This week sees the premiere of DMZ on HBO Max. Based on the comic by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli, it follows a photojournalist in a New York City that serves as a demilitarized zone between two forces in a modern Civil War-torn America. The book was originally published by DC’s Vertigo imprint, one of the most fertile labels in the industry. Many of their comics have become shows—Preacher, Y: The Last Man, and Doom Patrol just to name a few. But we wanted to dive into their deep bench and spotlight ten other Vertigo series that would be kick-ass TV.
1. The Unwritten
Enough time has passed from Harry Potter to make The Unwritten seem very prescient. The protagonist of the series is Tommy Taylor, who his dad used as the protagonist of a massively popular series of novels about a young wizard. But when Wilson Taylor mysteriously disappears, a grown-up Tommy must reckon with his legacy and the leakage of the fictional world into the real one. It’s a solid series with a good hook and a mystery at its core that will easily grab viewers.
2. 100 Bullets
This is one that has been in development hell both as a TV series and as a movie for over a decade, but there’s a good reason for it. 100 Bullets starts off as a story of crime and revenge, featuring a briefcase full of 100 untraceable bullets and a handgun, along with absolute proof that a person deserves to die. But it rapidly spirals out into a massive conspiracy that involves secret societies and more. It’s a vast and rich narrative world that could definitely grab a new audience on streaming.
3. Girl
Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo’s three-issue miniseries stars Simone Cundy, a miserable English teen who can’t even get her dad to read her suicide note. Shockingly, she discovers that she has a long-lost twin sister, Polly, and when the two link up, Simone’s whole life changes. But the twist here is that Polly is all in Simone’s head, and she’s pushing her “sister” to take vengeance on the people who have made her miserable all her life. Think Fleabag with multiple homicides and we’re getting somewhere.
4. The Crusades
The success of shows like Vikings is a perfect lead-in to this series, which took an 11th-century knight and deposited him in modern-day San Francisco, with predictably violent results. Fish-out-of-water stories are always fun, but is Sir Godfrey really what he seems to be? And will the police manage to stop him before his trail of bodies becomes too big? This is one of Vertigo’s lesser-known efforts, but it still holds up and would definitely work as an episodic series, with a number of unique characters including a radio shock jock making his fame off of the knight’s exploits.
5. Animal Man
Under the prolific pen of Grant Morrison, Animal Man transformed from one of DC’s endless backbench of B-list heroes into a fascinating figure. Given the power to manifest the abilities of any animal, Buddy Baker struggles to maintain a normal family life while trying to make things work as a superhero. His advocacy for animal rights and vegetarianism brought him into conflict with the morally suspect business of using his powers to protect big business. The original run went to some very surreal places, but the success of Peacemaker definitely opens the door here.
6. Proposition Player
A lot of Vertigo books had high-concept hooks that seemed tailor-made for prestige TV. In this miniseries, we meet Joey Martin, a high-level gambler who is hired by Vegas card rooms to make games more interesting. But when he wins the souls of 32 people in a drunken bet, his life becomes significantly more complicated. Representatives of both sides of the afterlife show up to start claiming them after they die, and Joey is stuck in the middle in a situation he can’t bluff his way out of.
7. Vamps
The “vampire bride” trope is a pretty dusty one, used to give Gothic horror a little T&A. But the premise of Vamps, in which five female thralls of an undead lord kill their master, bury his parts in separate graves, and hit the road, would make for a very fun series. The five undead women each have their own motivations for rebellion, but they are kept together by the bond of blood and have to contend not only with human society but also their former husband, who manages to knit himself back together and sets out to hunt them down.
8. The Extremist
Peter Milligan and Ted McKeever’s 1993 miniseries would have to find a home on a streaming service willing to push the envelope because The Extremist is one of the darkest, most perverse things Vertigo ever published. When ordinary housewife Judy Tanner’s husband dies unexpectedly, she discovers his secret life as a leather-clad assassin who serviced the perverts and sex freaks of their town. Now she has to don his outfit and get to the bottom of his death while still keeping her identity.
9. Scalped
This is another one that’s been bandied around for a screen adaptation for a while, but with the success of Hulu’s Reservation Dogs, the time couldn’t be better for Scalped to finally make it to a wider audience. When Dashiell Bad Horse returns to the reservation after fifteen years, he’s pressganged into the tribal police—but he’s hiding a secret. He’s actually an FBI informant looking to gather information on the murder of two agents. Twisty plots, memorable characters, and some nasty business make this one a no-brainer.
10. Transmetropolitan
Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson’s Transmetropolitan predicted the era of “fake news,” and now that we’re living in it we need gonzo journalist Spider Jerusalem more than ever. The bald, tattooed writer returns to the dystopian City to meet his contractual obligations and comes into conflict with all manner of scumbags and freaks, including the President of the United States. Over-the-top, ribald, and scabrous, Transmet would be a great framework to tackle the big issues of freedom, responsibility, and whether it’s a good idea to use a “bowel disruptor” on your enemies.
