5 Comics That HBO Should Tackle

“Game of Thrones” has been a huge hit for HBO, the network that pretty much defines itself on making high-quality television at this point. And with reason; it’s a great show, one of the network’s best.

But this leaves HBO in a conundrum, especially since “The Walking Dead” is a huge hit, and “True Blood” is another major HBO moneymaker: where should their next genre show come from?

As you may have guessed, we have a suggestion: just as one of HBO’s earliest hits, “Tales from the Crypt”, came from comics, it’s a well they should go back to. Specifically with these five books.

#5) “The Heckler”

OK, OK, “The Heckler” is fairly obscure, even by comic standards. But it also happens to be hilarious, Keith Giffen unrestrained by any semblance of continuity or editorial control. It features clown-hunting robots, reasonable disfigured Mafiosi, and one lone hero/diner owner who can never get the neon sign he ordered.

#4) “Nextwave”

Ideally, this book would receive the trilogy of nine-figure-budgeted features it deserves (paying attention, Disney?). Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world. But for HBO, a series like this is workable, especially if its animated…and it’d be way better than most of their recent sitcoms.

#3) “Prophet”

The recent reboot of this forgotten Rob Liefeld concept is pretty much sheer brilliance: a somewhat bleak, alien space opera with a strong flavor of Howard and Burroughs. Only two issues in, it’d make a great ongoing show, if for no other reason than there’d literally be no other show like it on the air.

#2) “The Spectre”

Arguably some of John Ostrander’s best work, and shamefully nearly impossible to find these days, in the ’90s, the Spectre was used to explore some of the more salient theological points of having the Left Hand of God running around on Earth, lighting drug dealers on fire and exploding rapists. “The Spectre” was everything most comics at the time wanted to be: dark, moody, and actually about something. We know that Fox is supposedly developing a Spectre TV series, but honestly, it’s unlikely that series is going to dig into the theological issues surrounding vengeance and justice like Ostrander did, forget trying to deal with social issues like AIDS, corporate greed, and drug addiction. HBO would, so they should get a shot.

#1) “Lone Wolf and Cub”

Lately, HBO’s parent company, Time Warner, has been all about the manga and anime: they’ve been trying to make “Akira” for years, and “Death Note” and “Bleach” are in development. So why screw around? Go straight to the manga that arguably touched off American interest in Japanese comics.

Fiscally, this is actually the most workable, because it would have to be shot in Japan anyway, and the kind of money HBO commits to a TV series goes a long, long way in the Japanese film industry. Shoot it in Japanese, stay faithful to the manga’s scripting, and use directors like Takeshi Kitano, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and Takashi Miike (watch “13 Assassins” and you’ll see what we mean), and you’ve pretty much got an instant hit.

How about you? Which comics do you think should hit HBO’s pipes?

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