Three Great Comic Books Coming To Television

In the wake of the Walking Dead, it's great to see that three great comic series are being adapted for television, in very promising ways (warning, some general spoilers):

Powers - A creator-owned series written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Michael Avon Oeming, Powers follows the investigations of two police officers, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim,  who investigate crimes involving super-powered beings.  Powers has a gritty feel, and remains somewhat grounded even with its ultra-human subject matter, with an almost "Law & Order"-like procedural view of  familiar superhero cliches.  It can be very violent, and takes some wild twists along the way (like flashing back to the beginnings of human evolution) - hopefully these traits will survive the translation to the small screen on FX.  The network that was home to The Shield may be the perfect place for Powers, and the pilot is being written by Charles Eglee, a veteran of The Shield, Dexter, The Walking Dead and NYPD Blue - a great choice for the subject matter. 

Locke and Key - A very twisted tale of the three siblings of the Locke Family, who witness the murder of their father and move to an ancestral family home, called Keyhouse.  This IDW comic series follows the exploration of the mansion, and the various keys within which allow the holders to open doors into other worlds, travel ethereally as a ghost, or open someone's head and remove specific memories, just to cite a few examples.  Written by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son and an excellent horror writer in his own right), it will be interesting to see how Fox handles the adaptation.  While Steven Spielberg doesn't seem to be immediately involved, his initial interest may have help the approval of a pilot, and the producers, the writing team of  Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci bring serious geek credentials with Alias, Fringe, Transformers,  the re-imagined Star Trek, and the forth-coming Cowboys vs. Aliens to their credit.  With all-star support like this, hopefully Fox will give it a full season order.

Chew - Written by John Layman and illustrated by Robe Guillory, this Image Comics series follow a detective who is a "cibopath" that can tell the history of anything he eats (think corpses and evidence). Chew is actually more light-hearted than one would expect.  The Chew universe is one in which an Avian Flu outbreak has led to chicken being outlawed and sold on the black market, with the FDA being granted extraordinary powers askin to Homeland Security in our reality.  Showtime is developing a series produced by Circle of Confusion, the company which brought us Walking Dead.  It is said to be a half-hour comedy format, which could be very interesting on the network that brings us Dexter.

Time will tell if these pilots make it to full series status, but it's great to see three such off-beat and creative properties being developed.  As if the joy of Walking Dead isn't enough, its creative wake has really opened the door to comics beyond the capes and tights.  While we are waiting for the shows, make sure to read these if you haven't already!