Television has long drawn from comic books for its source material, but not all of the shows that originated in the comics medium are immediately recognizable as such. TVLine’s recent list highlights five TV series that viewers may not realize began as comic books or graphic novels, spanning indie publishers, webcomics, and established comic houses.
American Born Chinese, the Disney+ fantasy-action comedy that aired in 2023, originated from a 2006 graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. The graphic novel interweaves three storylines exploring Asian-American identity and incorporates mythology from the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West,” drawing from Yang’s own childhood experiences. His work became so acclaimed that many schools today include it in their curriculums, and the TV adaptation gave educators a visual companion to the source material.
Men in Black: The Animated Series, which debuted on The WB in the late 1990s, was based on a comic book that predated both the Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones films. Created and written by Lowell Cunningham and illustrated by Sandy Carruthers, the original Men in Black comics were published by Malibu Comics under its Aircel Comics imprint starting in 1990. The comic featured many of the same elements as the films—agents Jay and Kay, the neuralyzer, and alien-fighting missions—though the source material also included supernatural threats like demons, mutants, and zombies alongside extraterrestrials.
Hazbin Hotel, the adult animated musical that premiered on Prime Video in 2024, grew from webcomic roots. Series creator Vivienne Medrano began publishing the webcomic ZooPhobia in 2012 while attending New York City’s School of Visual Arts. The webcomic centered on a neurotic young woman with a fear of animals stranded on a magical sanctuary island populated by various creatures and demons. One character, Damian—the son of Lucifer—became the foundation for Charlie Morningstar in Hazbin Hotel, with unused ZooPhobia story arcs also informing the series’ development.
DuckTales, the 2017 Disney XD revival, brought together Scrooge McDuck and his grandnephews in adventures that connected to other classic Disney Television Animation cartoons. Both the original 1987 series and the 2017 reboot trace their roots to comic books. Cartoonist Carl Barks created Scrooge McDuck as a character in Donald Duck’s comic book series, initially as an antagonist. After proving popular, Scrooge received his own spinoff comic series that introduced Huey, Dewey, and Louie alongside villains like Magica De Spell, Flintheart Glomgold, and the Beagle Boys. Several early Barks stories were later adapted into DuckTales episodes.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which ran on ABC and The WB from 1996 onward, has roots in Archie Comics. The character was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, first appearing in Archie’s Madhouse #22 in October 1962. Originally intended as a one-off character in the anthology series, Sabrina proved so popular that she went on to anchor her own spinoff within the Archie Comics universe. The 1996 live-action series starring Melissa Joan Hart brought the character to mainstream audiences, though her comic book origins remained less widely known than those of more famous superhero adaptations.
Sources
- TVLine — the original article listing all five TV shows and their comic origins
- Wikipedia — American Born Chinese graphic novel details, including 2006 publication and Gene Luen Yang as creator
- Wikipedia — Men in Black comics information, including creators Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers, and 1990 Malibu Comics publication
- Wikipedia — ZooPhobia webcomic information, including 2012 start date and creator Vivienne Medrano
- Wikipedia — Uncle Scrooge comic details, including Carl Barks as creator
- Wikipedia — Sabrina the Teenage Witch comic information, including George Gladir and Dan DeCarlo as creators and October 1962 debut in Archie’s Madhouse #22
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Hello, I’m Declan. I share my film reviews and discoveries with you to enrich your moviegoing experience.