OK, I have to admit that back in the day I went through a bit of a comic book nerdery phase. If you read comics somewhere in the early 90′s *and* are a biker, then you might be familiar with the Lobo comics. I was definitely a Lobo fan-girl!
Who or what is Lobo?
Lobo is an blue-skinned, red-eyed, cigar-chomping alien who is an interstellar mercenary and bounty hunter. He is a fictional character that appears in the comic books published by DC Comics. In the 1990s, he was popularized in Lobo: The Last Czarnian by writer Alan Grant, with artwork by the amazing Simon Bisley.
Lobo is the MAN!
The success of that series led to many more including Lobocop (a RoboCop parody); Blazing Chain of Love (in which he is sent on a job to a harem); Paramilitary Christmas Special (in which he is contracted by the Easter Bunny to assassinate Santa Claus which became a short film that was done back in 2002.); Infanticide (where he kills his daughter and all of his other bastard offspring that she has gathered to try to kill him); Convention Special (a send-up of comic book conventions); and Unamerican Gladiators (in which Lobo takes part in a deadly televised game show). Lobo also starred in his own title for 64 issues, from 1993 to 1999.
The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas special
Lobo was meant to serve as a parody of violent heroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher, with his stories featuring a nihilistic streak tinged with dark comedy and excessive violence and was one of the comic world’s most popular characters.
Lobo: the movie
Bringing Lobo to the big screen has been in Hollywood development limbo for years. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels) is set to take on the Main Man in a feature film. A script is written and allegedly is set to begin production early next year.
According to Variety, Lobo will be a seven-foot tall, blue-skinned, indestructible and heavily muscled anti-hero who drives a pimped out motorcycle, and lands on Earth in search of four fugitives who are bent on wreaking havoc. Lobo teams with a small town teen-aged girl to stop the creatures.
They are going for a fraggin’ PG-13 rating. (Ha, yeah…good luck with that fellas!) I have to wonder if these guys have ever read a Lobo comic? Lobo is an extremely violent (yet hilarious) character and I can’t help but to wonder if he will translate well at all to the big screen. To saddle him with a teen-aged girl sidekick is completely out of character. Next thing you know he’ll be carrying around a lil fuzzy kitten in his pocket…oh wait, that’s HellBoy!
Well, never say never. We’ll just have to see how this one plays out.