Adult Animation Revolution: Indie Comics That Need Their Own Animated Series Like ‘Scott Pilgrim’
by Tito W. James
Animated adaptations like Invincible, Nimona, and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off are prime examples of how indie comics can make excellent animated shows. Viewers who are experiencing superhero franchise fatigue and want something different can find wonders within the world of indie comics. Now that Western animation is expanding into more story-driven realms for adult audiences, it’s the perfect time to adapt more indie comics into animated series. Here are the comics I want to see faithfully adapted into animation.
Hellboy: And The BPRD
Even with three movies under his demon-slaying belt, Hellboy’s world and characters have so much left to explore. A TV series set in the Hellboy universe could explore side concepts and characters like Abe Sapien, Lobster Johnson, and other members of the BPRD. There’s just so much material that a Hellboy animated series could easily run for multiple seasons. Mike Mignola is loved and respected as an artist and designer by many animators from around the world. With the right creative team, a Hellboy animated series could finally do the source material justice.
Sin City
Frank Miller‘s post-modern noir series has been adapted into two live-action films. However, there are still many unadapted volumes left in the series and the stylized nature of Sin City would work better in animation. If the showrunners lean into the atmospheric mystery of Sin City and cut back on the elements that have become antiquated, we could have a stellar noir series.
Monstress
Monstress is a Kaiju epic set in a Steampunk fantasy world. The series follows young Maika who risks everything to control her psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, placing her in the center of a devastating war between human and otherworldly forces. This concept is just dying to be an anime!
Deadly Class
Deadly Class already had a solid adaption in a single-season live action series — with animated moments done by Titmouse. The series would basically be what they did for the animated section as the entire show. Now that Rick Remender and Wes Craig have concluded the comic, it’s the perfect time for an animated Netflix reboot.
Low
Audiences are digging the beautifully surreal world of Scavenger’s Reign. They would flip out if we could get Rick Remender’s Low in animated form. In the far distant future, the sun’s premature expansion has irradiated Earth, sending humanity to the lowest depths of the seas, hidden within radiation-shielded cities, while probes scour the universe for inhabitable worlds to relocate to. After tens of thousands of years, a single probe returns, crashing on Earth’s surface, a now-alien place no human has seen for many millennia.
Shaolin Cowboy
Geoff Darrow‘s Shaolin Cowboy was already set for an anime adaptation by Studio Madhouse of Ninja Scroll fame. There was even going to be an animated sequence done by Masaaki Yuasa! However, creative differences and a shifting economy scrapped these best laid plans. But Darrow has completed his best work with Shaolin Cowboy: Who Will Stop the Reign? and Cruel to be Kin. If we got an anime adaptation from Studio 4C in the same vein as MFKZ, we would be grateful. Make it happen Netflix!
East of West
East of West is a Sci-Fi Western set in a dystopian America where all hope for the future rests in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — who just happen to be trying to kill the President of the United States. East of West is an epic comic from Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta that would work wonders as an animated series adapted by Powerhouse Animation.
I Hate Fairyland
Described as Alice in Wonderland meets Deadpool, I Hate Fairyland is gem of a series from cartoonist Scottie Young. The core premise is simple enough that an animated series could easily do its own story while still capturing the fun. Art this cartoony deserves to be animated!
Grrl Scouts
Jim Mahfood‘s Grrl Scouts had an animated series that was planned and then scrapped. However, in a streaming landscape with a greater acceptance of out-of-the-box concepts, Grrl Scouts could eventually be given life in animated form. Just let the comic series develop the characters and world for a little bit and see what happens.
Head Lopper
Head Lopper by Andrew MacLean is one of the most charming, expertly paced, and adventurous comics on the shelves. The series has a devoted following of comic-heads and animation enthusiasts alike. With an animated series you could easily make Head Lopper the Samurai Jack of a new generation.
Danger Girl
Danger Girl is like Tomb Raider meets Charlie’s Angels. The trio of spicy super spies could fit into the same anime world as the Lupin the IIIrd OVAs by Takeshi Koike. An anime series could easily capture the fun, action, and sex-appeal of J. Scott Campbell’s original art.
Chew
Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory is a twisted comic series about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals and clairvoyants that’s just dying to be adapted into animation. Tony Chu is a cop with a secret. A weird secret. Tony Chu is ecibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. It also means he’s a hell of a detective, as long as he doesn’t mind nibbling on the corpse of a murder victim to figure out whodunit.
Luther Strode
The Luther Strode Saga by Justin Jordan and Tradd Moore is a wicked blend between the superhero and slasher genres. Adult animated series are starting to explore horror and action, so Luther Strode would be ripe for adaptation.
