8 Massive Franchises You Didn't Realise Started As Comic Books

1. Men In Black

Men In Black Agent J K
Columbia Pictures

1997’s Men in Black became one of the decades most popular films and solidified Will Smith’s status as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. It also spawned 2 successful sequels, 2002’s Men in Black II and 2012’s Men in Black 3, as well as an animated series which ran between 1997 and 2001.

However, despite the film's success, the franchise’s original source material remains relatively obscure with the series being based on Aircel Comic’s 1990 3-issue series The Men in Black and its 1991 follow-up 3-issue collection published by Malibu Comics.

Men in Black Malibu Comic
Malibu Comics

Despite sharing a similar plot and characters, the film series is notably different from the original comic series with the omission of many of the comic’s darker themes in favour of more comedic elements.

Following the film’s success and Marvel Comic’s 1994 acquisition of Malibu Comics, a number of comic books based on the films and their characters have since been released.

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Contributor

Student, part-time freelance writer, holder of many questionable opinions and impassioned hater of Lord Of The Rings (disagree? Find me on Twitter, @JoshSandy)