Tag Archives: television shows

From the Pages (but NOT) to the Screen: The Top Ten Comics to Never See a Film or TV Adaptation-Guest article by StiffMag’s Dave Harlequin!


Ever since I’ve been able to read, I’ve always loved comic books.  They say you never forget your first time, and while I don’t know how true that is overall (I can’t remember my first slice of pizza, my first cup of coffee, or even the name of my first grade teacher,) I know I will never forget the first time I picked up a copy of Marvel’s “Uncanny X-Men.”  It was the winter of 1989, and I was just reading through the small rack of comics at my local grocery store while my mother was shopping.  I ended up sitting in the aisle finding myself mesmerized by the awesome tales of adventure from everyone’s favorite mutant heroes, and couldn’t wait to buy as many books as my meager allowance at the time could provide me. I was 8 years old, and I was officially hooked.  Not long after that, I saw my first ever comic-book-movie, Tim Burton’s “Batman” on a VHS tape that my dad rented at our local video store. I was given a big box of Dad’s old comics upon discovering my love for superheroes, which included plenty of offerings from The Dark Knight, so I was already familiar with the source material… but this was a movie about comics!  Once again, I was hooked.

Ever since that day, I’ve went out of my way to watch every comic book movie and TV show I could, all-the-while building what I’d like to consider a very respectable (and perhaps a bit obsessive) comic collection.  Now, over 20 years later, I’ve seen pretty much every comic or comic-related film and TV show you could imagine, from live-action, to animated, to even motion-comics and documentaries about comic books.  Some were great, some were not so great, but all of them were based on comic books, so I had to see them!  Hollywood found a real market with superhero films and comic-adaptations, and it seems over the past decade or so, they’ve been grabbing up every comic property they could get their hands on… much to the delight (and times disgust) of comic lovers everywhere.  With all of that said, though, what puzzles me the most is just how many truly great comics out there were never adapted for the screen… be that the silver screen or the small screen.

So without further ado, here is my Top Ten list of the best comic books/graphic novels to never see any sort of film or TV adaptation. Enjoy!

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Tasty Television: Hannibal Ceuf Webisodes


Ok, so lets just address the elephant in the room right off shall we? You see, this week’s episode was supposed to air, but unfortunately, due to sensitive subject matter in the episode, it was pulled. The episode was about a character played by Molly Shannon who was brain washing children into killing other children. Due to the recent school shootings here in America, it would probably be in bad taste to air the episode. Whether I believe this was a good move or not is irrelevant; the most important thing to remember is that this happened and we may need a little time to get past it. Continue reading

Tasty Television: Hannibal 1×03 Potage *Spoilers*


I think we are looking at a really great series here. This week’s episode of Hannibal was amazing. It opens with a flashback of the Minnesota Shrike and his daughter, Abigail Hobbs, hunting in the woods. He tells her they must use every part of the deer they kill in order to honor it. Then we get flashes of a dead human girl and she finally wakes up from her coma.  And with that, everyone wants to talk to her. This includes the ever nosy Freddie Lounds. Continue reading

Tasty Television: Hannibal 1×02 Amuse-Bouche


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“Killing must feel good to God, too. And are we not created in his image?” A chilling quote from Hannibal Lecter in episode two of the series Hannibal.  The episode picks up where the last one left off. Will is still experiencing nightmares from his murder of the serial killer Garrett Jacob Hobbs. Jack Crawford sends him to get evaluated by Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Meanwhile a new case has popped up in Minnesota. A man has been burying victims alive in order to grow his own mushroom farm, as well as perform a disturbing thought experiment. Continue reading

Tasty Television: A Review of Hannibal 1×01 Apéritif


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Hannibal Lecter is one of America’s most iconic fictional serial killers. Created by author Thomas Harris in the 1981 novel Red Dragon, he blew up. This lead to two sequel novels, a prequel, and five films featuring the character. The book Red Dragon has been adapted twice for the big screen, the first time with the box office bomb Manhunter in 1986 a film featuring Brian Cox as the famous cannibal, then again in the 2002 film Red Dragon featuring Anthony Hopkins.  Now, in 2013 we have a third adaptation of the book with Bryan Fullers new show: Hannibal. Continue reading

Signing a Contract to Be a Slave: Dollhouse in Retrospection


Dollhouse_(Fox_TV_Series),_2009,_Eliza_Dushku,_Harry_Lennix,_Fran_Kranz

Dollhouse. How do we even begin to talk about Dollhouse? It might be the most ambitious of all of Joss Whedon’s shows, and, while it is deeply flawed, it’s also one of the most interesting. 

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Things That Happened – The Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter: What It Means For Us


If you were on the internet at all yesterday, you might have heard that Rob Thomas finally decided to try to make the Veronica Mars film. The show, beloved by many (including staff members here), has been off the air for almost six years. In fact, we’re about to hit its sixth year mark in May. With that in mind, let’s talk about how the Veronica Mars movie is going to actually happen, and what that means for fans and creators alike.

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A Brief Life Before Buffy: A Look at Pre-Vampire Joss Whedon


Hello friends! This particular article is going to be painfully short, and I’m sorry about that. It just so happens that Joss’s career before Buffy Summers came along was less “Joss Whedon” than we’d like to admit. It was filled with working on a TV staff, working as a script doctor, and writing animated films (or at least doing the stories).

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Saving People, Hunting Things: The 20 Greatest Supernatural Episodes


I love Supernatural, but you all know that. I’ve been watching the show for the past seven years or so, and I certainly have a favorite character, a favorite season, and a favorite episode. In fact, I have twenty favorite episodes. So, in honor of “LARP and the Real Girl,” which I’m sure will be a favorite for myself, I’ve completed a list of my very favorite episodes of Supernatural up to this point. Some you might agree with, others you might hate, but they are all my choices.

So, let’s begin.

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Sitting at a Round Table: Merlin in Retrospect


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Never could I ever write nearly as much insightful commentary about the legend of King Arthur as there already is. There are people who have dedicated their lives to studying the Once and Future King with his duel kingdoms. I can, however, talk about King Arthur as a life-long fan of the legends. I’ve always been an Arthurian girl – and I always will be. There’s something amazing and inspiring about the legends of Arthur and his knights. Whether it’s uniting a nation with Lancelot, or even the quest for the Holy Grail, Arthur will remain one the of the West’s greatest myths.

Because of that status, there are a lot of retellings of the great and mythic Arthur. Some are awful, some are great. And some are Merlin. More recent adaptations of the tale have taken the side of telling the story through the eyes of Merlin, the old wizard who sometimes helps, sometimes hurts, but is always there. There is no true tale of Arthur without Merlin.

And that’s where Merlin comes in.

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