Contrary to popular belief, not every comic book tells the story of superheroes saving the day. Over time, in fact, there have been a handful of comic book adaptations that tell stories of comedy, family, romance, and more. One of which is Netflix’s newest young adult romance, Hearstopper, a coming-of-age TV show that got its start as a graphic novel by Alice Osemon. But in addition to the many comic-based television programs, there have also been a great deal of movies that were once told in graphic novel format.
What were once animated comic strips, books, or web-stories became feature-length motion pictures as soon as big-time movie studios got a hold of them. Where some soon-to-be adapted works of fiction leave the imagery up to its readers, the illustrations of these comic books have given fans the opportunity to see their favorite characters nearly exactly how they imagined, but to the fullest of their potential in movie format. With the endless amount of book-to-screen adaptations on the way, more comic books will surely one day make this list, but until then, here are eight movies that are based on comics that aren’t Marvel or DC.
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8 300
Warner Bros.
2006 was the year of Zack Snyder’s historical action movie 300. It began as a limited comic book series of the same name written and illustrated by Frank Miller, with the help of Lynn Varley. The story is a fictional retelling of the events of the Battle of Thermopylae and was inspired by the 1962 movie The 300 Spartans. Its series was released solely in 1998 as a five-issue comic book series from Dark Horse Comics. The movie was a box office hit, having earned $70 million in its opening weekend, making it number 125 on the list of most successful box office openings.
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7 The Addams Family
Orion Pictures
A few notes from a harpsichord followed by two snaps set the familiar tune that is The Addams Family theme song. The 1991 Addams Family movie follows the creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky clan of seven as they deal with a dubious con shark who attempts to off a man as the long-lost Uncle Fester. The Addams Family began as a cartoon created by Charles Addams in 1938. In addition to its live-action 1991 movie and 1994 sequel, The Addams Family has been adapted into more than one cartoon series, a Broadway musical, and a CGI-animated duology in 2019 and 2021. Its newest variation will be Tim Burton’s upcoming series Wednesday, focusing on the well-known, dark, creepy pigtailed little girl, who will be played by Jenna Ortega.
6 Annie
Columbia Pictures
Little Orphan Annie was a comic strip that debuted in 1924 and ran until 2010. Created by Harold Gray, the comic got its name from the 1885 poem titled “Little Orphant Annie.” It centered on the life of Annie, her dog Sandy, and her benefactor Oliver Warbucks, the richest man in the world. In 1997, the story was expanded and brought to the Broadway stage, where it ran for six years before being revived repeatedly for US and UK tours. In 1982, it was adapted as a theatrical film that quickly became a classic. The Wonderful World of Disney took the same story and created a TV movie in 1999, and the final Annie movie was released in 2014. But even then, it wasn’t the end to the Annie cinematic universe: a live show premiered on NBC during Christmas 2021.
5 Death Note
Netflix
Netflix released its interpretation of Death Note in 2017 and the movie was met with mixed but mostly negative reviews for its alleged whitewashing and infidelity to the source material. Nat Wolff starred as Light Turner, a teenager who discovers a magical notebook that has the power to kill anyone whose name he writes in it. The story was originally written as a Japanese Manga series by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Before becoming a US film, a TV show ran for 37 episodes and had three live-action movies, all broadcast in Japan. The comic ran from 2003 to 2006, with a total of 108 chapters that have sold over 30 million copies.
4 Kick-Ass
Lionsgate
Kick-Ass was originally published under Marvel Comics until it was handed over to Image Comics. Kick-Ass tells the story of Dave Lizewski, an ordinary teenager who seeks to become a superhero despite not having any superpowers or training. The action comedy movie was released in 2010, with a sequel, Kick-Ass 2, released three years later. The comics were written by Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita, with the title character being named after a fan who won a contest. Kick-Ass is an eight-book series, with five parts centered around the original character and the subsequent three being a spinoff titled The New Girl. As of 2021, a third movie is said to be in development, and will be a reboot by original director Matthew Vaughn.
3 Love and Leashes
6.9 million viewers tuned in to read the Webtoon original comic, Love and Leashes, written by an author by the name of Winter. Love and Leashes tells the story of Ji-hoo and his coworker Ji-woo who one day mistakenly stumbles upon his fetishes. The two then arrange a contract that blooms into kinky romance as the two embark on a slave/master fantasy. The South Korean romantic comedy was brought to Netflix Valentine’s Day 2022 and was met with positive reviews, earning an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
2 Marry Me
Universal Pictures
The 2022 romantic comedy Marry Me starred the rom-com extraordinaire Jennifer Lopez and award-winning actor Owen Wilson. Wilson’s character Charlie gets dragged to a Kat Valdez concert, the same night she was supposed to marry her fiancé onstage in front of millions. Unluckily for her, however, he cheated on her just before they could tie the knot. When Kat sees Charlie’s “Marry Me” poster in the crowd, she impulsively agrees to wed the concert goer, despite not knowing him. The story, according to WTMX, was originally written by Bobby Crosby in 2001, after he had seen a televised concert and noticed fans would hold up signs proposing marriage to the singer on stage. The graphic novel debuted Valentine’s Day 2007 and, at the same time, Crosby said he knew it had movie potential.
1 The Peanuts Movie
Blue Sky /20th Century Studios
Charles M. Schultz began writing the Peanuts comic strip in 1950, and it ran until the year 2000 before continuing in reruns. Peanuts is one of the most popular comic strips in history, having nearly 18,000 pieces of work in over 2,000 newspapers, throughout 75 countries and translated into 21 languages. The first Peanuts adaptation to be broadcasted was A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965 and from there, there were multiple holiday themed television specials, with the first feature-length film titled A Boy Named Charlie Brown having been released in 1969. In 2015, 20th Century Fox distributed the first and only computer-animated Peanuts film, simply called The Peanuts Movie, which followed Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the gang as the bald, yellow-shirt-wearing lovable loser falls in love with a little red-haired girl.
