There have been many video-game-to-comic-book adaptations in the past. Some have been good (Resident Evil and Call of Duty), some bad (God of War and Gears of War), and some excellent (Mass Effect and Dragon Age). Then there’s the longest running one as well, Sonic the Hedgehog, who’s been in the funny pages for quite some time—November of 1992 to be precise. There are, however, some franchises that should be mined for some great series and great story arcs, especially if done right. Here are the top 5 along with the ideal picks for writers and artists.
5) Fable – Writer: Bill Willingham; Artists – Todd Nauck, Chris Bachalo
Bill Willingham became an overnight sensation when the first issue of his amazing series Fables was released in 2002. He wasn’t picked by the author of this article because he worked on a title that’s pretty much the same as the game, but picked because of his vast knowledge of things medieval and fairytale – like. Those skills would prove extremely efficient in writing a monthly series with the scope and grandeur of the Fable games. The only two artists that could brng about the steampunk look of the Fable world are Nauck or Bachalo. Those two cut their teeth on the steam punk style and Bachalo uses it to this day as he draws The Uncanny X-men right now. With these folks paired up and Nauck and Bachalo switching between story arcs, there is no reason this comic book couldn’t flourish like the games do.
4) Final Fantasy – Writer – Brian K. Vaughn; Artists – Gary Frank, John Cassaday
For some reason no comic book company has approached Square-Enix and asked them for the rights to mine that great untapped IP they have. Vaughn rose to comic book stardom with his series Y the Last Man which told of an earth devoid of men. Currently he is working on Saga, a cross between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Had he not been writing Saga, he wouldn’t even have entered into the running to write this title. But after reading Saga, one realizes that Vaughn knows his stuff and could easily pen a new tale in the Fantasy world or take some beloved characters on some new missions. Frank and Cassaday would be the best artists for this series as well, once again switching between arcs. Both of these artists can capture the huge scale of the worlds in the Fantasy series and draw the characters they way they are suppose to be seen with the smooth lines of a skilled artist.
3) Portal – Writer – Dan Slott; Artists – Skottie Young, Humberto Ramos
Dan Slott started his comic book career in Marvel’s Ren and Stimpy. He then jumped to DC to write Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, then back to Marvel to cut his superhero teeth on The Sensational She-Hulk. What made him come to mind for this series though is the resume spot with Ren and Stimpy. Anyone who was a 90’s kid remembers that show in Nickelodeon and how funny it was, so with Slott comes the humor that would make GLaDos and Wheatley come to life perfectly. Young and Ramos’ art would also bring those robots and the portal rooms to life with their very unique style.
2) Persona – Writer – Jeff Lemire; Artists – Jeff Masuda, J. Scott Campbell
The Persona series is a very unique beast to handle, and after reading Animal Man and Justice League Dark, Jeff Lemire is the man to bring it to the comic book realm. Lemire successfully made the magic part of the DC Universe interesting and mainstream. Heck, Guillermo Del Toro wants to make a Justice League Dark movie. With that much success, Lemire should be able to tear open this world and craft some amazing stories. Sadly the two artists that would do this world justice are the artists with the most problems getting their work in on time, so this would have to be a definite switch artists between arcs so that the reader would get the end of the tale. Their art though is unparallelled and would capture the world of Persona perfectly.
1)The Elder Scrolls – Writers – Wendy and Richard Pini, Christy Marx; Artists – Wendy Pini, Aaron Lopresti
There is so much lore in the world of the Elder Scrolls that it would take three writers and two artists to tackle it completely. The Pinis of course created Elfquest, so they already have had most of their life seated in the fantasy world. Marx has as well and she just got off of a stint with Sword of Sorcery for DC Comics, so she also knows her way around the fantasy world. Wendy Pini even drew Elfquest, so she has both parts of the fantasy equation down pat. Lopresti would be joining Marx from Sword of Sorcery and he made that fantasy world look amazing as well. With this team the sky would be the limit in the world of Skyrim and Morrowind, and it would be amazing.
What games would like to see turned into a monthly comic book? Were there any missed? Let us know in the comments.