Top 5 TV Series That Deserve To Be Comics
With all of the Television shows that are spawning from comic books these days (Arrow, Constantine, Agents of Shield, etc) I find myself wondering if perhaps we should be going the other way with it. A lot of series end with cliff hangers, or abruptly, I mean look at FOX and it’s growing reputation of axing shows before their time. So without further adieu, here are the top 5 TV series that deserve to have their own comics.
Heroes
If you weren’t under a rock a few years back, you probably heard the words, “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” The series Heroes which is returning for a single season in 2015, started strong. Unfortunately, a writer’s strike, a change in writers, and a general falling off of quality damaged it’s ratings, and no amount of excellent writing in the fourth season could save it. The rich history and time traveling, as well as the compelling villains really made this whole world worthy of an ongoing series. The reason Heroes is only number 5 on the list is because it DID have several comics written in it’s worlds, mostly short stories and histories of the previous generation. Hopefully the re-launch of the series will create some groundswell!
The Cape
Does anyone but me even remember this Television show? It replaced Heroes and went completely the other direction with it. Instead of a world of secrecy and super powers, the Cape follows the honest detective Vince Faraday as he struggles to stop the very first Super Villain. Framed for murder and thought to be dead, Faraday finds his way into a circus of criminals that helps him become the vigilante, the Cape. The world itself lent itself heavily to comic book storytelling in the first place, and it’s abrupt ending, cliffhanger and all, set a very good place for an ongoing series to crop up. I, for one, am sad we didn’t see an end to the main villain, or more of the dreaded Tarot Assassins.
Carnivale
Holy crap. No pun intended. This series was shaped like a fishhook. From HBO, and starring the incredibly talented Clancy Brown, this period piece about the Great Depression has an excellent biblical twist. The second season became a jaw dropping cinematic experience, with plot after plot woven together into a dramatic powder keg that left the viewer breathless. Then, with a major cliff hanger, it just stopped. I can think of no lover of stories or the supernatural who wouldn’t want every scrap of this narrative played out until the very end. I still watch this series at least once a year just to keep it fresh in my memory. Just give me the darned ongoing series already!
Alphas
Just recently, Syfy produced, presented, and cancelled an X-Men style super story by the name of Alphas. Dr. Lee Rosen, a passable Professor Xavier clone, puts together and leads a group of evolved super humans he refers to as Alphas. The most interesting bits of this series were the larger conflicts between other Alphas and a specific Alpha that wishes for their existence to remain hidden. The other intriguing thing is that each power is based in the brain, and has an attached issue with it. For instance, the girl with expanded perception, basically super senses, is also Obsessive Compulsive, desiring absolute cleanliness most of the time. The series had staying power and to this day, I am not sure why it was cancelled. A comic series could carry the story forward, and I hope against hope that Syfy sees the light.
4400
This here is my home run swing. 4400 was a series about a group of people numbering the title of the show, which had vanished from the time stream and then showed up, all at once, in present day. The group creatively referred to as the 4400 was quarantined, and eventually released into the world. This was just the beginning. There were so many twists and turns that lead up to many unbelievable moments and characters. At the end of the third season, the general populace is given the chance to gamble with their life, take the chemical that gives you powers and you had a 50/50 chance of dying or becoming super. On top of that, in the final season, the 4400 become the most dangerous and most powerful of the non-violent protestors. The developed stories and the mysterious Event that drives a lot of the main character’s decisions would have made for just the most amazing comic series. I still find myself talking about it with friends in the industry with a wistful longing in my voice.
Honorable Mention: No Heroics
I’m not sure how many of you watch British programming beyond Sherlock, Misfits, and Dr. Who, but there was a six episode series called No Heroics. Imagine the cast of the Heroes For Hire or Mighty Avengers crossed with the Office. This series was all about humor with the framing being that they are all members of the super community. I thought this series was a great, light hearted and funny take on the world of superheroes. I’d read it as a comic because I believe it’d be just as funny as badass, which is really some of the best comics out there.
I also would’ve accepted the tomorrow people or almost human.