Friday's Variety reported that the Fox-based Regency Enterprises has acquired the movie rights to Doug TenNapel's graphic novel, Creature Tech.  Top Shelf Productions is publishing Creature Tech this week, but ICv2 got a chance to examine a copy at the San Diego Comic-Con, and we were blown away by the imaginative storytelling and superb artwork.  TenNapel, the creator of the Earthworm Jim videogame, TV show and toy line, mixes folk legends, philosophy, fantasy, religion and science fiction in Creature Tech, which has a storyline so bizarre and imaginative that it makes an X-Files story synopsis read like farm market reports.  

 

Regency Enterprises, which won a bidding war for Creature Tech that Variety characterized as 'fierce,' has a penchant for quirky science fiction projects as evidenced by its current co-production (with Warners) of Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain, a science fiction saga that stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. 

 

If Creature Tech gets made into a feature film, it may well spur sales of the graphic novel in much the same way as the film version of Dan Clowes' Ghost World did.  A brief synopsis of the plot of Creature Tech, which involves the Shroud of Turin, a giant space eel, and 7-foot tall Mantis might have some observers scratching their heads and wondering what those folks at Regency Enterprises were smoking, but the graphic novel is a very accessible and entertaining read.  Chris Staros of Top Shelf Productions is always looking for books that will appeal to more than just fans of alternative comics or superhero comics -- and in Creature Tech he certainly found a strange but fascinating work with broad appeal.  Don't wait until the movie comes out to stock and recommend Creature Tech.