Wrestling and comics have always been closely linked, primarily by a tendency toward melodramatic storytelling and people in colorful spandex beating each other up. Actually telling wrestling stories in comic book form seems to work better these days than it used to, from Boom Studios’ current WWE fare to books like Headlocked, Ringside, and Super Pro KO that are about wrestling without being about real-world companies or characters.
Now the most acclaimed TV show about wrestling (which is sometimes also a wrestling show) is officially on its way to comics in 2019. Netflix’s GLOW is getting a four-issue comic book series at IDW Publishing, written by Tini Howard and drawn by Hannah Templer.
As the comics publisher of Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Ghostbusters among others, IDW has a proven track record with comics based on other media, not to mention a particular interest in the 1980s, when GLOW is set. Tini Howard has written for Boom’s WWE comics, making her a natural choice, while Hannah Templer previously worked on IDW’s Jem and the Holograms comics, which certainly gives her a background in truly outrageous ’80s fashions. The book will be overseen by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, creators of the TV series.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Howard expressed her excitement at writing comics about the women of GLOW:
I’m more than just a GLOW fan, I’m a wrestling fan, too. I’ve written wrestling comics before, and I adore it. Wrestling and comic books are a natural fit for more than just tights and fights. Each of the gorgeous ladies has either developed her own character or adapted to one thrust upon her, and making that identity her own is not dissimilar to, say, putting on a bat costume.
The first issue of GLOW is set to be released in March of 2019.
