10 Image Comics That Would Make Great Movies (And How To Make Them)

Two comic makers may seem to dominate the industry, but beneath the Batmans and Supermans of the world lies a publisher that prides itself on branching away from the superhero genre.

Founded in 1992 by various established comic creators, Image comics was conceived as a way of allowing writers and artists to maintain creative control over their work, without the kind of interference that was commonplace at Marvel and DC.

The studio was an instant success, and now produces a wide variety of books, most of which have received critical acclaim. Even if you've never knowingly read one of Image's comics, chances are you're familiar with at least some of their output. The hugely popular AMC series The Walking Dead began life as one of the publisher's titles, while Spawn and Outcast have both been adapted for film and TV respectively.

Just as Marvel and DC have looked to theatres to increase their characters' popularity, Image now has a bankable library of books under its belt, some of which would make for excellent viewing, as well as welcome alternatives to Marvel/DC's blockbuster mega-franchises...

Neon. Synthesizer soundtracks. Practical gore effects. Small town American thrillers.

All of the above have burst back into the pop-culture zeitgeist, as filmmakers who grew up on Spielberg and John Carpenter are now making movies of their own. Paper Girls contains all of these elements, and more. Although it could easily be described as 'Stranger Things with the feminist parts turned up to 11', Paper Girls is more than just another bandwagon-jumper.

The Eisner Award winning series follows, aptly, a group of newspaper delivery girls, who come into contact with a mysterious, futuristic force, while delivering papers on Halloween, 1998. Yet another smash-hit from Saga and Y: The Last Man writer Brian K. Vaughan, it's a gripping, sharply written book full of shocking twists and turns - dark, yet still brimming with vibrant flashes of colour. As such, Paper Girls would make for a perfect sci-fi B-movie homage.

Since the book is already a masterclass in design, a film adaptation would need to enlist the services of someone with a similarly keen eye for such a quintessentially 80s aesthetic. Adam Wingard has already proved he's a dab hand with this sort of thing - his 2013 movie The Guest was a tight, nail-biter of a thriller, and its gloomy, neon-tinged aesthetic and synth score wouldn't seem out of place in a Paper Girls movie.

Failing that, It Follows director David Robert Mitchell would also be a suitable helmsman, since his slow-burning chiller is visually and tonally similar to Vaughan's book.