Even before every third movie released was based on a comic book as has been the case for the past decade or so, Hollywood has long mined that medium for material with which to adapt onto the big screen. In fact, it has been happening for longer than many people realize, and certainly a lot more often.
This list contains 18 films that were based on either a long-running comic series, a comic mini-series, or even just a single graphic novel– but every single one did indeed begin life as hand-drawn creations on a page before being turned into live action and/or animated characters & environments in a feature-length movie.
18 Weird Science
One of John Hughes' more outlandish films– and one of the only ones where he veers into pure fantasy territory– is Weird Science, the tale of two lovable teenage losers who figure out a way to create their dream girl literally out of thin air.
The source material for the 1985 film goes back over 30 years, to a short-lived sci-fi anthology comic series of the same name from now-defunct EC Comics. The movie was most directly inspired by the premise of the comic series' fifth issue, entitled "Made of the Future."
17 Snowpiercer
A co-production of South Korean and Czech Republic film companies, based on a French graphic novel, and starring one of the U.S.'s current biggest stars– that's quite the cocktail for what turned out to be the excellent Snowpiercer.
Not only is it surprising to many that Snowpiercer was based on a comic, but would you believe that said comic– Le Transperceneige– was published all the way back in 1982? Le Transperceneige was eventually re-titled "The Escape" once it became part of a series that spawned two sequels and a prequel. It is unclear if the upcoming Snowpiercer TV series will be based on the entire comic series or if it'll branch off in its own directions.
16 Big Hero 6
When you think of Disney and Marvel movies, it's easy to only think about the Marvel Cinematic Universe– but the House of Mouse has dabbled in comics-based movies outside of that multi-billion-dollar enterprise.
Even if you never heard of The Rocketeer comic, it seemed pretty obvious that the 1991 Disney movie was probably based on some old comic. Less easy to assume was that Disney's underrated computer animated film Big Hero 6 also has its origins in comics, and Marvel comics, no less. The lesser-known superhero team first appeared in 1998 and made sporadic appearances over the next decade or so before Disney snatched up the film rights.
15 Men In Black
The original Men In Black saw Will Smith at the height of his power, with a hugely successful movie coupled with a hugely successful song, and only a year after his hugely successful TV series ended its run. Smith owes a lot of his megastar status to Men In Black's success and, by proxy, to the relatively niche comic book series that inspired it.
Though it would eventually be bought out by Marvel and revived to piggyback off the movie's success, the original The Men In Black comic book series saw only two brief runs in 1990 and 1991, and initially under a small– and now-defunct– Canadian comic book publisher called Aircel.
14 Kingsman: The Secret Service
Filmmaker Matthew Vaughn not only successfully revived the seemingly un-revivable X-Men movie franchise with First Class (only to have it fall apart again after he left it), but he has proven his knack for taking lesser-known comics and turning them into incredibly fun films.
He first did it with a 2010 movie that we'll be getting to later on this list so we won't spoil it here, but he parlayed that clout into adapting another fairly niche comic called Kingsman, turning its first volume, The Secret Service, into the excellent movie of the same name.
13 Red
Bruce Willis has seemingly been on cruise control for the past decade or so, taking movies for the paycheck and looking like he couldn't be any more bored while filming them. In fact, one of the last times he seemed to be truly having a good time on screen was in the 2010 ensemble action movie Red, with a fun cast that included Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren, all also looking to be having more fun than usual.
So what inspired this movie that got all these actors to loosen up and have so much fun? A short-lived series of the same name that ran between 2003 and 2004. After the success of the movie, a series of prequel comics were commissioned that fleshed out the backstories of both the original characters and the new ones created for the film.
12 The Mask
Few actors have had a bigger couple of years than Jim Carrey in the mid-90s, his massive success earning him what are still some of the biggest single-movie paydays in movie history. And few films were bigger showcases for Carrey's boundless manic energy and seemingly rubber face than the action comedy The Mask.
While obvious inspired by classic cartoons, The Mask was actually based on a comic book series of the same name. However, the original comics were much darker, and had "The Mask" do much worse, much deadlier things on his nightly romps. It was decided instead to retool him as a goofy, PG-13-approved troublemaker for the film version.
11 Wanted
Russian director Timur Bekmambetov made a huge splash with his zombie movie Night Watch, breaking box office records in his native country and making fans out of the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Danny Boyle, and Tim Burton.
For his first American film, Bekmambetov decided to direct the stylish action romp Wanted, which starred a then up-and-coming James McAvoy, as well as Angelina Jolie in what had become a rare big-budget Hollywood production for the actress by that point. The bullet-bending story was based on a limited comic series of the same name, published four years prior.
10 V For Vendetta
It can be tough to know which and how many movies have been adapted from comics written by the legendary Alan Moore, as he refuses to receive credit for any of them out of a general disgust for Hollywood. If you've ever seen the movie adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, it's kind of hard to blame him for his bitterness.
That being said, not all of the movie adaptations of his work have been terrible. In fact, V For Vendetta, based on his graphic novel, is one that he might be proud of if he'd just be a little more open-minded about such things.
9 The Crow
Unfortunately, it's impossible to talk about The Crow without also discussing the fact that its star, Brandon Lee, tragically lost his life during filming due to a freak accident with a prop gun. It's also tough to mention The Crow's cinematic output without letting the various terrible sequels and television spin-off taint the entire thing.
Because of all that baggage to wade through, it's not only easy to overlook just how good the original Crow film is, but also that it was based on a comic book series that launched in 1989 and ran in various forms throughout the '90s.
