Monday, May 19, 2014

COMIC BOOKS THAT WOULD MAKE GREAT TV SHOWS--PART 2

Since my last blog a few months ago about various comic book concepts that would make good TV shows, two (sort of three) of my recommendations have actually been put into production!  Unexpectedly, CONSTANTINE is on the NBC schedule for next season, and apparently NetFlix is going ahead with not only LUKE CAGE and IRON FIST shows, but also DAREDEVIL and HULK shows too—which will lead into a DEFENDERS show!  And then something of a mix of my BATMAN crime drama and my ROBIN in training show ideas, Fox TV is bringing us GOTHAM, a show concentrating on the early days of pre-Commissioner Gordon and (presumably) the training of young Bruce Wayne.  Another unexpected series is the CW’s ARROW spin-off THE FLASH, a character that already had a TV show in the early 90’s and seemed a shoo-in for a movie—BUT since DC seems to do much better on TV than with their movies (THE DARK KNIGHT and early SUPERMAN being the exceptions), this is probably a better bet.

There were a few good TV possibilities that I missed last time, so let’s add them now…

SUPERGIRL—I don’t expect Cousin Kara to ever be reintroduced into DC’s movie universe, but since DC doesn’t seem to have any interest in connecting their movie and TV realities, why not give this wonderful concept a home on TV?  A teen girl with the powers of Superman who has to learn how to balance high school and higher duties?  And (probably) balance a couple of opposite type suitors?  Are you telling me that the TWILIGHT and HUNGER GAMES crowd wouldn’t eat this up?  And the CW specializes in teen-oriented shows anyway!  This is a concept that has never been properly mined even in the comics since by the time DC gave her her own comic in the 70’s, Kara/Linda Lee Danvers had already graduated from high school (which left the character aimless and the writers uninterested) and the more modern attempts at series (including the present NEW 52 version) were/are needlessly dark and convoluted.  The ten years of SMALLVILLE showed us that the basic concept of a super-teen coming of age could easily find a loyal audience.




JIMMY OLSEN—Likewise, Superman’s Pal may never be seen on the big screen again, but the whole “reporter getting into trouble” thing would work great on TV!  OR if DC/Warners DID want to connect their movie and TV franchises like Marvel is doing, this would be a great way to do it!  Jimmy would make a great Everyman in a world that finds itself being intruded upon by aliens, masked heroes and villains, and whatever sci fi, fantasy, or horror storylines the writers can come up with!  Superman can be shown on TV saving the planet from a meteor while Jimmy is infiltrating some villain’s hideout…and every so often, a wall can be knocked down and those famous red boots can be seen walking through just as Jimmy defuses a bomb under City Hall.  “Thanks for coming, Supes, but I’ve got it this time!”

BATGIRL—Hey, I would definitely take a Batgirl show too!  Again, they’ll never use her in the movies, but it’s a great character and concept!  Like the Jimmy idea above (or the AGENTS OF SHIELD show in reality), she could do all the stories that Batman will never get to in the movies.  And unlike GOTHAM (which I’m still looking forward to), this show can use all the fantastic villains as we know and love them.

THE PUNISHER—It’s amazing how many times this character has made it to the movies—three times!  All of them disappointing!  (Has ROMEO AND JULIET been filmed that many times?  How about OF MICE AND MEN?)  This is a concept made for TV, which specializes in things like police procedurals.  I love DEXTER and THE MENTALIST and a cross between the two would be awesome!  (And there’s at least a dozen dark-haired, middle-aged, Italian-looking TV actors who could do the job just right!)

THE SPIRIT—Here’s another comic concept that would work so much better on the small screen than the big.  We don’t need a big budget, special effects-laden, big screen epic to do this character right—we need people dressed in regular clothes sitting on regular chairs walking through regular doors and writers writing small human-level stories and a hundred character actors walking in and out over the course of five or more years.




DICK TRACY—Why not?  Again, TV does cop shows really well—why not give us a cop show about a cop we really like?  And the villains!  When I think back to the BATMAN show from the 60’s, the first thing I think about is what a wonderful showcase it was for great actors like Frank Gorshin and Burgess Meredith to really cut loose!  Though they all have their fair share of fans, perhaps the reason that the ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN, and LOIS AND CLARK aren’t constantly in reruns these days is their lack of villains.  Flattop, Pruneface, Mumbles, and so many more—!  But, most of all, Tracy himself is just iconic.  Some characters deserve to be revived every so often and given the star treatment.

THE GREEN HORNET—I suppose I could keep going and list dozens of plainclothes, non-powered crimefighters, all of whom would probably make pretty good (or great!) TV shows, but Brit Reid’s alter-ego is at the top of the list because of the brilliant concept of his being a hero pretending to be a villain!  What better way to stop crime in your city?  Take it over!  (Oh, the missed opportunities in that stupid movie!)  Catch an episode of the 60’s show (by the same people doing BATMAN, but a bit more serious) and you’ll see the possibilities.  (Or take a look at the ARROW show or maybe something like PERSON OF INTEREST—two great takes on how to do a serious vigilante show!)  Plus, Kato was always cool.

MASTER OF KUNG FU—Of course, whoever could play Kato right would probably also be at the top of the list to play Shang Chi too!  Of course, this is one that might be better as a movie—picture James Bond as played by Bruce Lee and the awesomeness is almost too much to bear!






MOON KNIGHT—Speaking of Doug Moench (who wrote 100 issues of MASTER OF KUNG FU and made it the smartest comic for ten years), a show based on his and Bill Sienkiewicz’s MOON KNIGHT stories would be pretty incredible.  A “Batman” take without all the expectations of “Batman” would be a lot of fun.




JONAH HEX—Police procedurals aren’t the only genre that TV does well; the Western was TV’s bread and butter for decades and it would be great to see one back.  I could list a bunch of Marvel’s Western characters like the Two-Gun Kid or Kid Colt, but, really, there’s something classic about DC’s horror-scarred Hex.  He’s the one with the added gravitas that could really elevate something good into something great.  (Just don’t give him a super-power like the dull movie did.)

BLACK LIGHTNING—African-American Olympic athlete Jefferson Pierce has returned to the old neighborhood to give something back as a teacher, only to find the school he works at overrun with drugs.  That’s a movie or TV show right there!  Add to it that he becomes the costumed crimefighter Black Lightning (with artificial electrical powers) and now you’ve really got something!  A mix of BOSTON PUBLIC and ARROW (not to mention WHITE SHADOW), and that’s a show a lot of people would watch! 




PHANTOM STRANGER—I have no idea if this would work better as a TWILIGHT ZONE kind of thing or do what they’re probably going to do with CONSTANTINE, but I have always loved and been intrigued by the ultimate mysterious figure forever in the shadows and I’d rather see some cool version of him than most characters that get a lot more exposure.  He’s just cool.  You know what else is cool?  Imagine THE TWILIGHT ZONE with Rod Serling sometimes stepping into the story and making certain that the evil kid DOESN’T wish people into the cornfield and that the thing on the wing of the plane DOESN’T rip the wing open.

MACHINE MAN—With the special effects TV can do these days, I think a robot that looks like a man (and wants to be a man?) would work really well as a series.  Jack Kirby created something really special with this 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY spin-off, but it was when Steve Ditko took a run at it that I really saw Aaron Stack’s potential.  (And while we’re at it, Marvel, give him his own comic again!)




HERCULES—Though there have been plenty of movies based on the original Greek myth (two this year!) and the long-running Kevin Sorbo version, I think the actual story appeal here would be to drop the big guy in the present.  Sure, anybody could do such a concept, but I always preferred Marvel’s version of the mythological powerhouse to any other I’ve seen.  Of course, now that I say it, it sounds like it would make a really good movie!  (And, of course, movies take precedent over “lowly” TV, right?)

KOBRA—Marvel sometimes does TOO MUCH with its characters (Gray Hulk?  Red Hulk? Really?), but DC definitely commits the sin of not doing ENOUGH with many of its characters!  This is a brilliant super-hero take on the Corsican Brothers—Kobra is a master villain with a legion of cultic followers/assassins and he has a twin brother Jason Burr who is his one Achilles Heel as they share a psychic bond and whatever hurts one hurts the other as well!  That would make a great extended epic, something that TV can do very well!  

PLASTIC MAN—Cartoon show!  The few episodes of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD that featured Plas made it clear what an entertaining show this iconic character could headline!  The comedic visuals and storyline possibilities makes it a sad thing indeed that Jack Cole’s genius creation isn’t a household name amongst animation fans!  (Though I understand that he did have a cartoon show a number of years ago, I have been told it wasn’t that good.  Do over!)




MANHUNTER—In the late 1930’s big game hunter Paul Kirk decided he needed a more challenging hunt, which he found as a masked crimefighter hunting criminals—the Manhunter!  According to the award-winning 70’s series by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson, Kirk retired after the war and was killed in a hunting accident.  Cut to the (then) present, and we find Kirk alive again!  The fantastic costume and other comic book tropes aside, the core of the story is that of a man who finds that he is a clone being hunted by other clones—all with his face!  That.  Is.  Just.  Awesome!




So, those are my ideas.  Including my first list, that’s about 30 TV shows that I would love to see on a regular basis.  Somehow, Peggy Carter, Jessica Jones, and Jim Gordon are all getting their own shows (which I’ll still watch, mind you) and these incredible, classic, often iconic characters still wait on the sidelines.  Oh well, maybe one day…

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