Men in Black 3 (2012): the film versus the comics of inspiration

Third film without a source to adapt, but the only one in the trilogy to find, by accident, an intuition of the original comic. Source-by-source decryption.

As in each article in this series, only verified information (creators, distribution, dates, publishers) is stated; the comparative analysis is ours, without reproducing dialogue or protected images.

Another sequel without source

Let's repeat the starting point, because it structures everything: the comic by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers, published in 1990 by Aircel, lasted in just a few issues.the first filmhad entirely absorbed — substituting a science-fiction comedy for its darkness. NeitherMen in Black IInor Men in Black 3 therefore have any material to adapt. These are original creations, written ten and twenty-two years after a comic whose spirit had been excluded from the start.

Men in Black 3, however, differs from its immediate predecessor on one point: instead of replaying the formula, it changes the device. The plot sends J to 1969, where he must prevent the assassination of young K and the ensuing invasion, in a carefully recreated Manhattan of the late 1960s. This choice allows Josh Brolin to deliver a unanimously acclaimed composition - an imitation of a young Tommy Lee Jones so accurate that it constitutes, in general opinion, the main success of the film. It also allows, and this is more interesting for our comparison, to reconnect by accident with an intuition of the comic.

The official faked story: intuition rediscovered

What the 1990 comic really told, beneath its B-story exterior, was the permanent falsification of reality. Cunningham's men in black aren't on a mission to fight monsters: they're on a mission to make sure no one knows they exist. They rewrite the facts, erase the witnesses — permanently, in the original — and maintain an official version of history that is an organized lie. It is a story about the power of recounting the past, which explains its cold tone and the moral ambiguity of its agents.

Men in Black 3 is, of the three films, the one that comes closest to this idea. By situating its plot around the launch of Apollo 11 and making the founding event of the American imagination a cover-up operation by the agency, the film literally applies the principle of the comic: the great moments of history are not what we think. The character of Griffin, an alien who simultaneously perceives all possible futures, extends this reflection on the fragility of the version of the facts. And above all, the film reveals that the relationship between K and J is itself based on a secret that K has kept for decades — applying the mechanics of organized lying to the comic duo. The tone is significantly more serious than in the two previous ones, which the critics mostly welcomed. None of this comes from the comic; but everything responds to it, no doubt involuntarily.

A time journey that doesn't exist anywhere on paper

We must be clear on this point: time travel is an integral invention of the film. The 1990 comic has no such device, and the mechanics — jumping off a roof with a device to go back through the decades — belong to cinema alone. Likewise, Boris the Animal and his species, the rescue mission, the character of Young O and all the revelations about K's past are creations of the screenplay.

This invention has a narrative cost that attentive spectators have noted: it retroactively rewrites the relationship between the two heroes, giving their initial meeting an origin that the first two films did not suggest. This is the third time in this batch of articles that a sequel has altered the past of its own franchise — following Harry's return in The Golden Circle and K's memory restoration in Men in Black II. The production of the film has also remained famous for its difficulties: filming began without the script being finalized, with an interruption of several months to rewrite it, which partly explains the irregularities of the result. Despite this, the film was a great international commercial success, greater than that of the previous sequel.

The characters, from paper to screen

• K young— Josh Brolin, creation of the film, main acclaimed success.
• J— The agent sent in 1969, driving force of the story.
• Boris the Animal— The antagonist, invention of the scenario.
• Griffin— The alien who sees all futures, creation of the film.
• Agents of the comic— Guardians of a falsified official history.

What the franchise never dared to take from the comic

At the end of this trilogy, one observation emerges: the richest material from the original comic has never been exploited. Cunningham's story covered everything paranormal — demons, occultism, secret societies — not just extraterrestrials; its agents were morally ambiguous executors; and its vision of a completely falsified world history had far greater potential as a spy story than as a family comedy. The films preferred the entertainment route, with considerable commercial success which proves them right in this area.

For the collector, this story illuminates the particular value of The Men in Black #1(1990, Aircel Comics). It's a key sought not for what the films did with it, but for what they didn't do with it: an object that documents an alternate, much darker version of a franchise that hundreds of millions of moviegoers otherwise know. Disappeared publisher, confidential edition, black and white format - the conditions for its rarity are met, and the fact that the franchise is no longer relevant keeps the prices accessible. It's a profile comparable to that of the other independent comics in this lot, from Flaming Carrot to Comics' Greatest World: the value is due to the testimony as much as to the rarity.

Where to start reading

To discover the source, the numbers of The Men in Black(1990, Aircel) by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers remains the only relevant reading: brief, cold, humorless, and centered on a paranormal police force that falsifies history. No album tells Men in Black 3 - but the comic illuminates, better than the first two films, the idea that this third part has rediscovered.

Chronology of comics to know

• 1990— The Men in Black: Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers at Aircel.
• 1997— The first film substitutes comedy for the darkness of the comic.
• 2002— Men in Black II, without source to adapt.
• 2012— Men in Black 3 rediscovers, via another path, the idea of ​​falsified history.

Collection side: what numbers to aim for after the film

The Men in Black #1(1990, Aircel Comics) remains the only key to the franchise: first appearance of the concept, confidential print from a disappeared publisher, in black and white. Its value documents a much darker version than that of the cinema - paranormal police, ruthless agents, falsified official history. Subsequent issues and reissues can be found at a lower cost. The lack of recent news keeps prices reasonable, making this a favorable buying window. As always, condition and gradation determine value; relying on real recent sales is strongly recommended.

Its place in the saga and for the collector

Men in Black 3 will remain as the best of the two sequels, and as the only film in the trilogy to join - undoubtedly by chance - the central intuition of the comic: that the official story is an organized lie. His composition of Josh Brolin in young K remains his most cited achievement. For the collector, the franchise always refers to the same issue from 1990, the interest of which lies in what it reveals about a version never brought to the screen. Men in Black 3 reminds us that an adaptation can rediscover the spirit of a source that it has not adapted for a long time - and that the best material in a comic is sometimes that which the cinema leaves aside.

The verdict: a rediscovered intuition, an invented device

• Loyalty: the official history falsified by the agency, the major events reread as secret operations, secrecy as a primary mission and the agency as an ancient institution join the spirit of the comic.
• Freedoms: time travel, K's past and his bond with J, Boris the Animal, the Apollo mission as cover and the character of Griffin are integral creations of the film.
• Collectible numbers: The Men in Black #1 (1990, Aircel Comics).

Men in Black 3 invents its time travel from scratch, but finds along the way what the 1990 comic really told: an agency whose mission is to falsify history. Carried by the composition of Josh Brolin, it is the more accomplished of the two suites. For both the reader and the collector, it is an invitation to open a comic that is much darker than its descendants.

Frequently asked questions