Category: Comic book adaptations

Television adaptation: Paper Girls comic book series

The television adaptation of the Paper Girls comic book series is available on Amazon Prime Video. Photo: google

Paper Girls is a mystery/science fiction comic book series written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Cliff Chiang, published by American company Image Comics. Paper Girls follows the story of four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls (Erin, MacKenzie, KJ, and Tiffany) set in Stony Stream, a fictional suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. As they are out delivering papers on the morning after Halloween in 1988, the town is struck by an invasion from a mysterious force from the future. The girls become unwillingly caught up in the conflict between two warring factions of time travelers. The television adaptation premiered on Amazon Prime Video on July 29, 2022 and consists of eight episodes. (Wikipedia, 2022)

Paper Girls is a science fiction drama television series created by Stephany Folsom based on the comic book series. It stars Camryn Jones as Tiffany Quilkin, Riley Lai Nelet as Erin Tieng, Sofia Rosinsky as Mac Coyle, Fina Strazza as KJ Brandman, and Ali Wong as Adult Erin. The girls become unwittingly caught in a conflict between warring factions of time-travelers, sending them on an adventure through time that will save the world. As they travel between our present, the past, and the future – they encounter future versions of themselves and now must choose to embrace or reject their fate.

This series premiered on Friday July 29 and I just watched the first episode and judging by the comments online, it is being compared to Stranger Things (I have never watched that show). The first episode introduces the main characters and sets off the time traveling where the first meet Adult Erin. Being a big fan of science fiction, especially time travelling, it looks interesting. The story line goes back and forth between the past, present, and future so I hope I do not lose interest because I really want to see it through. The best thing is that all eight episodes are available now, so I can probably binge watch the entire season.

Paper Girls comic book. Photo: google

Television adaptation: ‘Y: The last Man’ by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra

The television adaptation of ‘Y: The Last Man’ is available on FX on Hulu. Photo: amazon

Brian K. Vaughan is the Eisner and Harvey Award-Winning co-creator of many critically acclaimed comic books, including “Y: The Last Man,” Ex Machina, Runaways, and The Pride of Baghdad. A professional comics writer since his days as an undergraduate film student at New York University, Brian has written every major DC and Marvel character from Batman to X-Men. He has also written several screenplays, stage plays, and short stories. Pia Guerra has worked on various independent titles including the Bruiser, Sinnamon, Slip, Weird Business, Asylum, and a series of gaming manuals for White Wolf’s Masquerade, Changeling and Werewolf lines. In early 2001 Pia began working on Y: The Last Man written by Brian K. Vaughan. Since its release in July of 2002 response to the book has been overwhelmingly positive. Pia won the Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Artist of 2006 for her work on Y: The Last Man. “Y: The Last Man” was adapted into a post-apocalyptic drama television series and premiered September 13 on FX on Hulu. It stars Diane Lane, Ashely Romans, Ben Schnetzer, Olivia Thirlby, and Amber Tamblyn. (amazon, 2021)

“Y: The Last Man,” is the winner of three Eisner Awards and one of the most critically acclaimed, best-selling comic books series of the last decade. It is at once humorous, socially relevant and endlessly surprising. Written by Brian K. Vaughan and with art by Pia Guerra, this is the saga of Yorick Brown—the only human survivor of a planet-wide plague that instantly kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome. Accompanied by a mysterious government agent, a brilliant young geneticist, and his pet monkey, Ampersand, Yorick travels the world in search of his lost love and the answer to why he is the last man on earth.

Television adaptation: Resident Alien comic book series

The television adaptation of Resident Alien premieres on Syfy on Wednesday, January 27, 2021. Photo: google

Resident Alien is a comic book series created by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse. The series has been published by Dark Horse Comics in installments of four-issue miniseries since 2012. The story is about an alien who crash lands on Earth, then poses as a doctor while he awaits rescue. He is pursued by a government agency and passes his time solving murders and other mysteries. The series has received positive reviews from critics and a television adaptation for Syfy starring Alan Tudyk will premiere on January 27, 2021. (Wikipedia, 2021)

In Resident Alien, narrative flashbacks provide the background to the plot. Captain Hah Re, an alien biologist, is shot down by a fighter plane and crashes in the Southwestern United States desert. At night, he takes money from an ATM and it captures his face on video. Men in black, who are investigating his crash site, learn of the image and begin to track him by the ATM bills. Hah Re has empathic abilities that prevent others from noticing his odd appearance. Six months later, Hah Re uses advanced technology to win one million dollars from a slot machine in Las Vegas. The men in black lose track of him but assume he will continue moving in the same direction toward the Oregon-Washington area. One year after his crash, Hah Re has taught himself English and human anatomy, among other things. He has also developed an interest in mystery novels and films. Taking the identity “Harry Vanderspeigle,” he introduces himself as a retired doctor and buys a remote cabin near Patience, Washington.

Television adaptation: Snowpiercer by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette

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Snowpiercer the series premieres Sunday May 17 on TNT. Photo: google

Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette are French comic book creators who created the post-apocalyptic French graphic novel Le Transperceneige.  It was first published in 1982 under the title Le Transperceneige and later retitled The Escape. An English translation was released in 2014 by Titan Comics, consisting of two volumes: Snowpiercer: The Escape and Snowpiercer: The Explorers. A third volume, Terminus, was released in 2016, followed by a prequel series in 2019. In the graphic novel, an attempt to stop global warming via climate engineering catastrophically backfires and creates a new ice age, the remaining humans now ride the Snowpiercer, a circumnavigational train. It was adapted into the 2013 South Korean-Czech science fiction movie Snowpiercer starring Chris Evans and Octavia Spencer, John Hurt and Ed Harris.  Now it is an upcoming television drama series that will premiere on TNT on Sunday May 17 and stars Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connally.

In Snowpiercer, humanity rides in a 1,001 car train called Snowpiercer starting in 2014.  By 2031 they have become segregated by class with the elite in the extravagant front cars while the poor are forced into squalid tail compartments by armed guards. In the movie, Curtis Everett is a member of the lower class tail section who leads a revolution against the elite of the front of the train. The series is a reboot of the film’s continuity. It questions class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival and has already been renewed for a second season.

The Boys on Amazon video

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The Boys is now on Amazon video. Photo: google

Garth Ennis is a comics writer best known for the Vertigo series Preacher and most recently in the news because of his work with The Boys comic series. The Boys is an American comic book series written by Garth Ennis and co-created, designed and illustrated by Darick Robertson and set between 2006 through 2008 in a world where superheroes exist. Developed by Eric Kripke , the creator of the television shows Supernatural, Revolution and Timeless, it was adapted into a superhero black comedy web series and premiered on Friday July 26 on Amazon video. It stars Karl Urban, Elizabeth Shue, Jennifer Esposito, Simon Pegg and Ann Cusack.

According to Wikipedia, in the universe of The Boys, most of the superheroes are corrupted by their celebrity status and often engage in reckless behavior, compromising the safety of the world. The story follows a small clandestine CIA squad informally known as “The Boys,” which is led by Butcher and consists of Mother’s Milk, the Frenchman, the Female and new addition “Wee” Hughie Campbell. They are charged with monitoring the superhero community, often leading to gruesome confrontations and dreadful results. A sub-plot centers around Annie “Starlight” January, a young and naïve superhero who joins the Seven, the most prestigious and corrupted superhero group in the world and The Boys’ most powerful enemies.