Last month, we got the news that the FX version of Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Avon Oeming's Powers wasn't going to be picked up.
But comics on TV are still pretty big. The Walking Dead comes back to AMC later this month, and lots of people will be watching. In fact, if we were the type to rampantly speculate (and we are), it seems that creator-owned comics are to cable TV what mainstream superhero comics have been to blockbuster film in the past few years: the next big thing. (And we couldn't be happier to see something replacing superheroes, let us tell you.)
Which obviously means it's time for rampant conjecture and speculation about which creator-owned series will get the TV treatment and where. So, without further adieu, let's do some guesswork about which current and recent comics will end up on which networks!
Stumptown on...FX
FX needs a good private eye show, ever since Terriers got canceled back in 2010. And this isn't called Terriers, so it's got a shot.
Scalped on...Spike
It's not that I really think Scalped fits particularly well with reruns of CSI: and Entourage or new episodes of Impact Wrestling, Ink Master and Blue Mountain State. But if Spike really wanted to be what it claims to be -- a channel for tough guys -- Scalped would probably be the most perfect example of a something the network should adapt. So get your act together, Spike. Get it together.
Criminal on...E!
"Hey," you're saying right about now, "shouldn't Criminal be on the Crime and Investigation network?" And, no, it shouldn't, because the book isn't called Criminal and Investigator, now is it? No, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' stories of hard-boiled lawbreakers fits best on E!, which has a history of giving programs to those who flout the law.
Incorruptible on...TNT
Here's a list of original shows on TNT: The Closer, Perception, , Leverage, Falling Skies. Tell me a show with the title Incorruptible, no matter what it was about, wouldn't wedge comfortably into the TV Guide listings before or after any of those.
The Sword on...SHOWTIME
You might think an adaptation of a comic about a mystical sword that grants powers to a young woman in her quest for vengeance against immortal siblings with elemental powers might be something SyFy would be interested in. But they've changed a lot in the past few years. Meanwhile, Showtime is all about fantastical, unbelievable programming now, or at least, that's what the past few seasons of Dexter have indicated.
Bluewater's biographical comics on...BIO
Okay, so these comics don't really fit into the category of "creator-owned. But the match is too easy to pass up. You just take existing episodes of Biography, add in some rushed and anatomically inaccurate art, and you've got a show.
Chew on...FOOD NETWORK
The word is that Chew is being developed at Showtime, which is too bad, because what better to be Food Network's first dramatic series than this? Exotic cuisine! International travel! The occasional requirement to gnaw on a dead person! John Layman and Rob Guillory's comics depiction of a world in which chicken has been outlawed and FDA agent Tony Chu (who just happens to have a psychic link to anything he tastes) must do the government's difficult work of keeping poultry off the streets would be perfect. Just imagine it! "Up next on Food Network:Three hours of people making elaborate cakes! Then Chew! Then more cakes!"
