10 Best Comic Books Based On Iconic ’80s Movies

The comic book industry has a long and proud history of continuing the stories of classic movies, from science fiction epics like Star Wars to horror franchises like Hellraiser. The 1980s are viewed by many as the most iconic decade of American cinema, with every year producing multiple legendary films. The decade tackled a great deal of genre diversity, but is best known for its elevation of horror, science fiction and adventure. All of these films have carried over into new generations, and continue to inspire new film-makers.

Films from the ’80s garnered so much attention and box office success — or cult classic status — that many of them were destined to become multimedia projects. Considering the rich creativity offered by comics, some of these have been improved upon through the medium. With some original film-makers returning to their stories for official sequels, others have been handed down to new creators for their own interpretation of the story. These are the best 1980s movie franchises to continue their stories into comics.

10 Terminator’s Time-Traveling Action Was Taken To Extremes

James Cameron’s Terminator franchise documents the time-traveling war between humanity and Skynet, with humans and machines warring for control over the planet. Under Dynamite Entertainment, readers were given a direct sequel to T2: Judgment Day, in a series that sees John Connor reunited with “Bob” the T-800 to form a resistance in a world ravaged by the machines. This series, by Simon Furman and Nigel Raynor, delivers viewers the further adventures of John and the heroic machine well into the future.

Terminator has been adapted into a slew of great comics, from its solo series to a war with RoboCop. Recently, the franchise was given a brilliant crossover with Transformers, a retelling of both origin stories as the T-800 saves Sarah Conner from the Decepticons. Penned by David Mariotte, Tom Waltz and John Barber and art by Alex Milne, the miniseries is everything a franchise crossover should be.

9 Big Trouble In Little China Gave Us Old Man Jack

John Carpenter’s Big Trouble In Little China tells the story of trucker Jack Burton, who gets roped into a rescue mission to save his friend’s fiance from an ancient Chinese cult. Under Boom! Studios, the franchise got a modern revival, beginning with a sequel series. However, it’s 2017’s Old Man Jack that does the film justice, with Burton forced to team up with Lo Pan to save the world from Ching Dai, who is crossing over into the regular world. Together in the Pork Chop Express, the hero and villain set out on an epic road trip to fight their common enemy.

Old Man Jack followed in the footsteps of iconic comics like Old Man Logan, presenting viewers a post-apocalyptic Jack Burton forced to team up with his old enemy. With Carpenter providing the story, it’s as true a sequel to the original movie as fans are going to get. The series plays up supernatural terror in the wastelands, with Burton taking on monsters and demons along the way. The franchise came to a head when Jack encountered fellow Kurt Russell character, Snake Plissken, in Big Trouble In Little China / Escape From New York (Greg Pak & Daniel Bayliss).

8 The Thing Was Given A Direct Sequel

John Carpenter’s The Thing follows a team of Americans in an Antarctic research station as they’re preyed on by a shape-shifting alien. Famously having one of the most ambiguous endings in cinema, Dark Horse answered a lot of questions with their sequel comic, The Thing From Another World (Chuck Pfarrer & John Higgins). The two-issue miniseries begins with MacReady encountering a rescue team, only for the group to be attacked by the Thing. Suspecting that Childs may be infected, the survivor treks through the snow hoping to end things once and for all.

The Thing From Another World was given a full trilogy of stories, following MacReady’s journey across the world in pursuit of the Thing, from Argentina to New Zealand. The last series, Eternal Vows (David de Vries, Paul Gulacy & Dan Davis) sees the creature finally make its way to civilization, ending on a tragic note.

7 Batman ’89 Modernized The BurtonVerse

Batman ’89 (Sam Hamm & Joe Quinones) takes place in the aftermath of Tim Burton’s Batman movies, using Michael Keaton’s likeness to keep the continuity alive. The series follows Bruce Wayne navigating Gotham during a period of unrest, as he’s forced to contend with his best friend, Harvey Dent, becoming Two-Face after a mob attack.

Batman ’89 brings the BurtonVerse in line with modern DC, adding villains like Bane into the mix as Bruce tries to maintain order in his city. At the same time, he is forced to safeguard his secret identity as Batman. In the sequel, Echoes, Gotham must recover after Dent’s crimes, in a world where the Caped Crusader has disappeared from public eye, leading to a groundswell of vigilantism.

6 Predator’s Best Sequels Are In Comics

Since the 1987 movie of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Predator has ballooned into one of the most recognizable sci-fi-action franchises in pop culture. Revolving around a series of fights and hunts between the Yautja aliens and various humans, the creatures were destined for a life in comics. Beginning under Dark Horse Comics, the creatures have been adapted into their own miniseries, as well as crossovers with pop culture icons like Batman and Wolverine.

Due to the lackluster movie sequels, Predator has actually given its best stories in comic books, most recently through the Marvel Comics series. However, the best books have been crossovers, most notably Predator vs Judge Dredd, in which a dying Yautja made its way to Mega City One to confront the ultimate prey: Dredd. With Dutch Schaeffer’s psychic descendant stepping in to assist the Judges, the alien hunter tries to ensure the perfect death at the hands of his greatest opponent.

5 Clive Barker Was Able To Do Hellraiser Justice

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser has established itself as one of the eeriest horror franchises on film, thanks to the first, second and rebooted movies. Unfortunately, the bulk of the franchise failed to live up to Barker’s vision for the characters, with studios turning Pinhead into a campy, one-note slasher villain. Fortunately, the writer was able to return to his story in comic book form through Boom! Studios, where readers were given genuine horror.

Boom! Studios’ Hellraiser series returns to the timeline of the original movie, continuing the story of Kirsty and her continued evasion of Pinhead. This series contributed more world-building to Clive Barker’s mythos than the films, gave readers new and unique cenobites and added depth to the iconic horror villain and his role in Hell.

4 Frank Miller Continued The Action Of RoboCop

The success of 1987’s RoboCop, which tells the story of Detroit cop Alex Murphy’s transformation into a cybernetic hero, almost immediately landed a comic book adaptation. Originally written by Alan Grant under Marvel Comics, the hero was best handled in print by Frank Miller, who wrote the screenplay for RoboCop 2. While his Dark Horse tenure on the character was fun, the comics legend penned a fantastic sequel, which was adapted through Boom! Studios, RoboCop Last Stand.

RoboCop Last Stand follows Murphy in a broken Detroit, one where OCP is beginning its acquisition of the city, throwing people out of their homes and deploying the dangerous ED209. Standing up for the downtrodden against corporate rule, the comic is everything RoboCop 3 was supposed to be. The series was followed up by Joshua Williamson and Carlos Magno’s 2014 series, which follows the rise of a criminal demagogue to bring chaos to the city.

3 Escape From New York Is An Action-Packed Series

Following his mission to rescue the President in Escape From New York, Snake Plissken had a divisive second film in Escape from LA. Thankfully, Boom! Studios returned to the original film to bring viewers a more exciting sequel, one that picks up right where the first film left off, with Snake now on the run for destroying the president’s tape. Now a fugitive, he is forced to go on a series of missions to regain his freedom.

Chris Sebela and Diego Barreto’s Escape From New York series sends Snake on an epic journey around the world, including a daring mission into the heart of Siberia against the Russians. The series explores a dystopian alternate Cold War, as the hero navigates a fractured United States, one where states have seceded and he’s public enemy number one.

2 Evil Dead’s Zombie Horror Continues Through Dynamite

In Evil Dead, Sam Raimi introduced the world to the adventures of Ash Williams and his ongoing war against the forces of darkness, such as the Deadites. After a direct adaptation by Dark Horse, Ash and his ongoing struggle found a home at Dynamite Entertainment, which picked up where Army of Darkness left off. From there, the hero’s epic saga has been continued, whether it’s his crossover with the Marvel universe in Marvel Zombie vs Army of Darkness or even teaming up with Barack Obama in Ash Saves Obama.

While the comics typically lean more towards the comedic dark fantasy style of Army of Darkness, the franchise began with 1981’s Evil Dead. However, Ash Williams’ comic book adventures stand out as his best. Whether it’s his crossover with fellow Bruce Campbell character Sebastian Haff or the latest series, Army of Darkness Forever, his bloody war with the creatures of Hell continues apace. Where some franchises have faltered in comics, alternating between great and mediocre stories, Evil Dead’s legacy has remained impressively strong.

1 Indiana Jones’ Adventures Continued In Dark Horse

First appearing in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones quickly became the face of adventure cinema, earning a slew of sequels. It’s no surprise that his success translated to comics, with Marvel Comics first securing the rights to publish an ongoing, serialized series. However, it was under Dark Horse where the archaeologist hero was given his best adventures in print, thanks to these movie-style miniseries. These followed Indy as he pursued lost relics and met old friends in his worldly travels.

Dark Horse’s Indiana Jones run contains a variety of brilliant stories, but The Spear of Destiny and The Iron Phoenix stand out for holding true to the original films. These continued the hero’s battle with Nazis, and his quest for sacred, powerful artifacts in the lead-up to World War II. Whether it was the return of Henry Jones Sr (the only appearance of Connery’s likeness beyond The Last Crusade) or even a tousle with a sea monster, Jones’ adventures in comics are quintessential adventure.