Following up on last week's discussion, what comics would look good in a different medium? The Nerds of the Roundtable wondered the same thing!
In Outhouse Roundtable, Royal Nonesuch gathers the writing staff of The Outhouse to find out where they stand in the landscape of comic book fandom. The formula is simple: one question, a joyous multitude of answers.
Week 10: A corollary to last week's question – what comics do you believe could be adapted effectively to another medium?
Royal Nonesuch:
I know I talk a lot about Paul Chadwick's Concrete around here, but that book really is one of my favorite works in the medium. So I'm going to talk about it again. Personally, I think it would be a really fascinating television series. The title character's humanity would play really well to a weekly audience, and the big guy's on favorite television show, wherein a menagerie of disembodied heads float around in the afterlife and engage in all kinds of metaphysical discussions, would be great to see realized. In fact, forget about Concrete , let's see that show instead!
Another of my favorite comics in recent memory is 100 Bullets. The gritty crime series by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso would play really well to a premium cable audience, and the grand conspiracies and political machinations would definitely bring people in week after week for years.
Eli Katz:
Scalped could easily be turned into an exceptional cable TV series. It has elements of The Wire in it, but instead of focusing on the urban ghetto, it examines the poverty and corruption of the Rez. It has elements of The Sopranos , too. Red Crow is somewhat like Tony Soprano, but he's more complex and more likeable. And it even has similarities to Breaking Bad ; both put their main characters in seemingly impossible situations and manage to allow them escape, most times reasonably unharmed. If I were a TV exec, I'd hire Tom Fontana and James Yoshimura, and have them transform this comic book series into a five- or six-year show. It would be awesome!
dairydead:
I think that Runaways could easily be adapted into an exciting serial television series. The book played out like a teen drama, it has everything a teen drama could want: love, lust, betrayal, jealousy, and attractive people. Plus add on the fact that there are twists and turns every other issue, and then throw in some cool superpowers, you have a potentially great show.
prozacman:
I think Peter David's X-Factor would make for a good TV series. The book reads like Joss Whedon's Angel TV series. You wouldn't have to change much from the comic's scripts and practically use the actual comic for the story boards. Being an X-Men spinoff you have a built in audience from the start. Though it would be PAD's compelling stories and cliff hangers that would keep people coming back for more.
The only real hurdle would be finding a way to do the effects for Strong Guy on a TV budget. All the other characters would have limited or reasonably priced special effects, but I can't imagine Guido without some constant CGI or video effects every time he is on screen .
Punchy:
I'll echo the suggestion that Scalped should be an HBO show, it pretty much is already, and would just be so so good to see on screen. In fact, most Vertigo series could be adapted to HBO series, Y:The Last Man , DMZ , Hellblazer , American Vampire , these could all be hits for a cable network.
I also think that of all of Marvel's properties, Daredevil would be the best to translate into a TV series. We all know that legal dramas are the big thing, and Matt Murdock could be the new Good Wife ! Add to that the fact that DD is a super-hero with a pretty low-key set of super-powers, which means it wouldn't be too expensive to show him out crime-fighting, and it just makes a hell of a lot of sense. If Superman and Powers and Hulk can be put on screen cheaply, then so can Daredevil . And if that doesn't work out, DC can put Manhunter on TV, she's basically a female Daredevil anyway.
I also think James Robinson's Starman would make a good TV show, but you'd have to boil it down to it's central components and get rid of a lot of the DCU stuff that creeps in.
J.M. Hunter:
I think Jim Krueger's The Foot Soldiers should've been T.V.'s Heroes before there was Heroes . It's a strongly written, well thought out world with enough mystique and mystery surrounding an intimate cast of young adults finding themselves in the most unlikiest of roles, Heroes.
Also, Maus ! We're getting Tintin , now we need Maus . Utilizing the technology in animation we have today, I could easily see a fully rendered version of Art Spiegelman's tragic anthropomorphic Holocaust tale.
Amoebas:
There are so many that could work: Preacher , Fables , Challengers of the Unknown , Scalped , Zot , etc. But the one I think i would be like to see most is The Demon .
In the cinemas and TV we are on overload with vampires, werewolves, etc. Why not have an actual demon from the pits of hell? A creature who is capable of massive amounts of wanton destruction and willing to kill at a whim (whether it be in Hell or on Earth). Now enter the reverse of the typical possession theme - where it's the demon who is possessed by a human. With the character of Jason Blood now giving this dark creature of evil a moral compass it never had before, the potential is limitless with both Earth and Hell as playgrounds.
Greg:
Hmm, quite a few. I've been eagerly awaiting for Strange Embrace to be officially announced as a movie. Get a competent director and crew/cast and you have the makings of a damn great solid psychological horror film that doesn't require an excessive and pointless gore to shock and scare audiences. Just plain old tension building and suspense and some truly messed up characters and the horrible ways they affect each other into downward spirals.
I've always imagined Peter David's recent X-Factor run as a Joss Whedon type TV show in the style of Angel . I'm still praying to the comic geek gods for that. I think other properties are simply dying to be made and would be excellent if done with care. Properties like Savage Dragon , Proof , Dynamo 5 , Noble Causes , Green Wake , Shadowman .
I'd love to direct Anansi Boys (ok, ok, so not a comic property, but it's by a comic writer!!!).
e_galston:
For me the obvious choice is Runaways . Either in a tv show or a movie, it could be very good. If they stick to the first storyline you have what could be the basis of the first season. Plus you don't have to worry about having "costumes."
Another property that could potentially be a good show could be The Question , either Vic or Renee. I could see it working as a television series. It could be based in Gotham or Metropolis, and focus on the Question solving a big conspiracy that involves the greater DC Universe. Could have guest appearances by other DC Heroes (in or out of costume).
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