When it comes to comic book adaptations into television shows, we usually think about major characters and stories. Shows like Arrow, The Flash, The Boys, and even the upcoming Lanterns all come to mind as they each take on well-known heroes from the pages of comic books that are popular and, in some cases beloved. But for every “mainstream” comic that gets an adaptation, there’s usually something a little less well-known that also gets its chance on the small screen as well and some of those adaptations are downright weird.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Television adaptations are full of unusual comics adaptations. Some are situations where neither the comic nor their adaptations are bad, just an unexpected choice while in other cases, you get adaptations of specific characters that are so different from what was on the page, you have to wonder what they were thinking. And then, of course, there are just some absolutely bananas stories that we still aren’t sure who they’re even a thing. Here are seven of the weirdest comics (and characters) to end up getting a live-action television adaptation.
7) American Jesus (Adapted as The Chosen One)
On its face, Mark Millar’s American Jesus isn’t necessarily a weird comic book. It’s just an odd choice for a television adaptation. Netflix adapted the series as The Chosen One in 2023 where it ran for just six episodes. In the comics, the story follows a 12-year-old boy who, after surviving a freak accident, discovers that he’s Jesus Christ returned. As he discovers his powers, everything leads up to a battle over the future of humanity as the story explores themes of power and faith. The comic runs across several volumes and ultimately ends with American Jesus: Revelation which sees the Antichrist become president of the United States.
The television series changes things up quite a bit and follows a boy who finds out that he has the powers of Jesus Christ, but instead of being set in the United States, the story is set in Mexico instead. With the series only getting six episodes, it ends in a questioning place, with the puzzle being is the boy a force for good or evil and will there be a war between these two forces.
6) Warrior Nun Areala (Adapted as Warrior Nun)
Based less on a specific comic and instead a character from comics (though the character does actually get her own series) Netflix’s Warrior Nun is based on the character Warrior Nun Areala who first appeared in Antarctic Press’ Ninja High School #37 in 1993. The comics center around Sister Shannon Masters, a nun in the Order of the Cruciform Sword, an order created in 1066 by a Valkyrie named Auria who turned to Christ for salvation. Now, Auria (Areala) chooses an avatar in each generation to continue her mission. Shannon is left on the steps of the Our Lady of the Virgin Mary convent as an orphaned child and is later adopted but exhibits exceptional academic and athletic abilities and is chosen for the Silver Cross Program where she’s raised to be a Warrior Nun.
The Netflix adaptation is markedly different from the comics character and story and instead follows Ava Silva (Alba Baptista), a 19-year-old who wakes up in a morgue with a new lease on life and a divine artifact embedded in her back. Now a part of the Order of the Cruciform Sword, Ava has been tasked with fighting demons on Earth as powerful forces representing both heaven and hell seek to find and control her. The series got two seasons on the streaming platform despite it being very popular with viewers.
5) The Tick
Another case of the comic (and the series adapted from it) not being bad, just an odd choice is The Tick. In comics, The Tick is a superhero created by cartoonist Ben Edlund who appears in New England Comics. A parody of American comic book superheroes, The Tick is literally a superhero in a blue bug suit that may or may not actually be a part of his body. In the comics, he’s apparently legally insane and escaped from a mental institution near The City, though The Tick doesn’t really have much memory of his life before being The Tick.
The Tick has been adapted for television a few times. There’s a 1994 animated series, a 2001 live-action series, and a 2016 live-action series, and honestly the 2016 adaptation is actually pretty good. It debuted on Amazon Prime Video and starred Peter Serafinowicz and received much critical acclaim and was pretty popular with audiences, too. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to get it more than two seasons.
4) Happy!
Written by Grant Morrison with art by Darick Robertson, Happy! follows Nick Sax, a corrupt, intoxicated ex-cop turned hitman who is adrift in a world of casual murder, soulless sex, eczema, and betrayal. However, with a hit gone wrong, a bullet in his side, the cops and the mob both on his tail, a monstrous child killer in a Satna suit. on the loose, Nick and his world end up forever changed at Christmas by a tiny blue horse called Happy. It’s a wild premise that sounds like it would be absolutely bonkers to adapt for television.
And yet, Syfy did exactly that in 2017. Syfy’s Happy! stars Christopher Meloni as Nick Sax. The series makes a few changes but is largely fairly faithful to the source material. The adaptation is actually pretty delightful — the animated blue, winged unicorn Happy is voiced by Patton Oswalt — even if violent and dark at times. The series ended up only running for two seasons and honestly, that’s a shame. It’s a case of a “weird” comic book ending up as a solid, really unique tv show.
3) Shazam!
Another adaptation that’s based less on a specific comic and more a specific character, Shazam! was a superhero television series that was part of the network’s Saturday morning programming. In comics, Shazam! (then known as Captain Marvel) was a teenage boy, Billy Batson, who could transform into the superhero by saying the magic word, “Shazam!”
The CBS series ran for three seasons between 1974 and 1976 and is in many ways kind of weirder than the comics, as it saw Billy (played by Michael Gray while the adult hero was played by Jackson Bostwick and, later, John Davey) travel the country in a 1973 Dodge Open Road motorhome with his guardian “Mentor” (Les Tremayne) seeking various injustices to solve. Mentor is original to the television series and has no basis in comics — and his relationship to Billy and why he’s there in the first place is never explained. The whole thing is just odd and very 1970s.
2) John Sable, Freelance (Adapted as Sable)
Written and illustrated by Mike Grell and published by First Comics, John Sable, Freelance followed Jonathan Sable, a bounty hunter and mercenary who had been an athlete at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. After witnessing the horrific terrorist attacks at those games, he marries a fellow athlete and relocates to South Africa and organizes safaris. But when his family is murdered by poachers, he returns to the US, living a double life as a freelance mercenary and successful children’s author. Yes, you read that right. He’s a mercenary who hides his double life as a children’s author — and his agent knows about it.
If you read that description and went “what the…” then buckle up, because John Sable, Freelance was actually adapted for television by ABC in 1987 as Sable. The adaptation is just as insane as the comic sounds, but the backstory for the series — which was cancelled after only seven episodes — is almost the craziest thing of all. KISS frontman Gene Simmons was a huge fan of the comics and bought the rights to the comic with the plan to turn it into an action movie at some point and he even starred as Sable for an unaired pilot for the TV show.
1) Night Man
Not only is the comics it’s based on weird, but the actual adaptation is considered one of the worst superhero adaptations ever and yet it actually still has its fans. Published by Malibu Comics (which was later pu8rchased by Marvel, The Night Man series follows the character also called Night Man, real name Johnny Domino. A well-known San Francisco jazz saxophonist, Johnny is struck by lightning in a freak cable car accident and left him with the ability to telepathically recognize evil but took away his ability to sleep. He gained the ability to hear the frequency of evil but was given insomnia in exchange. I’m so serious. In fact, I’m so serious that once Marvel owned Malibu Comics, Night Man even got some crossovers, including the three issue limited series Night Man/Gambit.
The show, which actually aired for two seasons in syndication from 1997 to 1999, is actually pretty close to the comics. Given that it was a syndicated series, however, Night Man had a pretty low budget and it was painfully obvious in the show’s special effects and production values and if we’re being honest, the scripts and acting weren’t great, either. It’s all just absolutely insane and possibly the weirdest comic to get an adaptation — and the weirdest adaptation of a comic — ever.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures -
Courtesy of S-Game Studio -
Cover art from the back of the Ultima Online CD jewel case.
