Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt’s Comics ‘The Damned’ & ‘Sixth Gun’ To Be Developed By Showtime & Syfy Respectively
By Ernie Estrella : August 24, 2011

The movie industry can have the super heroes, cable is cornering the market on creator-owned comics–and I could be more thrilled. Deadline reports Showtime is developing Oni Press comic The Damned written by Cullen Bunn and art by Brian Hurtt into a drama series that will be adapted by David Hayter (screenwriter for X-Men and X2).

The Damned takes place in the prohibition-era Chicago and follows the supernatural story of Eddie, a man cursed of returning from the dead again and again in exchange for the life of the person who touches him first after he dies. Eddie is caught in the middle of a turf war of three mobster families–The Alighieri, the Roarkes, and the Verlochins, looking to take hold of the city.

If The Damned is of interest to you, then be sure to check out Bunn and Hurtt’s latest ongoing series at Oni Press, Sixth Gun which is also being developed into a television show on the Syfy channel. Sixth Gun is another supernatural book but also a western, set during the Civil War where a powerful and mystical pistol falls into the hands of a young girl named Becky and wakes up the many demons who wish to possess it. She is now forever bound to it and all of the dark and sinister attention that comes with it.

Syfy is likely going to start the adaptation of the first story “Cold Dead Fingers” as a mini-series with hopes of a regular ongoing series to follow. The announcement came during Comic-Con 2011 and Comics Alliance reported it is still in the early stages of development. The first issue can be read online for free here.

Oni Press’ sister company Closed on Mondays set up both deals, finding good homes for the properties. Showtime is currently developing two other comics into television shows, John Layman and Rob Guillory’s cibopath crime comic Chew into a half-hour comedy and Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s epic crim noir series 100 Bullets. FX’s most exciting show currently in development is Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Avon Oeming’s Powers. Syfy’s adaptation of Sixth Gun comes off the heels of their very successful launch of super hero-related series Alphas and also toyed with the idea of picking up the dead Fox pilot of Locke & Key before feeling it was too expensive of a series to produce.

Regardless of that last hiccup, what makes cable networks’ newfound interest in comics-related properties as serialized series so exciting is that they’re treating these comics of similar serialized nature the right way. Rather than condensing the material to fit in a 100 minute film, characters can mature in a more organic fashion on television. It also doesn’t hurt that they are looking into the most original pool of ideas in the industry–that being creator-owned comics.

Before either one of these shows hits your cable box and DVR, please-please-please make sure to check out the comics at a local comic shop near you. Cullen Bunn’s story is a joy to read, it’s well-paced and sucks you into this imaginative world full of great characters. And Brian Hurtt’s art compliments Bunn’s work perfectly, having worked on titles such as Hard Time and Queen & Country; his art is an instant gateway into worlds rooted in the real world and your wildest dreams.