The Series: Scud: the Disposable Assassin by Rob Schrab (co-creator of The Sarah Silverman Program), featuring additional writing from Dan Harmon (Community, Rick and Morty) The Hero: The aforementioned disposable robot assassin, Scud. The Ideal Format: An animated show in the style of Freakazoid or Invader Zim (with Æon Flux flourishes). Imagine what the…
The Series: Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. The Heroes: Alana and Marko—once enemy combatants in an intergalactic war, now married and on the run from both of their governments—and a ragtag bunch of allies. The Ideal Format: A live-action fantasy epic with extensive animatronics, CGI, and sweet alien makeup. Star-crossed lovers aren't…
The Series: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North (of Dinosaur Comics fame!) and Erica Henderson. The Heroes: The titular heroine, aka Doreen Green, and several friends with similarly rhyming names and animal-based powers (like Chipmunk Hunk and Koi Boi). The Ideal Format: A live-action half-hour comedy series—think Marvel's answer to Brooklyn Nine-Nine. She may…
The Series: Mouse Guard by David Petersen. The Heroes: Warrior mice who patrol to keep their fellow rodents safe from predators. The Ideal Format: An animated series—hand-drawn, not CGI, to better emulate Petersen's original designs. The natural world has always been a brutal place. “Red in tooth and claw,” as the poets say. Plenty of…
The Series: Rat Queens by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch, and Stjepan Sejic. The Heroes: A team of hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, fun-loving, totally asskicking female mercenaries. The Ideal Format: A live-action series with a serious budget for the necessary magical SFX and prosthetics—HBO or Starz would be a good fit, given the mature subject…
The Series: The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. The Hero: Dream (also known as Morpheus, among other aliases) of the Endless. The Ideal Format: A live action series with significant amounts of CGI and puppetry, à la Mirrormask and the Henson films of the 80's. It's one of the most critically acclaimed comic series of all…
The Series: Lackadaisy Cats by Tracy J. Butler. The Heroes: Anthropomorphized cats in a Prohibition setting. The Ideal Format: An animated series—think Boardwalk Empire meets Disney. It's 1927, and Prohibition is in full swing. Also in full swing is a thriving underground of liquor smuggling, speakeasies, and criminal activity, punctuated by the rat-a-tat-tat…
The Series: Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona (and others, including Joss Whedon). The Heroes: The teenaged sons and daughters of a secret society of super-villains known as the Pride. The Ideal Format: A live-action Netflix series in the vein of Daredevil and Jessica Jones.* See also: Marvel’s Daredevil…
The Series: Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson The Heroes: A pack of dogs—Jack, Whitey, Pugsley, Ace, Rex, Miranda—and one cat, The Orphan. The Ideal Format: An animated series, a la Scooby Doo, only much darker. Beasts of Burden is a little-known gem of a comic series, set…
