TV Series Based on Comic Books

By Vinnie Penn
Special to MSN TV

There are folks out there -- they'd respond to a term like "purist" -- who will swiftly dismiss you midway through an enthusiastic discussion about AMC's monster (pun intended) hit "The Walking Dead" once they discern that you had no idea it is based on a successful comic book/graphic novel.

Just as surely, there are folks out there who might allow their enthusiasm for the crackling creep-fest to wane for just a minute upon finding out the same thing. Only for a minute, though. After all, the award-winning show is written and acted so alarmingly well that its origins hardly matter.

"The Walking Dead" isn't the first series whose origins may shock some. "Tales From the Crypt" was a surprise to many, and even "Sabrina the Teenage Witch." But the guy who thinks some Volkswagen-driving TV exec with a perm came up with "Wonder Woman" or "The Incredible Hulk" in the 1970s simply has to crawl out from under his rock. (Pet rock, that is.)

Presumably, the new series "Comic Book Men," set in an actual comic book store in Jersey, will set much of this straight.

Here is a list of television's best small-screen adaptations of comic books.

Bing: More about 'The Walking Dead' | 'Comic Book Men'

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"The Walking Dead" returns Sunday, Feb. 12, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC.

"Comic Book Men" premieres Sunday, Feb. 12, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on AMC.

(AMC)