SupaScoot's Action Comic Talk!!! Comics on TV...

With the news that The Walking Dead has already been picked up for a second season by AMC, there has been a lot of push to bring some great properties to the small screen. While this isn't the first time we've seen these characters and stories on TV, it is a time when the studios aren't afraid to take risks and release something that isn't campy and watered down. So it's definitely something to look forward to. 

Obviously the easiest way to hit the networks is in an animated format, it's cheaper and easier to accomplish the budget breaking effects and scenes in most comic books. So it's no surprise that Todd McFarlane plans to bring Spawn back to the animated world on the cable networks:

"Absolutely," McFarlane told MTV News when asked whether or not the new series would preserve the old show's dark tone. "We're gong to a cable network, and that's their bread and butter."

"They want stuff that isn't what you can find on ABC, NBC and CBS," he added. "They've covered that field. We have now an area where we can actually do shows that get a little grittier, a little darker, a little more risque."

"To some extent, if it ain't broke, don't fix it," he said. "The three years [that 'Spawn'] was on HBO, it won an Emmy -- two of 'em -- for various reasons. They're going, 'Just give us what you're doing. You know what you're doing, just bring it over here and don't put it on their channel, put it on my channel.' So I don't think it's going to be an issue once we get down to it."

But The Walking Dead has shown us that these scenes can be as epic as their comic counterparts, and the comic companies are taking notice. 


Disney/Marvel has already stated that they are developing three live action TV shows, and the rumor is that The Incredible Hulk and Cloak & Dagger will be two of the properties to be given the small screen treatment:

News broke in mid-October that the company’s fledgling TV arm is making adaptations of The Incredible Hulk and Cloak & Dagger priorities, with the former destined for ABC and the latter for ABC Family (Marvel and ABC are both divisions of Disney). Entertainment Weekly‘s Lynette Ricelater pooh-poohed the Hulk report, writing that “any speculation about the return of the big green man is premature, though interest from ABC is apparently there.”

But in an interview in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, Iger addressed how Marvel is being integrated into Disney, saying, “we’ve taken back distribution, or bought back distribution from Paramount, for some critical franchises. Notably, Iron Man 3 will be distributed by us, and Avengers. We’re developing three live-action series for ABC and ABC Family. You can buy Marvel products at Disney stores. And we’re working on Marvel games.”

Personally Id like to see Moon Knight, Iron Fist, maybe even a New Warriors series, that would be awesome. Even some movie projects are now being considered for the small screen after a limbo in Hollywood development hell.

Y: The Last Man has been a long standing project trying to get off it's feet at New Line Cinema. The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier has expressed an interest in taking over the reins, and possible even turning it into a TV series:

"It could play as a movie, but it would be very interesting as a TV show," he said. "[It wouldn't work as] one large film, no. I'd love to do it as a TV show or a three-part series

"I like the idea of a TV show," he continued. "You take time to get to know your characters. You can introduce a lot of characters. You don't need your three-action set pieces that you usually need for movies. Frankly, with HBO and Showtime and cable shows, the DVD box sets and all, you can have a product that doesn't make you feel like as soon as it's projected, it's thrown away. It's really a piece of art."

Over at CBR they take a look at 10 Comics Ready For Prime Time, with some great listings like 100 Bullets, Preacher, and transmetropolitan, with a detailed look at how each would work on the small screen.

So rejoice, comic nerds. Because ours is a time where we no longer have to wait decades to see our favorite heroes and stories on the tube or the gogoplex or whatever it is you youngsters do these days, we simply have to wait for the commercial to finish. 

This has been your Action News.