Script by Darren Aronofsky based on a screen story by Aronofsky, Sean Gullette, and Eric Watson
Designed and drawn by Edward Ross Flynn
Published by Artisan Entertainment and distributed by Dark Horse Comics in 1998.
. . .
“A universe of numbers that represents the global economy. Millions of human hands at work. Billions of minds. A vast network screaming with life.”
. . .
Review by William D. Tucker.
Max, a mathematician, scrounges for electronics parts in junkyards. He assembles a computer in his tiny Brooklyn apartment which he calls Euclid. Using Euclid, he begins to analyze patterns in the numbers of the stock market. Max comes to believe in some grandiose self-aware pattern/process existing within the flows of global capitalism. A Kabbalah researcher tries to get Max interested in religious numerology, but he resists this. However, the question arises: is Max’s pursuit of patterns real, or a delusion-or, to put it more charitably, more an exercise of faith than science?
So . . . people create books and plays and short stories and comic books and video games and then they get adapted into movies.
Movies are made and then they get adapted into novelizations, tie-in video games, and comic books.
Pi: The Book of Ants is a comic book adapted from the movie Pi.
Remember Pi? That was a black and white indie movie that used science fiction, conspiracy thriller, and horror genre elements to frame mathematician Max Cohen’s psychodynamic struggles to decide where his values lie: with religion, with science, with big business, or with his own pursuit of mathematical truth. Pi traced an intriguing path among conflicting arenas by deploying a kinetic-subjective audio-visual style that evoked a classic “Alienated in NYC” vibe. Rhythmic editing binds the fast pace of big city existence with a repeated action of dry swallowing pharmaceutical speed that may or may not be sanctioned by a doctor’s prescription. Max lives among people even as he is emotionally isolated from his neighbors who are constantly trying to reach out to him in ways big and small. A beautiful married woman next door may have a conflicted romantic interest in him. A little girl constantly asks him to do math problems in his head like he’s a trained dog performing a trick. A lady from a predictive analytics firm calls him on the phone in an attempt to headhunt him or just steal his bespoke supercomputer Euclid. Max’s only friend is his retired Ivy League math professor mentor who-somewhat reluctantly-enables him to pursue his obsession by talking shop over games of go. Pi-the movie-features scenes of grotesque hallucinations that suggest either Max’s elevated consciousness or his spiral into a mental meltdown. Some of it plays like a Brooklyn-based filmmaker who saw Tetsuo the Iron Man at a film festival, and was like,”That’s it! That’s the movie I should be making!” but then was tempered somewhat by an interest in the conflict between faith and skepticism and a reading list of modernist existentialism. Tetsuo the Iron Man was all about an explosion of techno-irrationality extruding itself through human bodies and minds. Pi is sort of like the same process being interdicted by a mixture of mathematical thinking and psychiatric medication which manages to tame and contain an inner mutant of rage. Although it may be condescending to say it like this, I’ve always thought of Pi as a displaced alternate ending of Tetsuo the Iron Man, which probably says more about me than either of these two movies.
Pi:The Book of Ants offers a slightly different version of the movie in which Max’s sexual frustration and fear of his married neighbor are foregrounded with a strong hint of misogyny. In the movie Max doesn’t seem to have any sexual interest in anyone. His great love is the pursuit of mathematical-metaphysical truth. The comic version has a scratchy black and white expressionist look that amplifies Max’s subjectivity. Every line, every figure emanates from his consciousness. The movie is also framed subjectively, however the location shooting pushes Max’s consciousness up against the external world thereby creating a fascinating friction. The comic is all in Max’s head. The film is about a kind of battle between the larger world and Max’s obsessive interests.
Unfortunately, the comic ends abruptly, which is too bad. It has terrific art. I was left with the impression that a talented illustrator had been hired to create a promotional artifact under a deadline, and did well, but that it was doomed to be an ancillary product of the movie. Which is the fate of most media tie-in products.
Writer/Director Darren Aronofsky would publish more fully realized “graphic novel” adaptations of his later films The Fountain and Noah, so comics production/publishing has become a consistent part of Aronofsky’s overall marketing efforts for his science fiction themed movies. It may also be a way for him to maintain control of some intellectual property rights since his movies have typically been produced by powerful media companies. The Fountain was put out by Warner Brothers. Noah was Paramount. Pi was Artisan, a big indie player back in the day. Although Aronofsky has maintained a career as an auteurist writer/director, I assume he’s probably had to sign away quite a bit of control to the big companies over the years. That’s just how that sort of thing works.
I read Pi:The Book of Ants on the Internet Archive, and it was a totally painless experience. It made me think back fondly on a movie I haven’t watched in ages while also being a decent work of comics art in its own right. Not bad at all for a media tie-in product.
Fuck, I think I might still have the Pi DVD at the bottom of a cardboard box somewhere . . .
Be nice to watch it again . . .
BONUS FUN: Picture in your mind a deep fake AI mash-up of Pi and American Pie called . . . American Pi . . . that’s some MadTV level shit right there . . . uwee-hee-hee-hee . . . !
