Right now is a great time to be a fan of comics and television. With shows like The Walking Dead breaking ratings records with each new season, and the upcoming Joss Whedon helmed The Avengers tie-in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. poised to be a major success, TV execs are looking for new comic series to adapt to the small screen. They've had some success in the past with shows like Smallville, and more recently with Arrow doing way better than anyone thought it had a right to, but superheroes generally seem to work better on the big screen. It's a good thing there are plenty of other genres in comics, some that seem made for TV. You've got spy thrillers, crime thrillers, horror, sci-fi, even a couple Police procedural type stories to work with. I've spent a lot of time thinking about it, and have compiled a list of ten comics that would make great telly. Some of these series are even better written than what's on our screens, and all of them are more diverse than the cookie cutter crime shows and reality TV programming that currently permeate our airwaves, or digital tuners as the case may be. This is just a small sampling from the world of American comics, the worlds of European and Japanese comics would be at least another list entirely, if not more than one. There really are a lot of great comics out there to draw inspiration from. TV Execs, take notes.
10. Drafted
Genre: Science Fiction
What it is: Mark Power's Drafted is a comic series published by Devil's Due Entertainment, in which humanity is forced into an intergalactic war by an alien race, against a marauding, predatory species that's hunted them across the galaxy. Regardless of sex, age, political standing, or socio-economic background, everyone has to band together and fight for their planet lest it become the battlefield. But are they fighting the enemy, or helping them?
Why it would be great: Science Fiction has been sorely missing from our small screens in recent years, minus a few exceptions. And many of those are soft sci-fi, very grounded on Earth. What we need is a sweeping space opera. With Battlestar Galactica off the air, and slim to no chance of more Firefly episodes, Drafted fits that bill perfectly. Humans putting aside their pettiness and banding together against a common enemy. Epic space battles against alien forces, with little moments of intimate human drama. It's like Independence Day crossed with Starship Troopers, but so much better. The sprawling cast is full of diverse, well developed characters, from the convenience store clerk from Queens, to the an anti-Taliban rebel from Afghanistan. Even the President of the United States has an active role, fighting alongside every day people trying to understand this new world they're thrust into. Not to mention the Sons of Abraham, three spiritual men of differing faiths trying to find their place in the new paradigm. In these days of political strife, a show like this is just what we need, showing that when we work together, as humans, we can take on the stars.