The comic art of Geof Darrow is fairly amazing. He draws huge pages bursting with intricate, minute detail. Though his work has many echoes of previous artists such as Moebius, there’s no mistaking the finished product for anyone but Darrow. He takes ages to put an issue of any given comic book together, which leads me to wonder how he can possibly write and direct an animated film based on his own Shaolin Cowboy. But that’s what’s happening, according to Variety.
Shaolin Cowboy sounds a lot like Darrow stopped randomly in front of a wacky t-shirt stall at Comic Con and fabricated a story to tie together all the ironic designs. Shaolin monk that becomes a cowboy? Check. Talking mule sidekick named Lord Evelyn Dunkirk Winniferd Esq. the Third? Check. Giant shark? Weapon featuring two chainsaws tied on
the ends of a long stick? A fight in the stomach of a lizard with a city on it’s back? You get the picture.
The Wachowskis publish and co-write the comic, and are on board as producers of the film.
Variety’s article also mentions that David Lapham’s Vertigo graphic novel Silverfish is getting the adaptation treatment. Sadly, Joel Schumacher is currently set to direct. I haven’t read Silverfish, but recently dug up my Stray Bullets collections, and was surprised that no movement had pushed that towards movie screens. I can be happy, at least, that Schumacher isn’t directing that.