Overview

Adaptations typically are spawned from other media and related sources, such as:

• Novels
• Movies
• Television shows
• Radio and stage plays
• Traditional stories and Fairytales
• Poems

Often the source material will be expanded upon or transposed into another time period as a starting point for the creative process.

Some notable works that have been adapted and built upon are:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Peter Pan
• Robin Hood
• Sherlock Holmes

The Adaptation is often tied into the concept of the Photo Cover comic as well.

TV Show Continuations

Pioneered by authors like Joss Whedon who worked in comics and television, the idea of continuing a cancelled or "concluded" tv series directly through comics began with a franchise like the Buffyverse. What stands out the most about these books in their strictest sense is they explicitly continue storylines and use the traditional Season numbering from television in their volume title.

Examples include Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10, Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 11, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 12, Smallville: Season Eleven, The X-Files: Season 10, The X-Files: Season 11, Angel & Faith Season 10, Angel Season 11, Charmed Season Nine and Charmed: Season 10.

These are rare overall in comics as most television franchises in comics instead fall under Television Series Companion Comic.

Television Series Companion Comic

By the broadest definition all television series listed on this website have had a companion comic of a sort since that is a requirement to add a television series here. However it is usually implied that the show and comic are released concurrently. In terms of the most significant adaptations of television into comics, major examples include franchises like Star Trek, Looney Tunes, Doctor Who or Scooby-Doo; sub-brands like Adult Swim and Cartoon Network; publishers like Bongo, Western Publishing, United Plankton Pictures and Nickelodeon; and outlier long individual runs like ALF, Beavis & Butt-Head or Animaniacs. When it comes to explicit companion comics where it's a comic-based television series with its own comic then based on the television series, examples include Teen Titans Go! (in multiple volumes), DC Animated Universe, Super Friends and Earth-92131.

Book Continuation

Comic books that continue from or expand on books or novels.

Some of the biggest franchises to be adapted to or expanded through comics include:

• American Gods
• Anansi Boys
• The Circle Trilogy
• Dark Tower
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
• The Dresden Files
• Dune
• Ender's Game
• Fight Club
• James Bond
• Logan's Run
• Max Ride
• Neverwhere
• Outerverse
• Percy Jackson
• Red Rising
• Rivers of London
• A Song of Ice and Fire
• Tarzan

Game Related

Note: For a fully filterable and editable list of game related comic volumes, click here.

Comic books based on video games are used primarily to advertise and promote the video game in question. They usually come in the form of one-shots or a mini-series and are either prequels, set in the same universe or simply an adaption of the game storyline. Sometimes they are just game franchises that have been licensed to comic publishers. Other times there are two levels of comic involvement with a game based on a comic franchise than receiving a comic specifically tied to the game.

Many times a game publisher's logo will appear on the covers of a game related comic in the same way a standard comic publisher imprint will. Examples of this include:

• 2K
• Activision
• Atari
• Bandai Namco
• BioWare
• Blizzard
• Capcom
• CD Projekt Red
• Eidos Interactive
• Electronic Arts
• Id Software
• Konami
• Microsoft
• Mojang
• Playstation
• Rockstar Games
• Sega
• SNK
• THQ
• Ubisoft

Other times they will receive creator credits (the norm in Japan where comics are creator-owned rather than company-owned). Examples include:

• Atlus
• Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Capcom

Even more rarely, a video game publisher may have a comic publishing division such as Enix (later Square Enix) although this example mostly publishes standard manga that are not actually game related, Square Enix does also publish comics based on its game franchises or licenses them out to other publishers.

Notable Video Game Tie-in's

Sonic the Hedgehog

Published by Archie, Sonic the Hedgehog first appeared in 1992 as a 4 part mini-series and then in 1993 began its current ongoing series. Originally it was a light-hearted comic with single issue stories very much based on the Sonic video games but later on in the run it took on a more darker tone and had continuing storylines through multiple issues. After over 200 issues the Sonic the Hedgehog comic has created its own complicated history and is considered a separate reality to the Sonic video games.

Sonic the Comic

Unrelated to it's American counterpart, Sonic the Comic was released in the U.K. in 1993 by Fleetway. It was Sega's official comic and featured stories from many video games like Streets of Rage, Decap Attack, Golden Axe and Shinobi. The Sega stories began to appear less and less during the comics run, replaced by characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog strip like Knuckles and Tails. It lasted for 223 issues before the title folded in 2002.

Tomb Rider / Witchblade

Everything starts in New York, where Lara Croft makes her debut in comic books with Sara Pezzini. They embark on a crusade against a head of a mafia family.

Other Media

Toyline Tie-In

A number of major toylines have become significant comic franchises over the years, most notably many original or acquied properties of Hasbro. Mattel also had a number of franchises, generally more in the late 20th century. Marvel was a big publisher of more minor franchises, often through their Star Comics line. The most prominent examples include:

• G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
• The Transformers
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
• Rom
• Barbie
• Micronauts
• Shogun Warriors
• He-Man
• COPS
• Team America
• The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior
• Madballs
• Lego
• Strawberry Shortcake
• Sectaurs
• MASK
• Captain Action
• Action Man
• Hot Wheels
• Starriors Mini-Comics
• Littlest Pet Shop
• Rainbow Brite
• Go-Bots
• Super Powers
• Monster in My Pocket
• Zoids
• MegaMorphs
• Jem and the Holograms
• Trolls
• Battle Beasts
• Spiral Zone
• Raggedy Ann and Andy
• Street Sharks
• Stretch Armstrong
• Koosh Kins
• Stone Protectors
• Care Bears
• Dino Riders
• Power Lords
• Max Steel
• Monster High
• Garbage Pail Kids
• McFarlane Toys
• Skylanders
• Funko Universe
• Big Jim
• Bionic Man

There are also times where a non-character game or toyline is tied to a comic franchise but it's not always consistent whether the comic came first or the toy (most common in Japanese manga) such as Beyblade, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, B'Daman, Bakugan, etc.