But nearly as important, is it based on the comic The DNA Hacker Chronicles? Or is the comic just a prequel, and the story got cooked up because it's so cool to base movies on comics (er, graphic novels) right now?
I'm not here to spoil anyone's marketing campaign; I just love comic book movies and really want to get down to the truth - is the film based on a comic book? If it is, I'd like to see the source material - what was the original comic like?
The answer took a little work.
Bloodfire studios is publishing the comic The DNA Hacker Chronicles as a prequel to The Gene Generation. But they're saying it's a redesign of a a "cuberpunk comic" that was a "sold out underground hit". The problem is, I couldn't find a single reference to the "underground" comic anywhere on the internet - except in reference directly to the Gene Generation movie. Bloodfire Studios' web site (linked above) states, "Creator Pearry Teo is quoted saying 'I've held back the idea of re-releasing the comic book unless I can find an amazing slew of artists and cutting edge minded people to work with...'" So, according to them, Teo is the original creator of the underground comic. The Bloodfire Studios ComicSpace page notes that "The DNA Hacker Chronicles is a 6 issue mini series from the mind of Pearry Reginald Teo" and that with it, they are bringing to the U.S. the "...the underground comic sensation that inspired the movie The Gene Generation."
Hmmm...
The Gene Generation MySpace blog mentions the re-release of the comic through Diamond Comics. It also says the film is based on the The DNA Hacker Chronicles, showing a pic of Bloodfire's new release. It also gives this little blurb:
From grassroots beginnings, The Gene Generation started out through artists and friends and fans who have a similar vision: That Cyberpunk is still alive and kicking. With only a couple of sketches in 2004, we have come a long way to finally completing a feature film. This myspace page is a dedication to those who have stuck with us as we continue (without studio backing) to push forward in spreading the word about this humble project, both as a comic book and a movie.Which doesn't tell me much - except maybe both projects started in parallel.
But maybe it's really underground. I couldn't find references on the author's (director's) MySpace page, I couldn't find anywhere that's selling back issues of the "sold out" comic. I mean, sure, maybe it was self-published and there were so few copies that it's extremely rare. But I would think that somewhere on the internet, as much information as gets posted about everything, that somebody would talk about it. Nothing in Google searches, nothing in Wikipedia, nothing on ComicSpace. Nothing concrete on any site related to the Gene Generation or DNA Hackers; just the aforementioned vague references to the sold out underground comic hit.
There are even some interviews that talk about how the movie came about. Teo talks about getting the script in this interview - nothing about a comic. And the interviews on this Gene Generation MySpace page don't allude to a comic book source either.
And finally paydirt. One of the stars of the film (Parry Shen) blogged in December that the comic was coming out in January "to strengthen the audience base for the movie." But the final nail in the coffin was reading on comic book artist Matt Olson's web site that he was working on a "comic adaptation of a feature film." The internet trail can be a funny thing. I found his site from his MySpace page. But I got to his MySpace page from another MySpace page, where he left the comment, "I have this other book series in the works called 'DNA Hacker Chronicles' in the meantime (not my idear but based on a movie) ".
So, it looks to me like Bloodfire Studios cooked up the story for a little publicity.
I think my work here is done.
I'm sorry if I bursted anyone's comic book movie bubble...
But if there is some sort of weird underground comic that came before - somebody please let me know.
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