Comic book adaptations I'd like to see.

After Brian Singer's X-Men, Hollywood fell in love with the idea of adapting comic books for the big screen, and for the past few years, it's been the golden age of the superhero. Whether it's been old heroes like Batman or Superman that have been ingrained into pop culture, or new heroes that the movie going public weren't familiar with, there's been some good, some bad, and some very ugly film versions. Some of my favourites have already been given the big screen treatment such as Hellboy, and the upcoming Watchmen is one I'm definitely awaiting with baited breath, but I'd like to talk about a few others that I feel would make terrific films.

Quite recently I was introduced to Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead, and I was absolutely gripped, could barely stop reading. As a fan of zombie fiction in general, I was under no small circumstances a big fan of George A. Romero's films, and from reading The Walking Dead it's evident that Kirkman also has a great love of the films and wears his influences proudly.

In the foreword Kirkman explains his love of the genre, but laments the tales ending just as they get good, just as you get into the characters, and how he wanted to create something that continues to play out the events of such a zombie apocalypse and stick with the characters as they survive through this nightmare over a long period of time. It's a fantastic series that focuses on the human drama, the conflict of the survivors and what they need to do in order to stay alive.

In trying to create his ideal zombie movie, Robert Kirkman created a comic that would translate almost effortlessly to the screen, provided that a series of films could be produced. The story is a vast epic, and would need a trilogy to properly unfold, but if that were to ever happen you could guarantee possibly the greatest zombie epic ever.

The Goon is a terrific comic book with a very off-beat sense of humour, where our hero isn't exactly a hero at all, but an enforcer for a mafioso crime syndicate who regularly does battle with various supernatural creatures who try and step in on his turf. He's an uncompromising anti-hero, ugly as sin, hard drinking' and hard fighting', and a lot more clever than he lets on.

Myself and fellow blogger Whedon have discussed a film adaptation of The Goon before, and when I asked who should play the titular character he suggested Thomas Haden Church, a choice I have to say is inspired. His sidekick Frankie is a much harder character to pin down an actor for, so if anyone reading this has any suggestions of their own, I'd love to hear it.

It would certainly be hard to capture the tone of the comics, but it really would be sheer magic if the humour of The Goon was translated over to the big screen, think Army of Darkness and you'd be close to how good a Goon film could be. Now if only Robert Rodriguez would step up and get the rights to this one.

I was never really a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but with every new direction Joss Whedon took, I found my appreciation for his work growing hugely, with his crowning achievement the exceptional Firefly and Serenity just absolutely flooring me. It was about the time that I got into Firefly that I picked up Joss's Fray, a comic book that took the vampire slayer mythology, transported it into a neon and grime future, and stripped away the elements I didn't like about Buffy.

It was a darker tale, and instead of a gentle guide like Giles, would be slayer Fray had a hulking demon as her watcher, who's idea of training was to throw steel girders at her, and decides to motivate her in some rather cruel fashion. For me, it was one of Joss's most flawless tales, the imagination of the Buffyverse coupled with a really compelling plot, characters and the more high octane action that Firefly had.

Considering how well he did directing Serenity, if Joss Whedon ever got the kind of budget he'd need to bring Fray to the big screen, it would really be a sight to behold. I must have read the comic at least half a dozen times, and it's always been a cracking experience, one that I think could translate to film very easily with the proper financial backing.

There are other comic books I could mention, for example I think Johnny The Homicidal Maniac could be a fantastic animated feature when we take into account just how easily Jhonen Vasquez's twisted sense of humour carried over into television with Invader Zim, or other comics such as Judge Dredd that got such hideously bad adaptations, that they really deserve another take. But for now those are the main ones I'd most like to see get film adaptations some day, the comics I feel would translate well to the medium and would offer something a little different to audiences than the usual superhero fare.

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.