V. Conclusion Based on Live ABC (2016), today books regarding the theme of superheroes rule the bookstores, the box office, and the hearts of fans everywhere. Some people like to read comic books, while some people like to watch superhero movies. Also, we know superhero movies originate from comic books, so people were fond of reading comic books in order to know the stories about their favorite characters. However, this situation has changed ever since superhero movies were filmed. Today, there are more and more superhero films, such as Spiderman, Flash, and Batman and so on. As for now, after doing our research, we have come up with some important findings. For starters, we have found 95% of our subjects stated that they prefer seeing superhero movies to reaching superhero comics as it is shown in figure 1. It is clear that most people have changed the way they appreciate the charm of their superhero idols and experience their superheroes stories. The medium of movies has brought life to these superhero characters, providing people with more creativities and vivid images. Second, the popularity of comic books would boost the box office of the superhero movies and vice versa. Superhero fans loyalty appears to be strong and firm. Third, to our surprise, only 28% of the subjects would pay attention to the origin of the superhero characters, either from DC Comics or from Marvel. They only know stories of those superheroes, but not their creators. They know about their origins only after our explanation. Finally, the statistics in our study shows about 65% of the participants prefer Marvel to DC Comics, but it also indicates that most superhero supporters are looking forward to the cooperation of DC Comics and Marvel companies. It seems superhero comics and films would continue to thrive, especially films. Eventually, we, the researchers, as superhero fans, are very fond of this topic and we have benefited a lot from doing the study. We have got to know people s understanding and perceptions on superhero comics and movies, particularly teenagers and young adults. Also, we have realized more information about the pop culture, superhero, which plays a big part in our life in terms of entertainment. Besides, we have learned about our limitation in conducting a research; it is not easy to find books regarding superhero issues and teamwork is challenging. However, with our own efforts and our teacher s instruction, we have conquered all the difficulties and completed our study. 7

10 VI. References Wikipedia(2016).Retrieved May, 5, 2016, from 87%8F%E6%8E%92%E8%A1%8C%E5%88%97%E8%A1%A8 Mojo box office(2015). Retrieved June, 24, 2016, from Mojo box office(2015).retrieved June, 24, 2016, from Quora(2014).Retrieved September, 16, 2016, from Sailors, J. (2016) The Superpowers of Marvel Comics. Live ABC, Andrew James Myers. From Scientific Romance to Disney Superhero: Genre Fluidity and the Marketing of John Carter. Retrieved January, 12, 2017, from o_genre_fluidity_and_the_marketing_of_john_carter 8

11 VII. Appendix 苗栗高級商業職業學校專題問卷敬啟者, 您好 : 我們是國立苗栗高商應用外語科的學生, 我們正在進行 專題比賽 Superhero:Comics vs. Movies 的高職專題研究 本問卷採不記名的方式, 請您安心填寫 您寶貴的意見, 將對本組專題製作這個科目有非常大的幫助 謝謝您抽空填寫問卷指導老師 : 國立苗栗高級商業職業學校王雅蘭老師學生 : 應外科三年級王香云周莨淇洪靖嵐 一 喜好 1. 您喜歡英雄人物用哪種方式呈現? 漫畫 ( 請跳第 2 題 ) 電影 ( 請跳第 3 題 ) 2. 您偏好哪一個的漫畫? DC comics( 請跳至第 5 題 ) 例 : 蝙蝠俠超人神力女超人閃電俠 Marvel comics( 請跳第 6 題 ) 例 : 鋼鐵人美國隊長雷神索爾浩克 3. 您覺得電影要完整呈現漫畫的內容嗎? 是 否 4. 你看電影的時候是否會去注意是 Dc 還是 Marvel 嗎? 是 否 5. 喜好 DC comics 的原因 ( 可複選 ) 能讓觀眾充滿想像力 背景故事較吸引您 羨慕人物擁有的超能力 較貼近現實生活 漫畫的畫風 其他 :. 6. 喜好 Marvel comics 的原因 ( 可複選 ) 能讓觀眾充滿想像力 背景故事較吸引您 羨慕人物擁有的超能力 較貼近現實生活 漫畫的畫風 其他 : 9

12 7. 如果你喜愛的英雄電影出續集的話, 你是否會花錢看? 是 否 依劇情來決定 8. 你覺得電影票房和漫畫銷售量會互相影響嗎? ( 可複選 ). 是, 會使電影票房增加 是, 會使漫畫銷售量增加 否, 會使電影票房減少 否, 會使漫畫銷售量減少 否, 完全不會影響 9. 如果改編的內容跟漫畫有許多不同是否還會支持? 是 否 10. 是否支持 Marvel 和 DC 漫畫合出英雄系列電影? 是 否 沒意見 10

13 1. In what forms do you like to see your ideal superheroes, comic book and movies? Comic books Movies 2. Which comics do you prefer, DC or Marvel? DC comics Marvel comics 3. Do you think it is necessary to present all content of comic books? Yes No 4. Would you notice which movie is a DC or Marvel one? Yes No 5. The reasons why you like DC comic books? Making audience feel creative The background of story is attractive To envy the character has superpower Close to reality The style of comic books Others 6. The reason why you like Marvel comic books? Making audience feel creative The background of story is attractive To envy the character has superpower Close to reality The style of comic books Others 7. If your favorite superhero movies release sequel, would you support it? Yes No Depends on plot 8. Do you think movies the box office and comics selling volume affect each other? Yes, it will increase the box office Yes, it will increase the selling volume No, it will decrease the box office No,it will decrease selling volume No, it is nothing to do with it 9. If the adapted content is different from comic books, would you still support it? 11

14 Yes No 10. Would you support Marvel and DC comics to cooperate to do a series of superhero movies? Yes No No comment 12