Everyone loves to talk about comic book adaptations that feature beloved superheroes, but there are lots of supernatural comic book adaptations without the men in tights. While the supernatural plays into many movies and TV shows in the superhero world, from WandaVision and Agatha All Along to the Doctor Strange movies, there are plenty of options that don’t have these sorts of basic heroes at all. Often, these are not even from Marvel or DC, although some come from their side imprints. That said, a good streaming show doesn’t need one of the big two to become a massive hit that fans will watch to the end.
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Here is a look at the seven best supernatural comic book television shows that have nothing to do with actual superheroes.
7) Lucifer
Lucifer was an interesting comic book adaptation because it didn’t look like a comic book series and because it was a spin-off from another property that it never really acknowledged. In the comics, Lucifer Morningstar got his introduction in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comics, before breaking out as a solid character of his own in his solo series when he left Hell and settled into life on Earth.
That is what the show focuses on, as Lucifer runs a nightclub in Los Angeles. He still has his powers and uses them to help a LAPD detective solve crimes as a consultant, mainly thanks to his boredom and because it amused him. However, as the series wore on, he became more of a hero, which gave the most unlikely mythical character a chance at redemption. Tom Ellis was masterful as Lucifer, and the show had a surprising six seasons and 93 episodes, becoming even more popular after Fox canceled it and Netflix acquired it to finish the story.
6) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
The series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, is based on the Archie Comics series of the same name, and was also adapted years before as a sitcom-styled series with Melissa Joan Hart as the teenage witch. However, the Netflix series introduced in 2018 made that previous TV show look pale in comparison as it brought the supernatural horror from Archie Comics to life. Kiernan Shipka starred as Sabrina, a teenage witch who struggles to maintain a balance between her mortal and witch lives while evil threatens those she loves.
This series was a hit from the start, but it faced several problems along the way, including the pandemic shutting down production and causing Netflix to cancel the series after just two seasons. However, in those two seasons, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina delivered some of the best supernatural horror action on the streaming service, and it remains a highlight of any Archie Comics adaptation.
5) The Sandman
Premiering in 2022 on Netflix, Sandman was a supernatural comic book adaptation that fans had been waiting for years to see. The DC Comics series by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg was about Morpheus of the Endless, the lord of the Dreaming. When someone abducted and imprisoned him, the world fell into chaos because people stopped dreaming, and his realm fell into ruin.
Unfortunately, real-world issues caused Netflix to end the series after just two seasons and 23 episodes, but what resulted was incredible television. Allan Heinberg served as the showrunner, and Tom Sturridge was masterful as Morpheus. While only 23 episodes, this was what many fans had waited decades to see, and it delivered in spades.
4) Sweet Tooth
Sweet Tooth was a comic book series by Jeff Lemire, and it ended up becoming yet another Netflix comic book series based on supernatural events, but with no superheroes. When children were born as hybrids of animals, the world fell into disarray. The story follows one little boy, a 10-year-old deer-hybrid named Gus, and his fight for survival when bigoted humans want to kill everyone like him.
The series was a tremendous success for Netflix, running for three seasons and 24 episodes. The best news is that this was all Netflix needed to tell the full story from Lemire’s comics, and do so faithfully. With a great cast and some topical storylines that fit in well with today’s society, Sweet Tooth was an underrated streaming success.
3) Preacher
Preacher was an AMC series that never should have worked on television, but it somehow delivered one of comics’ most controversial storylines to the small screen. In Preacher, a small-town preacher ends up possessed by a dangerous entity that shouldn’t exist, but escaped from Heaven and made its way to Earth. Dominic Cooper is brilliant as Jesse Custer, the preacher, while Ruth Negga and Joseph Gilgun rounded out the main cast of antiheroes as Tulip and Cassidy.
However, this series pushed the envelope more than almost any other, including allowing Adolf Hitler to escape from Hell, which wasn’t in the comics, but also delivering a comic book-accurate version of Helmut Starr (Pip Torrens) and the Saint of Killers (Graham McTavish). Just like with the comics, this series is not for everyone, but for fans of the books, it remains brilliant.
2) The Walking Dead
Easily, the most successful and popular of the supernatural comic book adaptations without superheroes is The Walking Dead. This is another AMC series, this one following the world after a zombie apocalypse. The TV show made changes, including introducing new characters (Daryl Dixon) and changing others (Andrea and Carol). However, it did nothing to limit the show’s success.
The series even changed the ending by getting rid of the main protagonist, Rick Grimes, early and altering how it ended. However, it remained a highly rated and watched series to the end. There were also several spinoffs, and The Walking Dead is still producing shows in the universe to this day. Despite Invincible’s popularity, this is still Robert Kirkman’s greatest success story.
1) Locke & Key
Locke & Key was a supernatural comic book series by the team of Stephen King’s son Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. The story follows the Locke family (a mother and three kids) who return to their ancestral Key House after the murder of the father. Once there, they find mysterious keys in the house that offer magical powers and experiences, as well as a demon who needs one of the three kids to free them.
Netflix adapted the supernatural comic book series starting in 2020, and it ran for three seasons and 28 episodes. As with most comic book adaptations, the showrunner changed along the way to make it fit the television format better, but what resulted was a fairly accurate representation of the story. With a great young cast and some impressive visuals, Locke & Key was yet another success story that proves comic book shows don’t need superheroes to thrive.
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