10 Best Non-Superhero Comics Made into Movies
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When people think of comic book adaptations, they typically think of superhero movies, which makes sense because they seem to be everywhere. Each year we get a few Marvel films and a few DC Universe films featuring characters with superpowers from the respective comics. Sometimes it can seem that there are no other comic book movies out there.
While I definitely enjoy my superhero movies (and am waiting for someone to adapt Squirrel Girl), I’m also pleased to find comic book movies based on comics that are not superhero comics. Some argue that comics are not a genre but a medium of expression. When you think about the sheer amount of comic books out there from historical nonfiction, romance, science fiction, and more, it makes sense that superhero comics are not the only ones that make it to the big screen.
There’ve been a lot of exciting films that have come out in the past few decades from comics, whether graphic novels, serial strips, or other. However, when looking at the non-superhero comics that have been adapted, not many have been written by women, which is disappointing. Hollywood and the film industry in general make it very difficult for screenplays written by women and/or directed by women to get to the big screen.
To put things in perspective, according to the University of Southern California Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, of the 481 nominees for Best Director, only 9 have been women. That’s 2%. It’s slightly better for original screenplays: of 1,060 people nominated for original screenplays, 107 were women (10%). And that’s only looking at gender, not sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, etc.
A few books that I’d love to see on the big screen written and drawn by women include Saga by Brian Vaughn and Fiona Staples; Fun House by Alison Bechdel; Monstress by Marjorie Liu; anything by Lucy Knisley; and The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang, to name a few.
Below is a list of the best non-superhero comics made into movies everyone should have on their radar.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Directed by Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
Persepolis might be my favorite comic book adaptation after Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. In the comics and the adapted movie, Satrapi recounts her childhood and teenage years growing up in Iran in the 1970s. It’s a beautiful film that brings Satrapi’s black-and-white stylized drawings to life. It’s one of those films that manages to keep the comic style that made it famous.
Chicken With Plums is another of Satrapi’s comics that was adapted.
Nimona by ND Stevenson directed by Troy Quane and Nick Bruno
When I heard that Nimona was being adapted to film, I was so excited. While the film had some stops and starts, I was happy to see it finally get released and was not disappointed. Ballister Blackheart has one goal in life: destroy the Institution. But his purpose in life is upended when a girl named Nimona insists on being his sidekick. However, he soon learns that Nimona is not what she seems. It’s a wonderful story about good and evil.
American Splendor by Harvey Pekar, directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
When I saw American Splendor in movie theaters, it was a revelation. There were comics like this? It opened up my eyes to the possibilities of graphic novels/nonfiction. It chronicles the life of Harvey Pekar based on his comic strips of the same name. He may not seem like the most interesting man in the world, but Pekar manages to show how ordinary life is worthy of comics. It’s a testament to the power of the ordinary and the sublime.
The Addams Family by Charles Addams, directed by Barry Sonnefeld, Written by Charles Addams, Caroline Thompson, and Larry Wilson
Yes, the Addams Family is actually based on a single panel comic strip drawn by Charles Addams. The first Addams Family comic was published in the New Yorker in 1938. The macabre comic family would be the source material for the 1960s television show as well as the classic movie, The Addams Family, and the much-loved sequel, The Addams Family Values, and the more recent television show, Wednesday. For ’90s kids, these films were foundational to our life outlook.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki, directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Based on the 1982-1984 manga series, Nausicaä takes place in a post-apocalyptic Earth where parts of the world are now inhabitable to humans filled with giant insects. Princess Nausicaä has figured out how to speak to the insects and realizes that there is hope for Earth. But only if she can stop two kingdoms from going to war. It’s the first film by Miyazaki, known for Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.
Dick Tracy by Chester Gould, directed by Warren Beatty
When I think of detective comics, Dick Tracy is the first one that comes to mind. With his signature yellow jacket and radio watch, Dick Tracy fought organized crime in the City, going head to head with the classic villain, Flatop, and Alphonse “Big Boy” Caprice. Beatty’s film manages to bring the pulpy, hardboiled detective novel and its cast of characters to life. And now there’s a new comic book series of Dick Tracy written by Alex Segura, Michael Moreci, Chantell Aimée Osman, and drawn by Geraldo Borges, which I highly recommend.
Edge of Tomorrow written by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, adapted to manga by Ryosuke Takeuchi and Takeshi Obata, directed by Doug Liman
The 2014 Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt film was based on the Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill, by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, which was then made into a manga series by Ryosuke Takeuchi and Takeshi Obata. In the story, Major William Cage (or Keiji Kiriya in the manga) finds himself on the battlefield against the aliens known as Mimics, who are winning the war against humanity. A freak accident results in the Major reliving the day he died, kinda like a war-time Groundhog Day. Soon, he realizes that he might be able to change humanity’s fate if he can get it right. There are rumors that there might be a sequel to the movie…
Lackadaisy by Tracy Butler directed by Fable Siegel
It’s cats and 1920s St. Louis. Jazz and prohibition. It started as a webcomic, turned into a print copy, and then thanks to a large Kickstarter campaign from Iron Circus, Lackadaisy the Animated Movie was born. There are also shorts, thanks to the success of the Kickstarter. It was Iron Circus’ first foray into animation and a welcome one at that!
Akira written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo
It’s probably the quintessential manga turned movie. It’s 2019, 31 years after an atom bomb destroys Tokyo. Now Neo-Tokyo is a city beset by violence and terrorism. When head of the Capsules gang, Shōtarō Kaneda, finds out his friend Tetsuo has developed powers that might make him the next Akira, the entity that destroyed Tokyo, Kaneda has to try to save his friend from people who want to use him and himself.
Gemma Bovery by Posy Simmonds directed by Anne Fontaine
When Gemma Bovery moves to a small town with her new husband, the town baker finds the name too similar to Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary to be a coincidence. He starts observing her life and wondering if she, too, will fall into the same traps as her literary compatriot. It’s a fascinating reconsideration of the famous book in comic and film versions.
That’s ten amazing adaptations from comic books, comic strips, and manga. Want more discussion of comic book movies? Check out this article on what makes a good comic book movie adaptation. Want to learn more about the history of licensing comics for movies and TV? Here’s the article for you.
