I was thinking about this topic just the other week when I saw all the hype for the new season of The Walking Dead on AMC. While I do love the show I realized that not many people realize that it spawned from a comic book 7 years prior to the show’s first season. I got to thinking of all the TV shows and movies that came from comic books and strips as well as graphic novels alike. I put together a list of some of the maybe not so obvious ones out there. While a bunch of them may be pretty obvious to some, it may come as a bit of a surprise to even the biggest comic geek out there. I did leave out the Batman, Superman, Avengers and others like that so don’t expect to see that spit out at you a billion times. Enjoy!

The Boondocks TV show (2005-Present) based on a comic strip that started in 1996 and ran until 2006

The Crow film (1994) and TV show (1998) based on 1989 comic book series from James O’Barr

Dennis the Menace based on 1950’s comic strip

Duckman (1994-1997) based on characters from the Dark Horse comic (1990) of the same name

Duck Tales (1987-1990) based on Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge comics which started in the 1950’s

Human Target TV show (2010-2011) based loosely on Human Target comic book and characters from DC Comics.

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch (1996-2003) was based off of the Archie Comics book of the same name which was first published in 1971

The Tick TV show (1994-1996,2001-2002) was based off of the independent comic of the same character which first appeared in 1988

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV show (1987-1996) based off of the comic that was first released in 1984.

Tales from the Crypt TV show (1989-1996) based on the 1950’s comic series of the same name.

The Walking Dead TV show (2010-Present) based on the Image Comics title of the same name which was first published in 2003







300 (2007) based on the 1998 comic series of the same name from Frank Miller and Lyynn Varley

30 Days of Night (2007) based on the comic mini-series of the same name from 2002

Alien vs. Predator (2004) based off the other films and the Dark Horse comics of the same name

Blade (1998) based off of the Marvel character of the same name first appeared in 1973

Constantine (2005) movie and upcoming TV show based off of the Vertigo Comics’ Hellblazer comic book first published in 1998

From Hell (2001) is based off of the graphic novel of the same name from Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell

Heavy Metal (1981) was based of the magazine of the same name from 1977

Hercules (2014) is based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars

Judge Dredd (1995,2012) is based off the 2000 AD comic character which first appeared in 1977

Kick-Ass (2010) is based off of the comic of the same name published in 2008

The Mask (1994) based off of the comic of the same name published in 1989 (1987 as Masque)

The Men in Black (1997) based on the comic of the same name first published in 1990

Road to Perdition (2002) based on the graphic novel of the same name from 1998

Sin City (2005) based on the graphic novel series of the same name that was first published in 1991

Surrogates (2009) based on the 2005 comic book of the same name

Tank Girl (1995) is based off of a comic book from the mid 1980’s

Timecop (1994) based on the comic of the same name from the same year

V for Vendetta (2006) based on the 1982 graphic novel of the same name

There are PLENTY more films and shows out there but I thought these were some that stood out the most to me. Hope you enjoyed the read and maybe it will urge you to go back and check out the source material on some of these movies and/or shows.

-Frank