15 Most Obscure Comic Books That Were Turned Into Movies

Timecop was originally a three-part series from Dark Horse, published in 1992. The story had been dreamt up by Mike Richardson and written out by Mark Verheiden, both of whom would later take on film and television, while illustrations were done by Ron Randall. The original story featured a time-travelling police officer taking on the robot bodyguard of a 1930s diamond thief in South Africa. One would be hard-pressed to argue that that's not a catchy plot.

The 1994 movie version went in a different direction, however. The Jean-Claude Van Damme picture instead featured its main character going after a corrupt politician responsible for his wife's death. Though it was very different from its source material, the movie was still highly successful and launched a new franchise.

The other installments of the Timecop franchise failed to capture the success it had in 1994. Most prominent among them likely being an ABC series which only lasted one season and a 2003 movie sequel, Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision, that went straight to video.