Screen writers get turns at developing comic books

Hollywood has been plundering comic books for material for decades. Now it’s time for revenge.

The comic book industry, once populated by anonymous, low-paid writers and illustrators, is luring big-name Hollywood talent to write some of its most popular comics.

Filmmakers say writing for comic books allows them to flex new creative muscles and become more familiar with story lines they may soon bring to the big screen. They also concede it’s the fulfillment of fantasies they’ve had since they were geeky teenagers.

Kevin Smith, the director of “Clerks” and “Dogma,” has been a regular writer for “Daredevil” and “Green Arrow.” But other directors are now joining him:

• Joss Whedon, the creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel,” this month begins a yearlong run of “Astonishing X-Men.”

• Bryan Singer, director of the first two “X-Men” films, has agreed to write a series of “Ultimate X-Men” comics, involving the popular mutant Marvel superheroes.

• David Goyer, director of the upcoming “Blade: Trinity” and screenwriter of next year’s “Batman Begins,” will write a 100-page installment of “The Justice Society of America,” the popular DC Comics series.

This high-profile moonlighting has a double payoff: Big-name directors bring more attention to comic books, and comic books can help sell upcoming films.

In the latest installments of “Ultimate Spider-Man” comics, for instance, the story line revolves around Spidey’s anger at Hollywood for trying to make a movie about him. In the books, both Spider-Man and the evil Doctor Octavius confront Avi Arad, the real-life head of Marvel studios, and Sam Raimi, the director of next month’s “Spider-Man 2.” Arad tells the web-slinger that there’s nothing he can do to stop the movie, while Raimi orders the cameras to roll when Spider-Man and Doc Ock duke it out on the film set. “It’s a fun and a clever way to pay respect to the books,” Arad says. “Plus, Sam gets to look thinner, and I get more hair.”