Comics 411: Which Comic Books Could Benefit From a TV Show?

Welcome back! I’m Steve Gustafson and if you enjoy discussing anything comic book related, you’ve come to the right place. Each week we cover something in the industry and I always enjoy your input in the comment section below.

Previously on…

 
Last time we discussed the Hellfire Gala Here’s what some of you had to say:

redraptor: “It’s hard for me to get excited about this. Not because the stories are bad, I find most of the books enjoyable. I feel like the entire line is just waiting for the shoe to drop with little hints and WTF character developments that are just kind of left dangling there. His F4 and Avengers runs clocked in at about 3 years, which worked great for one or 2 titles, but the number of X books this is running through is staggering and gives the story a big feeling of MEANWHILE until Hickman decides to let everyone in on why all the characters are acting not like themselves. on top of that it’s just guesswork as to which titles will impact the actual story and which are throwaway so you kind of need to read it all, but not really. I’m sure Hickman has a plan, but it’s just a lot to get through to get there.”

Dresden: “I look at this mess and go “well, Marvel certainly doesn’t want me back as a reader, do they?” I’ve long maintained that Marvel and DC need to make free books to send to comic shops, a single issue that covers the current history of every long-running book to make it easier for new or returning readers to learn about what’s going on.

Marvel also needs to decide right now what team will be in the eventual X-Men movie and lay plans to form that team in one of the comic books, because any new potential readers are not going to accept “well you have to buy 3 different books because 2 of them are on this team, 2 are on this team, and 1 other is on this team.” I saw it happen with the original X-Men movie, so many people walked out of the comic shop because they didn’t want to buy 3 different books with a lot of characters they didn’t recognize.”

Erick Rowan’s Beard: “To be honest, I wish they’d take Wolverine out of the X books and just let him do his own thing for the next four or five years. I think it’d open up a whole new avenue for the character if he doesn’t have much, if any, interaction with the X-Men. I wouldn’t mind seeing him return to Madripoor for a while and get into all sorts of shenanigans, such as what was happening way back in the late 80s when he first got his own monthly series. I also think sort of “returning to his roots” as the ultimate loner would be good for him rather than him being connected to just about every significant hero team in the Marvel Universe.

I also wouldn’t mind seeing him in space, sort of expanding his horizons a little, maybe interacting with characters he normally has nothing to do with like the Guardians of the Galaxy, maybe do something with Thor or the Silver Surfer along the way at some point and, as a result, have him interact with villains he normally wouldn’t.

I just feel there are lots of things that could be done to fresh him up.”

RAWmachine: “Hellfire Club is one of the biggest misses in Marvel. It was one of the best groups that was way under utilized”

Al Lobama: “1.) GOOD GRAVY DAVEY, THAT’S A LOT OF X-TEAMS!!!

2.) Seeing all of those character that I thought were still dead (Madrox, Daken, Banshee, Pyro, Professor X – the Red Skull was using his disembodied brain as a weapon, you don’t get more dead than that!) reminds me of that Floating Hands Studios parody cartoon “Death Becomes Them” where the X-Men can’t keep track of how many times they’ve all died. “Wait, Jean’s dead AGAIN?!”

3.) Have the X-Men ever had a villain that DIDN’T end up of joining the team at some point? (Please don’t give me examples, it was a rhetorical question)

4.) I still can’t decide if this new look for Beast is better or worse that the Cowardly Lion secondary mutation redesign. If the new look is an improvement, it ain’t by much.

5.) Is Gambit a matador now?

6.) I’m kind of sad to see that Rictor has regained his powers. If any of the “No More Mutants” depowerings were going to stick, I thought for sure it’d be him since he actually became a more interesting character without powers in Peter David’s second run on X-Factor.

7.) If Storm is leaving the X-Men, wouldn’t she make a great White Queen in the new Hellfire Club?

EDIT:

8.) KYLE?!! You’re a superhero on an X-Team during a company-wide crossover, and your code name is KYLE?!! I can almost hear George Carlin in my head reminding us that “Soft names breed soft people!”

9.) Am I the only one getting a Joel Gertner vibe from Banshee’s “bare-chested with a tie and sportcoart” look? Banshee is Irish, so speaking in dirty limericks wouldn’t be completely out of character. ; )”

Ombudsman Of Parts Unknown: “I hope this event regains some momentum for the X line in general. HOX/POX was one of the better comic book events I’ve read in years. The first half-year or so of the main books (besides Fallen Angels and Excalibur) did a good job of further world-building, setting up future story arcs and continuing to shake up the status quo.

Ever since the Covid-19 stoppage the whole line has meandered a lot. X of Swords was pretty crap, imo. At some point there has to be some payoffs for all these setups, questions getting answered, and real stakes (which insta-resurrection makes tricky, but the writers surely have a plan for that). I don’t know, I never read Hickman’s FF or Avengers, maybe this is just his style.

All that said, it’s worlds better than most of the X stuff of recent vintage. It just hasn’t really lived up to the promise of its beginning, the flagship X-men title especially. Though I am loving Hellions, and to a lesser extent, Marauders and X-Force. I’m merely whelmed by Wolverine, Cable and New Mutants. Excalibur sucks, but I don’t care much for the Marvel UK contributions to the mythos. Strange, since I loved the Claremont/Davis original Excalibur run. S.W.O.R.D. hasn’t really been out long enough for me to form an opinion.

I know it would be nearly impossible to sustain the HOX/POX momentum for two years across a half-dozen monthlies, but the books seemingly have little direction whatsoever right now. Hopefully Emma, Shaw, Kate and the rest of the gang shake things up and give us some new big surprises, revelations and eventually, action.”

This week we ask…

Which Comic Books Could Benefit From a TV Show?
Jupiter’s Legacy recently dropped on Netflix and the series that’s based on the Image comic book series by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely might be getting not so favorable reviews but it’s drawing some attention to the source material. 

With Hollywood enjoying huge box office receipts, TV streaming services are looking to mine that sweet, sweet superhero money. So let’s fantasy book some TV shows!

For me, Matt Wagner’s Grendel or Mage are no-brainers. Either would be awesome to see as a series thanks to rich characters that would translate well on the small screen.

My heart says Grendel could be the real breakout though. Hunter Rose, a successful author who also works as an assassin before taking control of New York City’s organized crime…c’mon! Plus, his costume could become iconic.

I think given the technology we have, bringing the Savage Dragon to life would be an interesting challenge. An ultra-violent cop show about a green guy with a fin on his head that takes on supervillains has plenty of meat on the bone for audiences to get behind.

Staying green, how about Ambush Bug? HUGE untapped potential to take this character and make him DC’s Deadpool…without the “merc for hire” stuff…that breaks the 4th wall and provides the laughs and randomness. 

Someone once asked why Groo the Wanderer has never gotten any sort of love. I agree. An animated series is another one of those things that seems like it would have been done by now. I vaguely remember a supposed sample video of a cartoon series about Groo making the rounds but can’t remember if that was legit or not .Regardless, Groo deserves a show!

Right behind Groo is Bone. The Bone cousins seem like a good fit for a trilogy of movies or animated show. The rumors of something happening have made the rounds for decades, the latest being from last year where Jeff Smith said, “I’ve waited a long time for this. Netflix is the perfect home for Bone. Fans of the books know that the story develops chapter-by-chapter and book-by-book. An animated series is exactly the way to do this! The team at Netflix understands Bone and is committed to doing something special — this is good news for kids and cartoon lovers all over the world.” Hoping to see something more substantial in terms of updates soon. 

Transmetropolian is a natural for HBO and today’s current social culture. For this to slip through the cracks is mind-boggling.

A forgotten classic that would be perfect for TV is 100 Bullets which had a home in DC’s Vertigo imprint. Written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso, 100 Bullets was based on the premise of people willing to act on the desire of revenge if given the means to succeed. Many issues center on the mysterious Agent Graves appearing to a person who has been a victim of a terrible act or crime. Graves gives them the chance to take revenge by providing a gun, 100 bullets, and documentation about the primary target responsible for their issue. He tells them that the bullets are completely untraceable by any law enforcement investigation, and as soon as they are found at any crime scene, investigations will immediately cease. I mean, how is this NOT a show already?
Marvel could have fun doing a Squadron Supreme limited series show that would allow them to do more serious “issue” stories that’s outside their usual offerings. Bringing that original series to the small screen could be fun!

Astro City is one book that I would absolutely love to find a home with someone who would give it the proper budget and attention. The anthology comic series could translate into an anthology TV series, with its large cast of characters, with small cameo roles that come back to take center stage in later episodes.

What about you? What comic would you like to see on TV? TONS of properties to pick from!

And apologies to Bryan Kristopowitz, who did this topic last year! What the hell? Have fun with it!

That’s all the time I have. See you next week!