With all the recent comic book adaptations of top selling video games out there, you'd expect that 2K would jump on board. After all, the stories are basically already written and the characters flushed out with hours of gameplay. So here's my proposal for what should be their first comic book adaptation... Borderlands
The Setting
Borderlands happens to be one big set piece that has the potential of being a dumping ground for stories. Since there are only mentions of Pandora's history, it leaves the back story for the world widely untapped. What would work the best to capture Pandora and all of its locations, would be a series of one shots featuring different characters (New or old) to explain the world. Of course they would need to be narrated by Marcus Kincaid to give it the feel and narrative that the game already has.
The Characters
Done! They are already done for you, all you have to do is give them personality and new situations for them to be in. The four main characters of Roland, Brick, Lilith and Moredecai are already designed for the story. Also there's a rough outline of their collective personality: there's nothing they won't do for money, guns or just loot in general. That means every situation you can throw them into is believable.
Also the world is rich with supporting characters ranging from Moxxi to Kincaid and even Dr. Ned. That's not even counting the ridiculous villains. Moreover, the possibility for new characters, good or bad, is endless!
If one game lays out the art style perfectly for a comic adaptation, it's Borderlands. With the game's cell-shaded style, it makes it almost too easy for an artist, or even an art team, to go in and capture the look and feel of the game. Think of what Udon has done for Capcom's fighting franchises, only with Borderlands. The art style is successful the same way it was for the game. It's not painfully realistic, but it's detailed and eye-catching.
Who Should Make It?
WildStorm and IDW have been doing most of the video game adaptations, but that doesn't mean they're the best for the job. Borderlands has the potential to be bigger than just a miniseries cashing in on the name. It could be a successful ongoing title that spawns several miniseries and one-shots all on its own. On one hand, IDW always hits its deadlines and loves to have several series from the same title, i.e. G.I. Joe and Transformers, but usually the art or the writing suffers. Both would need to be strong and amazing for it to be successful and have longevity.
As for WildStorm, the art would never be the problem. Instead, WildStorm's adaptations always fail in two places: Writing and deadlines. Sure they're able to borrow big name writers from DCE (DC Entertainment), but it's rarely the right person for the job. A perfect example for both is their God of War series that launched just before the third game. Not only is it stuck on issue two (it's June and the series launched in early March) but it had Marv Wolfman writing it. Marv may follow games due to his kids, but that doesn't mean he's the right guy to capture Kratos' whining.
For my money I would like to see Dynamite or Boom try their hat at it, but they would need to bring in a top notch art team and have one editor oversee the franchise. Perhaps even collaboration between the two would work. The writers of Boom teamed with the artists from Dynamite, simply screams success. The plus side of this is that Dynamite has collaborated with all of the top tier companies in the past making it a viable option.
Their Fate Is In Your Hands
This franchise is perfect for comic books. It already has all the hard work done for it: Characters, setting, art style and most importantly... Fan base. There are tons of die hard Borderlands' players that made the game a success by spreading the word on how good the game is. If you treat the source material with respect and give them a good product they'll do the same for your comic. It would be nice to have a halfway decent video game adaptation rather than miniseries cashing in on fans' desire to interact with a product they love. So the question remains... Where's my Borderlands comic?
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