Posted 07/30/2010 420 PM by Alison Willmore
“A Contract With God,” DC Comics, 2000
Getting a little less attention than glossier fare like “The Avengers” and “Cowboys & Aliens” in the four-day firestorm of Comic-Con unveilings the past weekend was the announcement that “A Contract With God” was headed to the big screen, indie-style.
Will Eisner’s masterpiece, which consists of four semi-autobiographical short stories set in the Bronx and its environs in the 1930s, is considered a landmark of the form. It’s one of the main texts, along with “Watchmen” and “Maus,” that gets brought up by people making the case for the potential of comic books and graphic novels as art forms.
Each of the four parts of “A Contract With God” will be handled, anthology-style, by one of four up-and-coming indie filmmakers. The dream team and the segments they’ll each handle:
Sean Baker: “Cookalien”
One of the creators of the “Greg the Bunny” franchise, formerly of IFC, then Fox, then IFC again, then MTV, Baker directed and co-wrote the naturalistic New York City immigrant tales “Take Out” (2004) (which you can currently stream on Netflix Instant) and “Prince of Broadway” (2008), along with his 2000 debut “Four Letter Words” (also on Netflix Instant).
