E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial moon poster detail Columns 

We Want Comics: E.T. and More – December 2019

By | December 31st, 2019
Posted in Columns | % Comments

Welcome back to We Want Comics, our column exploring the world of licensed comics. We’re ending the year with thoughts on several different properties that have been on my mind recently, from recent releases to certain anniversaries. This is We Want Comics for December 2019.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial got a short film sequel as an Xfinity Christmas commercial this year, decades after the director decided a sequel would “rob the original of its virginity”:

Cringe-inducing product placement aside, that wasn’t so bad. Now that the band-aid’s been ripped off, and a feature-length sequel remains as unlikely as ever, it may be a good time for a publisher to start inquiring into the comics rights (if they already haven’t). The commercial revealed what Elliott’s life is like in 2019, but what about his siblings, Gertie (Drew Barrymore) and Michael (Robert MacNaughton), or his mother (Dee Wallace)? (Did she marry Peter Coyote’s “Keys”?) Did E.T. and Elliott reunite at some point between 1982 and 2019? There’s a fair bit to expound upon.


Terminator: Dark Fate

Burned by the last two or three Terminator films, audiences largely decided to pass on Dark Fate, despite it being the best installment of the series since The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Comics are the best place to continue Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes) and Grace (Mackenzie Davis)’s story, question is though, which publisher will buy the rights to these characters? The licenses for each Terminator film are spread out among various publishers due to the different studios that produced them. Still, to ape what John Connor once said, the future’s not set, and there’s no fate as long as a publisher and creative team (perhaps including those who contributed to the film) are still invested in their story.


Life is Strange 2

The latest entry in Dontnod Entertainment’s poignant video game series wrapped up before the holidays, and with it came an intriguing Easter egg regarding original protagonists Max and Chloe, with major implications for the Titan Comics series based on the original game: it reveals that Chloe’s stepfather is still alive in 2017, meaning there’s an emotional reunion potentially in the works if the comic resumes after its last issue next month. As for Life is Strange 2 itself, if there’s no spin-off in the works, it’d be great to have a prequel fleshing out Sean and Daniel Diaz’s mother Karen, or a continuation featuring those they befriended on the road, namely Cassidy, Finn, Penny, Hannah, and Jacob (essentially, give every Life is Strange character their own comic).


Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Last month, we took a look at the unproduced spin-offs for Disney’s Gargoyles. One thing I wasn’t able to mention is that creator Greg Weisman had worked on an Atlantis: The Lost Empire spin-off called Team Atlantis, which would’ve included “The Last,” a Gargoyles crossover featuring Demona in 1920s Paris. It went unrealized after the film flopped, and the scrapped series was turned into the DTV sequel Atlantis: Milo’s Return instead. Anyway, wouldn’t it be great if Atlantiswhich has become a cult classic over the years – became one of the Disney Classics adapted into a comic at Dark Horse? (Surely Mike Mignola, who was one of the film’s production designers, would be interested in contributing…)


Other Weird Disney Properties

Before there was Baby Yoda, there was Baby Sinclair on Jim Henson’s Dinosaurs, which is conspicuously absent from Disney+, despite having been produced with Walt Disney Television for ABC. The world’s changed a lot since the satirical sitcom concluded 25 years ago, and if Disney aren’t interested in bringing it to a new generation, then perhaps a publisher can pay them off and relaunch the comic instead. Another unlikely Disney property, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, is on Disney+, and hopefully viewings of the film on the streaming service will likewise spark a revival of the comics it inspired.


Six Seasons and a Comic

2019 marked the tenth anniversary of Dan Harmon’s delightful (and woefully underwatched) sitcom Community, which ran for six seasons until 2015. That means the oft-repeated mantra among fans that the show would last for “six seasons and a movie” (a reference to season 2’s “Paradigms Of Human Memory“) has been partly fulfilled, but what if, instead of a movie, Community returned as a comic? Harmon is the co-founder of Starburns Industries Press (itself named after a Community character), meaning a comic book revival of the show could be well within his power – it would be great to get some closure over the hanging thread about Troy (Donald Glover) and LeVar Burton getting kidnapped by pirates sometime soon…

Well that’s it folks for 2019: we’ll be back in the new year with some folks on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s repercussions for the Expanded Universe. As always, leave us your suggestions in the comments.


//TAGS | We Want Comics

Christopher Chiu-Tabet

Chris is the news manager of Multiversity Comics. A writer from London on the autistic spectrum, he enjoys tweeting and blogging on Medium about his favourite films, TV shows, books, music, and games, plus history and religion. He is Lebanese/Chinese, although he can't speak Cantonese or Arabic.

EMAIL | ARTICLES


  • Columns
    We Want Comics: LEGO

    By | Feb 7, 2024 | Columns

    Welcome back to We Want Comics, our column discussing various intellectual properties — whether they’re movies, TV shows, novels, video games, or whatever else — that we’d like to see get adapted into comic books. Today marks — amazingly — ten years since the release of The LEGO Movie, Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s fantastic […]

    MORE »
    Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League key art Columns
    We Want Comics (Games): DC Universe

    By | Nov 30, 2023 | Columns

    Welcome back to We Want Comics, our column discussing various intellectual properties — whether they’re movies, TV shows, novels, video games, or whatever else — that we’d like to see get adapted into comic books. We are once again expanding the scope of the column to discuss potential video games, this time based on DC […]

    MORE »
    Spider-Man 2 PS5 key art reupload Columns
    We Want Comics (Games): Marvel

    By | Nov 28, 2023 | Columns

    Welcome back to We Want Comics, our column discussing various intellectual properties — whether they’re movies, TV shows, novels, video games, or whatever else — that we’d like to see get adapted into comic books. In the wake of Spider-Man 2’s release, we’re expanding the scope of our topic to discuss the future of Marvel […]

    MORE »

    -->