# Comic Book Adaptations of Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2017, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229 "2017-04-11T12:05:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/1 "2017-04-11T12:05:07Z")
There are so many movies being made from comic books these days, but not so many the other way around. That didn’t used to be the Natural Order of Things. It used to be that a lot of movies got adapted into comic books by Dell and later, when Western Publishing left them, by Gold Key comics. DC and Marvel did several film adaptations, as well (with Marvel doing adaptations of all three of the original Star Wars trilogy). Times have changed. In particular, newsstands have all but disappeared from the landscape, and even comic book stores are failing here and there. If you want to see a comic book adaptation of a film, you’d have to find it at the magazine section of a Barnes and Noble (which include most college bookstores) or a BAM/Books A Million, or one of the remaining comic book stores. You’re a lot less likely these days to find comics at your local drugstore or convenience store. That, I suspect, is a big reason why the number of adaptations has fallen. What’s been adapted recently? Both the two recent Star Wars films have been done in multi-issue adaptations – _The Force Awakens_ and _Rogue One_. (There are also books based on the characters – prequels and sequels, but I’m not counting those). You’d think that Pixar films would be a natural for this, but they aren’t. There was a _Disney/Pixar Comics Treasury_ issued not as a comic book, but as a softcover trade paperback. A few of the entries had appeared previously inn comic book form, but most of them are drawn from foreign editions, or seem to be original with the Treasury: [Disney-Pixar Comics Treasury | Disney Wiki | Fandom](http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Disney-Pixar_Comics_Treasury) And there have been a few way-after-the-fact adaptations. A comic of the original **Tron** came out with the release of the sequel **Tron" Legacy**. **It! The Terror from Beyond Space** from the 1950s was adapted as a comic only a few years ago. I have to admit that I haven’t been following closely. It used to be that when Disney re-released a movie they re-released the comic book, but they don’t seem to be doing that anymore. The publishing world has changed. What other films recently released have had comic book adaptations? Do any of you (or your kids) read these? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/2 "2017-04-11T13:37:28Z")
Not “recent,” but I’ve still got a copy of the comic book version of _The Punisher_ (1989, starring Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett, Jr.). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/3 "2017-04-11T14:12:03Z")
Browsing through recent coimics, most of the comic adaptations of movies I’m seeing are for movies that were already adaptations of comics, and I don’t think those really count. The most recent thing I’m seeing is what seems to be a prequel to the \*Ghostbusters \*reboot called _Ghostbusters 101_, which had its first issue last month. ETA: Going by the [google image search](https://www.google.com/search?q=pixar+comics&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijoYSey5zTAhWH5oMKHd_nDvgQ_AUICCgB&biw=1408&bih=690), there do seem to be spin-off comics of Pixar movies. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/4 "2017-04-11T14:35:18Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Browsing through recent coimics, most of the comic adaptations of movies I’m seeing are for movies that were already adaptations of comics, and I don’t think those really count. The most recent thing I’m seeing is what seems to be a prequel to the \*Ghostbusters \*reboot called _Ghostbusters 101_, which had its first issue last month. > > ETA: Going by the [google image search](https://www.google.com/search?q=pixar+comics&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijoYSey5zTAhWH5oMKHd_nDvgQ_AUICCgB&biw=1408&bih=690), there do seem to be spin-off comics of Pixar movies. Yeah, but not _adaptations_, in most cases. Heck, when I was a kid, it seemed that every Disney movie and every movie likely to appeal to kids had an adaptation. There was an adaptation for _Santa Claus Conquers the Martians_! > **[santa claus conquers the martians comic book - Bing](https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=santa%2Bclaus%2Bconquers%2Bthe%2Bmartians%2Bcomic%2Bbook&qpvt=Santa%2BClaus%2BConquers%2Bthe%2BMartians%2Bcomic%2Bbook%2B&qpvt=Santa%2BClaus%2BConquers%2Bthe%2BMartians%2Bcomic%2Bbook%2B&qpvt=Santa%2BClaus%2BConquers%2Bthe%2BMartians%2Bcomic%2Bbook%2B&FORM=IGRE)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. And for the Russian film marketed as **The Sword and the Dragon** > **[the sword and the dragon comic book - Bing](https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=the%2Bsword%2Band%2Bthe%2Bdragon%2Bcomic%2Bbook&qpvt=The%2BSword%2Band%2Bthe%2BDragon%2Bcomic%2Bbook%2B&qpvt=The%2BSword%2Band%2Bthe%2BDragon%2Bcomic%2Bbook%2B&qpvt=The%2BSword%2Band%2Bthe%2BDragon%2Bcomic%2Bbook%2B&FORM=IGRE)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. (This eventually showed up on MST3K, but as a kid, I actually paid to see this in a movie theater) ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/5 "2017-04-11T14:37:03Z")
I remember seeing The Alien when it first came out and then later getting a comic book version of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/6 "2017-04-11T14:47:12Z")
Back when, they adapted HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL as a comic book, but that feels like cheating since Paladin is about as close a miss as possible to ‘superhero’ status. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/7 "2017-04-11T14:47:14Z")
There was a trade edition of “Creepshow” done as a comic after the movie came out. Illustrated by Berni Wrightson. Had a couple of subtle differences from the movie–probably scenes that were cut for time. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/8 "2017-04-11T14:47:36Z")
I’m sure I remember having a comic book version of [Crack in the World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_in_the_World) (1965), probably published by Gold Key, but I can’t find any evidence of it online. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/9 "2017-04-11T15:23:26Z")
Folks, these are all in the distant past (even **Alien** , which was 1979). There were plenty of them back then – my point is that they seem to be a dying breed. aside from the recent Star Wars adaptations, and comic book versions of much older films, what else has been done recently? or, going the other way, what’s the oldest comic adaptation? The late 1950s-early 1960s seems to have been the heyday of these. I doubt if any adaptations existed pre-1938 (I’m not counting things like the Gold key circa 1967 adaptation of _King Kong_), but when did the start? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/10 "2017-04-11T15:25:53Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Back when, they adapted HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL as a comic book, but that feels > like cheating since Paladin is about as close a miss as possible to ‘superhero’ status. Not the same thing – that was a comic book based on the TV show. Such things had plots not adapted from the TV show. _Twilight Zone. Boris Karloff Presents, Outer Limits_ etc. didn’t give you comic stories based on individual episodes. (Something that DID happen much later on. There’s a graphic novel adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s _Demon with a Glass Hand_, for instance – but it came out in the 1980s.) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/11 "2017-04-11T16:44:13Z")
**Transformers** (2007) series has [an accompanying comic series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers_(film_comic_series)#Transformers:_Revenge_of_the_Fallen_Movie_Adaptation), with additional movie-plot-related-stories, as well as mostly straight adaptations of the movies. **Se7en** (1995) had [a comic adaptation released in 2008](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_(comic_book)), with the same overall story, but told from John Doe’s POV. Not a straight adaptation, but I think it’s an intriguing twist. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/12 "2017-04-11T17:25:45Z")
If it had been made twenty years earlier, _John Carter_ would have had a comic book adaptation. Apparently there was an adaptation of _pirates of the Caribbean: dead Man’s Chest_ published in the Disney magazine back in 2006 – [Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (comic) | Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki | Fandom](http://pirates.wikia.com/wiki/Pirates_of_the_Caribbean:_Dead_Man%27s_Chest_(comic)) I don’t think there were others, although a PotC comic started last year (I don’t think it adapts the films) [Pirates of the Caribbean (comic book) | Disney Wiki | Fandom](http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Pirates_of_the_Caribbean_(comic_book)) Similarly, there’s a _Frozen_ spinoff comic, but no adaptation – [Frozen (comic books) | Disney Wiki | Fandom](http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Frozen_(comic_book)) Nor a _Lone Ranger_ nor _The Good Dinosaur_. But there are apparently _two_ comic adaptations of _Moana_ in the works > **[Joe Books To Publish Adaptations Of Disney's Moana, In December 2016 Solicits](https://bleedingcool.com/comics/recent-updates/joe-books-publish-adaptations-disneys-moana-december-2017-solicits/)** > > Joe Books have made a very nice cottage industry of adapting Disney movies as comics, in a variety of ways. And for the new animated movie, Moana, they ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/13 "2017-04-11T17:25:46Z")
You know, it has been a while since I’ve seen a comic adaptation, other than The Force Awakens and Rogue One. They came out all the time in the 80’s. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The most recent thing I’m seeing is what seems to be a prequel to the \*Ghostbusters \*reboot called _Ghostbusters 101_, which had its first issue last month. Actually, this is a meeting of the original team with the reboot team, via dimension hopping shenanigans. The original team has already met the 80’s animated team in an arc from last year. The IDW Gostbusters books have been pretty good. Not an adaptation but IDW also has a series called “Star Trek Go Boldly” which picks up after the the events of “Star Trek Beyond.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/14 "2017-04-11T17:29:01Z")
**Zootopia** is in two different comic formats - reproductions of stills and one using drawings. But the prices are $5.84 and $15 (!) [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/disney-zootopia-graphic-novel-disney/1123501158/2675110954857?st=PLA&sid=BNB\_DRS\_Marketplace+Shopping+greatbookprices\_00000000&2sid=Google\_&sourceId=PLGoP24104](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/disney-zootopia-graphic-novel-disney/1123501158/2675110954857?st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Marketplace+Shopping+greatbookprices_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP24104) [https://www.disneystore.com/books-entertainment-zootopia-cinestory-comic-book/mp/1405281/1000232/?CMP=KNC-DSSGoogle&s\_kwcid=AL!5079!3!95242776864!!!g!58505125000!&ef\_id=WDQ\_jwAAACdasyYA:20170411172852:s](https://www.disneystore.com/books-entertainment-zootopia-cinestory-comic-book/mp/1405281/1000232/?CMP=KNC-DSSGoogle&s_kwcid=AL!5079!3!95242776864!!!g!58505125000!&ef_id=WDQ_jwAAACdasyYA:20170411172852:s) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/15 "2017-04-11T18:35:08Z")
There is a [really nice](http://aminoapps.com/page/anime/8125431/spirited-away-has-a-manga) [5 volume manga](https://www.amazon.com/Spirited-Away-Vol-Hayao-Miyazaki/dp/1569317917) (that has been officially translated into English) that was made by adapting still frames from the movie. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/16 "2017-04-11T19:17:42Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > There is a [really nice](http://aminoapps.com/page/anime/8125431/spirited-away-has-a-manga) [5 volume manga](https://www.amazon.com/Spirited-Away-Vol-Hayao-Miyazaki/dp/1569317917) (that has been officially translated into English) that was made by adapting still frames from the movie. …of **Spirited Away**. You shoulda mentioned what it was a manga _of_ ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/17 "2017-04-11T20:13:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Folks, these are all in the distant past (even **Alien** , which was 1979). There were plenty of them back then – my point is that they seem to be a dying breed. aside from the recent Star Wars adaptations, and comic book versions of much older films, what else has been done recently? I think the current trend is to adapt books into comics, not movies. They’ve made comicbooks out of The Dark Tower, the Anita Blake books, the Otherworld books, The Thief of Always, The Stand, Ender’s Game [etc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_comics_based_on_fiction). That said, wiki has a long list of comics based on films [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_comics_based_on_films). The newest I spot on the list are based on Cloverfield, The Devil’s Rejects, The Hills Have Eyes, Underworld, Push, and Inception. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/18 "2017-04-11T21:03:24Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I think the current trend is to adapt books into comics, not movies. They’ve made comicbooks out of The Dark Tower, the Anita Blake books, the Otherworld books, The Thief of Always, The Stand, Ender’s Game [etc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_comics_based_on_fiction). Yeah, while browsing around for comic adaptations of movies I discovered a comic adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s short story _How To Talk To Girls At Parties_, which would never crossed my mind as a subject for a comic adaptation. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/19 "2017-04-11T21:26:46Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I think the current trend is to adapt books into comics, not movies. They’ve made comicbooks out of The Dark Tower, the Anita Blake books, the Otherworld books, The Thief of Always, The Stand, Ender’s Game [etc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_comics_based_on_fiction). > > That said, wiki has a long list of comics based on films [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_comics_based_on_films). The newest I spot on the list are based on Cloverfield, The Devil’s Rejects, The Hills Have Eyes, Underworld, Push, and Inception. Except the _Cloverfield_ comic isn’t an adaptation of the movie – it’s peripheral to it. That’s another innovation. I’ll bet some of those other ones are, as well. And — _The Hills Have Eyes_ as _NEW_? Even if they mean the remake, that was 2006. (Cloverfield, for that matter, was 2008). We’re talking about things a decade old. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229/20 "2017-04-11T21:40:05Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > **Transformers** (2007) series has [an accompanying comic series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers_(film_comic_series)#Transformers:_Revenge_of_the_Fallen_Movie_Adaptation), with additional movie-plot-related-stories, as well as mostly straight adaptations of the movies. There are actually 3 movie adaptations (the first one, Revenge of the Fallen, and Dark of the Moon), and prequels to all three. No prequels or adaptations of Age of Extinction, or The Last Knight, though - IDW is concentrating on their Hasbroverse for Transformers (and Micronauts, ROM, and MASK - GI Joe still has an unrelated ongoing as well as the Hasbroverse one). Interesting, while most of their current Star Trek comics are in the Kelvin Timeline\* (save for John Byrne’s New Visions series, which is set in the Prime Universe, and various crossovers with other properties - the latter of which are set in variants on the KT), they haven’t done any straight adaptations of any of the movies, just prequels and sequels - the first ongoing spun out of the first movie, the second movie had Countdown to Darkness leading up, and Khan (and the second half of the ongoing series) following on, and the third one spun out the new ongoing, Go Boldly (already mentioned), but to get the events of the movies, you have to actually watch the movies (or extrapolate from what comes after). - Well…that depends on whether you buy the ‘Kelvin Timeline was created by time travel’ thing…the comics version contradicts the Prime Universe in a lot of ways that have to predate Nero’s traveling there. The stuff in the movies themselves can mostly be explained within the ‘time travel’ framework with a little jiggling and handwaving, but the comics definitely require Nero and Spock to have intervened in an existing alternate universe, which also makes the movies far smoother, as a bonus. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-adaptations-of-movies/784229.md?page=2)