Every year, more movies and TV shows based on graphic novels hit our screens. Big studios are increasingly looking for unique and intriguing stories. Graphic novels blend the best of books and comics, creating truly special works. Think of Sin City, V for Vendetta, and Happy! – all famous examples that made great films.
The ten graphic novels below are all distinct. They cover genres from horror to thrillers, comedy to drama, and explore feelings from hopelessness to sheer madness. You might not have heard of many of them, but they are hidden gems. Turning them into movies or TV series could introduce viewers to new stories and experiences, opening up this rich genre to a wider audience.
10. Through the Woods (Emily Carroll)
Through the Woods features five short, subtly connected stories. Each tale centers on a horror that we don’t see directly but feel all around us, hiding in plain sight. The forest is the common thread, acting as a source of horror and suspense. You’ll meet diverse characters: three sisters in a forest cabin awaiting their hunter father, a young woman forced into marriage, and a grim tale about a creepy beast. The key to these stories is the sudden, unexpected horror that truly unnerves us.
This collection of intertwined tales would be perfect for a TV mini-series. Each episode could have its own distinct atmosphere and narrative pace, growing more mysterious and sinister with each story.
9. Harrow County (Cullen Bunn)
Good horror movies can be hard to find. An adaptation of Harrow County could change that. This novel follows Emmy, a teenage girl who uncovers a terrifying secret about her home, Harrow County. Her life takes a dramatic turn as she’s plunged into local horrors. Imagine creepy places filled with dreadful monsters, like a Civil War cemetery haunted by fiery skeletons. Emmy constantly battles her vivid imagination and a bizarre reality. It’s common for her to mistake an ordinary object in the dark for something ghastly, like an almost-dead boy.
This work embodies the best of Southern Gothic, blending it with magical realism where good and evil are blurred. Everyday things can suddenly become menacing. Its 32-issue run provides rich material for a compelling streaming series.
8. Sentient (Jeff Lemire)
After humanity destroys Earth, a small group of survivors seeks a new home planet. Their journey through space is fraught with dangers and surprises. Luckily, their ship is equipped with advanced technology and a unique, newly self-aware artificial intelligence. However, the long voyage also strains their mental health, leading to complex moral dilemmas and breakdowns. These psychological challenges might be more dangerous than space itself.
Sentient is a classic space science thriller with some very unique twists. It stands out for its realistic portrayal of violence, often bordering on the horror genre. A movie adaptation, perhaps in a darker style similar to Passengers, could truly bring this intense synergy to life.
7. Air (G. Willow Wilson)
Blythe is an ordinary flight attendant for a fictional airline, yet she’s strangely afraid of heights. When she gets caught in a struggle over a new Aztec technological invention, she discovers she’s a “hyperpract.” This means she’s one of the few people able to use these new gadgets. With this tech, she can enter a reality where images are more powerful than physical objects, allowing her to move an airplane without fuel.
The story shifts constantly: one moment it feels like an action movie, the next a love story, and then a thriller. It’s a wild ride that blurs the line between insanity and the mundane. This is exactly what modern audiences, tired of predictable plots and clichéd characters, are craving.
6. Fatale (Ed Brubaker)
Fatale is a noir-style story centered around Josephine, the ultimate femme fatale. Men are captivated by her. Sinister cultists believe she should be sacrificed to their deities. One of Josephine’s biggest struggles is her amnesia, which constantly complicates her life, causing frantic forgetfulness and a host of problems. The graphic novel spans many years, but the main plot unfolds in the present day. As we learn, Jo’s life is filled with men drawn to her, who later pay a steep price for their involvement.
The brilliant mix of horror and crime is something missing in today’s cinema. Adapting this graphic novel could fill that void perfectly.
5. The Pro (Garth Ennis)
The Pro follows a prostitute who suddenly gains superpowers and joins the local superhero team. This extraordinary woman fights bad guys in the morning, picks up her son from daycare in the afternoon, and works her night job. But here’s a twist: the local superheroes aren’t entirely good. They’ll save you, sure, but if you cross them, they’ll destroy you without a second thought about morality—after all, they have superpowers.
Filled with profanity, violence, lust, and morally gray characters, this is a wild parody of the superhero genre. Think The Boys, but even weirder and much more depraved. It’s a story that would definitely shake up the screen.
4. 5,000 km Per Second (Manuele Fior)
Piero and Nicola are best friends, but both are infatuated with the mysterious Lucia, who lives in their apartment complex. This love triangle is the starting point that connects these characters. The story then jumps in time, revealing Piero and Lucia separated not just by years but also by 5,000 kilometers. Their separate lives, marked by difficult circumstances, briefly reconnect. Afterward, the vast distance between them only intensifies their complicated feelings.
Admiration and disappointment, love and hate, ebb and flow throughout this story in a chaotic way, shattering typical love stereotypes. This unconventional look at love and romance is something cinema needs more of, as real-life love is often far from what’s portrayed in films.
3. The Invisibles (1997) (Grant Morrison)
The Invisibles is about an anarchic group fighting extra-dimensional creatures that have taken over half the world. The team includes Jack Frost, the new Buddha reincarnation; Lord Fanny, a transgender shaman; King Mob, the team’s key operative; and other extraordinary individuals. They must find a way to defeat these intruders. Their journey involves time travel, magic, killing, and yes, smoking pot.
Will they choose anarchy and freedom, or order and slavery? Each character faces this question, and only time will reveal their answers. This absurd satire on society, packed with flamboyant characters and wild scenarios, would be a perfect fit for today’s diverse media landscape.
2. Essex County (Jeff Lemire)
This novel weaves three interconnected stories set in a small Canadian town. The first story follows a boy living with his uncle after his mother’s death. The second centers on two brothers, their difficult relationship, and their shared passion for hockey. The third is about a perpetually unhappy nurse caring for the sick.
The graphic novel’s standout feature is its portrayal of ordinary life burdened by hardship and oppressive depression. Trapped in their town as if in a cage, the characters are deeply unhappy. They try to find meaning in hockey, God, or comic books to change their lives, but something terrible always happens, pushing them back into apathy. This work would make a powerful psychological thriller, a genre we don’t see often enough.
1. On a Sunbeam (Tillie Walden)
On a Sunbeam tells the story of Mia through two parallel timelines: past and present. In the present, Mia joins the crew of the spaceship “Aktis.” Her job is to find and restore ruined architectural structures in deep space. She’s assisted by Jules, a talkative and persistent girl. The vast distances in space bring the characters very close, risking a bond deeper than friendship. Simultaneously, the narrative explores Mia’s past at an elite school, where she learns about life through first love, mean classmates, and local sports.
This is a hidden gem of a space adventure mixed with an unconventional love story. In space, race, gender, and religion don’t matter; only whether you’re a good person counts. These themes are more relevant than ever, and art can be a powerful way to explore them.
These ten graphic novels offer a wealth of untapped potential for film and television. Each brings a unique flavor, from chilling horror to mind-bending sci-fi and poignant human drama. Adapting these stories would not only entertain but also introduce audiences to fresh narratives and deeper explorations of the human condition, showcased through the incredible medium of graphic storytelling.
Which of these graphic novels would you love to see adapted? Leave your comment below!
