10 comic books that should be TV series

Done correctly, Transmetropolitan, Gotham Central, Preacher and Constantine could be really awesome stuff.

 

Shockingly, that was actually a quite sensible top 10 list, usually they're more questionable.

I've read that The Exterminators was originally pitched as a TV series and that it has at least been optioned as one. I remember while reading it without knowing that I thought it could work as a TV series.

 

Sleeper for me. it would be perfect for a tv show

 

Brilliant thanks. I just ordered the DVD for 4 quid, it's got good reviews on Amazon and IMDB.

 

it was quite good. especially when they changed and improved the CG.

 

And he's a blind lawyer! That alone would be a workable TV series premise on CBS, but adding the superheroics is gravy.

Yep. Looks like it never got out of development hell.

Sound like my kind of show.

I'd like to add Constantine to my wish list, and seriously, that's the casting-against-type role that Lee Pace would be perfect for. I'd love to see what someone with his talent could do with such a 180 degree turn from Ned the Pie Man.

There's a note on that page that Showtime is interested. A producer of Dexter no less! Is this recent or a defunct development?

 

I liked the Flash even though I didnt particularly care for the actor who played him all that much. It was a shame that it only lasted one season.

 

Always thought She-Hulk would be awesome as a regular series. Basically you got your lawyer drama but you've got a wise crackin' lawyer... who's green. And fights really lame ass super villians. And she KNOWS its a TV show!

Like Ally McBeal, meets Boston Legal... meets uhm.. a reality show.

 

How about Astro City? Some of the stories would be high bugdet CGI, but it has a number of lower key stories that would do very well. The anthology format would make it much better than the serialized stuff.

I don't get the love for Y. I read the first book and the monkey had more personality.

The movie Constantine had an end. Worse, a series would be tempted to plumb the depths of Constantine's personality. That would be diving into the shallow end of the pool.

It is well past time to make Alan Moore happy and stop adapting his work. Except XXXers adapting Lost Girls.

 

I'd love to see a proper series based on the Hellblazer comics.

Constantine is one of the more unique and well-developed comic characters I've read. Setting aside all the occultism stuff and magic, he comes across as a very real character (albiet one of questionable morals)

I prefer that he be portrayed as British (and the series should be based in London) and that he should be played by Dominic West (McNulty from The Wire) with a blond dye job

Hellblazer could definately work as a post-watershed/HBO-type series

 

Preacher sounds interesting.

I'd prefer a sequel to the Keanu Reeves movie but I'll take Constantine in any form.

The Pulse sounds interesting. And I figure they could actually get J.K. Simmons to play J. Jonah Jameson as a regular.

Agreed! Bring on the Man Without Fear! Heck, the way I usually go with these kinds of shows, I'd probably watch it just for the Matt Murdock/Foggy Nelson/Karen Page interactions. It's like, when I watch Angel, my favorite part is watching Angel, Cordelia, & Doyle bicker in the office.

The frustrating thing about about Birds of Prey wasn't just that Batman wasn't in it regularly. It was that it seemed like they absolutely refused to show Batman at all, and on the rare occasions when he or the Joker did show up, it was in blury flashbacks. It reminded me too much of the last couple seasons of The X-Files, where David Duchovney didn't want to be on the show anymore, and yet the writers couldn't help but tease us with the promise that Fox Mulder MIGHT show up.

I think Gotham Central could work and work without much Batman. They just need to make it clear that there's a very specific, legitimate story reason why Batman isn't seen on the show much; something more than we-can't-have-Batman-on-our-show-because-Warner-Bros.-wants-to-limit-him-to-being-a-MOVIE-character.

 

What must the standards be if Constantine is well-developed?
Perhaps I'm misled because the only Constantine graphic novel I've read was the one by Denise Mina, the Scottish mystery writer? It just wasn't very good, because the Constantine character was so to speak an argeggio endlessly repeated. One note was weltschmerz, one note truclulence at being forced to associate with with loathesome humanity and one note reluctant hero. It's a motive (or leitmotif, if you prefer,) not a melody, much less devopment.

 

They'll never do a Gotham Central show or anything Batman-related on the small screen in live-action form so long as they can make (hundreds of) millions off of the character on the big screen. Regardless, I still would love to see a television series version of the comic, especially with Ed Brubaker as executive producer.

Daredevil could work as a program in the vein of other legal programs (think Law and Order but with a superheroic twist) but Marvel seems invested in rebooting the character for the big screen. With The Punisher unlikely to get another chance at the multiplex, I'd give it another shot but this time as a show on HBO or Showtime. And bring back Thomas Jane. You wouldn't necessarily then have to make it a sequel to the 2004 version, just bring back Jane and in the pilot reveal he's recently relocated to New York, and continue on from there.

 

Here is some news for you:
http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/32984/frank-darabont-bringing-the-walking-dead-amc

 

I've been trying to figure out why Punisher just doesn't seem to "click" anymore...he was a super-popular character just a few years ago.

War Zone was a good Punisher movie, if a bit graphic. It should have done better at the box.

 

Paul O'Brien speculated that, in terms of film, Punisher doesn't really offer anything distinctive. He's a guy with guns who kills people; at the time he was imported into comics as a take-off on the film vigilante genre, he was a unique and groundbreaking presence, but he's nothing new on the screen.

Not that derivative products haven't been big hits; one imagines the poor reception for the first film had something to do with it.

 

I don't see why not, seems like a really good way to captialize on the popularity without the problem of diluting the character of Batman unless I'm missing something.

 

And Batman is just a guy in with toys who beats up bad guys. The Phantom and Zorro came before him. And Daredevil, Green Arrow, Moon Knight, and Nightwing being the K-Mart versions.

And besides, that's just on the surface though. Once you get to his core character, he's one of the most terrifying and yet interesting characters around.

 

Well part of Punisher's old appeal was that he was sort of unique, now there have been plenty of film "Punishers' over the years that don't really make Punisher that unique anymore. Now if they would integrate him into the Marvel Films Universe, then he might have a shot in terms of him being able to interact with other characters and their villans. Of course he fights more mobs, but he still always found time in the 80s and 90s to run into other characters from time to time. Part of what made him sort of interesting was his lethal take on crime, essentially he was a villan that killed other villans. Few of the heroes liked him and most of the time they had to really struggle with letting him go.

Although... a Silver Sable series would be kinda cool. Not many Nazi's to hunt, but they could be an international terrorist hunting crew of bounty hunters. I used to really enjoy the old 90s Silver Sable comic series. And hey find a hot European actress who has a sexy accent to play Silver. Preferably a blonde that can kick ass... who isn't Charlize Theron. Although she'd be a great movie Silver. But for a TV series they need someone who's a bit cheaper yet still... has "IT".

Another one could be New Warriors, dunno how they'd do Speedball and not sure how the "censors" would take a girl who can catch fire. But it would be neat to see a fairly competant team of teenage super heroes. Kinda like Smallville's JLA, but with more style and more down to earth.

Sleepwalker could be interesting, a character that only comes out when his host falls asleep. I know they used him recently in She-Hulk or Ms. Marvel where his host, Rick, had a delta wave device and they had him on a helicarrier or something. Not sure how long a Sleepwalker series could last, but maybe as part of a group or a Marvel anthology series. Someone mentioned Astro City as an anthology type series, why not a Marvel one? They could theoretically even have their "movie only" characters pop up as guest stars. And what I would even do is keep it all in the same universe and the same canon, sort of like how Star Trek did it with the movies and 1 or 2 concurrent TV series running at the same time. You don't need to watch either to get the whole story, but it feels richer. Like say...

You have a Black Cat episode where she's helping out say... Silver Sable catch some murderer. Silver and the Cat track him to a Stark Enterprises facility, one of them makes a comment "Doesn't Iron Man usually patrol here?"

"He's on the West Coast... don't you watch TV?"

One of the things that always made the Marvel U interesting was that it had a lot of characters set in New York City and that they all sort of intertwined here and there and even the "minor" characters could still tell an interesting story. Could even introduce a few X-Men every now and again. If a character really becomes a break out hit, they can then spin them off into their own show or give them a movie. Essentially its a cheaper way of introducing the audience to some of the vast library of Marvel Characters. She-Hulk would be a "meh" movie, but a downright FUN TV show. Especially if they adapt some of the old Bryne era comics and the last series. Andy the Awesome Android would be neat, especially with his love affair with another attorney and the fact that he can't talk and has no real face, and communicates by writing on a chalkboard.. yet is... Fully functional.

Even the Hulk could be fun to see as a guest character tearing around New York. They can't really use Spider-Man but... there's enough other characters. And I suppose they could reference him just not show him in action. Like a Daily Bugle "Spider-Man Menace!" on display or something. And yes the Pulse would be a neat series to see on TV too. Following a "former" superheroine reporter. Could be a lot of fun. Even if it only lasts a season or two, could give us a lot of fun.

 

If nothing else, She-Hulk could be a great fan-service movie. For this reason alone, I'm surprised no one has tried to make it yet. Or some sort of softcore Spider-Babe facsimilie.