10 Comic Books That Should Be Made Into Films #9: Skreemer

This was a seriously under appreciated comic.  Maybe because it was somewhat based on "Finnigan's Wake," which is a bit of alien ground for most comic book readers.  Shame, because "Skreemer is a compelling story set in a dystopic future about fate.

America has fallen.  Disease and social unrest has brought the world to near Mad Max levels of hell.  The control has passed on to glorified gangsters known as "Presidents."  The greatest of them all is Veto Skreemer.  The story is set basically in the middle and it recounts the past and present rise of Skreemer as narrated by Peter Finnagan who's family had to scrape to survive while the Skreemer lives in luxury.

What makes it interesting to me is that there is much more to the tale than a gangster's rise.  See, when the Skreemer is at the edge of some balcony, a balcony without rails, and he himself is railing about things that happened in his past it is not just memory.  The Skreemer sees the past and the future.  He lives in a house without rails because he will never fall.  He has become the greatest because he always would become the greatest.  He would always marry his wife.  Everything that will happen has happened. 

To me that's what makes it great.  Because you can feel the mad anger of the Skreemer because he knows he is trapped in a history he is doomed to repeat.  Maybe Peter Finnigan is as trapped but he cannot see the bars of that cage.

A beautiful looking book that could be made into a film fairly cheaply and effectively.  It has excitement, heart, and some very interesting ideas.