Comics have been inspiring animation since the 1940s Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons. Even a lot of comics fans in the modern age remember growing up with some variation on the Super Friends. Comics even gave names to most of the Transformers, as the graphic adaptation of the toys rolled out before the first animated series in the 1980s. Today, that comics-to-animation relationship isn't getting quite as much attention as the relationship between comics and live action, but there are still a healthy number of animated products coming soon that have their origins on the illustrated page. That background can lead animation to interesting places. While there are only so many ways to render video of actors' faces, drawings can have incredibly varied styles; it's a freeing medium where the choice in look alone can be a key selling point. Certain animated series stand or fall on their ability to capture their source material, but others can only succeed by breaking with the characters' traditional appearances, without apology or reservation. This list is here to break down every major animated project for you, ranking them in order of how eager audiences appear to be to see them. Make sure you keep an eye out for them hitting your screens in the coming years.
T Campbell has written quite a few online comics series and selected work for Marvel, Archie and Tokyopop. His longest-running works are Fans, Penny and Aggie-- and his current project with co-writer Phil Kahn, Guilded Age.
