The post below in the Chuck thread caught my eye since I was wondering the same thing when DS9 ended and I've got my own comic book question going in the comic book forum based on my openness to getting into comic books now that I have a tablet.

My reply:

An idea waiting to happen or I'm a dumbass?

if a show is cancelled, or comes to an end, it likely no longer has a very large audience. very few shows go out on top. with that said, I like watching TV. I don't like comic books. So, I wouldn't bother with the continuing adventures of Chuck, or Firefly, or Buffy in comic book form. I'd say, conservatively, at least 70% of people feel the same way I do about this. So 30% of people from an already dwindling audience is not a lot of people. few people = few sales = no $$$.

sometimes things just need to come to an end. I don't want to see the further adventures of my Grandfather in comic book form when he eventually dies either.

I was excited about the idea behind the Buffy Season 8 comic series when it was announced - even though I'm not a comic guy - because they had a lot of the original series writers in place and even Whedon. I picked up the first few collections, but they just didn't grab me like the show did. The pacing didn't feel right, the jokes didn't quite work, and they tried too hard to make it 'bigger' in terms of scope. Overall, it just didn't have the same 'feel' even though it was an official continuation from the same people who wrote the show.

Even a show with very low ratings would have a much larger audience then the best selling comic (around 150,000).

Compared to the cost of production I'm sure the audience doesn't matter nearly as much.

Well, after Veronica Mars was cancelled, there was talk of "continuing" the series as a comic book. It's almost five years later, and we're still waiting. And although Veronica Mars only had 693 viewers, they were a loyal, hardcore bunch. Back in 2007, I woulda thought that if any show could be spun off into a comic book, Veronica Mars would have been it.

True. That could make a difference. Hopefully it was just that they made it 'bigger in scope' but there might be more.

That is true as well which is why I'm surprised this hasn't caught on more.

I suppose the evolution of this would be, with the severely decreased cost of production, could cult shows with marginal ratings like Firefly or Veronica Mars perhaps even continue on in animated form with better success than live action or comic book form? Like a happy medium between the two?

Unfortunately, most post-TV series comic books suck. Buffy Season 8? Yeah, I'm pretty thrilled that was never put to film because the ending was just embarrassing for everyone involved. The artwork for the Farscape and Firefly comics is terrible; I haven't ready any of the Firefly books but I hear they're pretty bad, too.

The EP of the show did say there was a possibility they may tell more stories as comics.

Its all about getting the word out that this stuff actually exists. Which is the biggest problem. No one ever wants to promote comic books.

Look at Smallville. They never mentioned the Superman comics once at all during the 10 years of the show. They just put on the DC logo and think that was enough. You have to actually say "Go buy Superman stories at your local comic store and give the number for the Comic Shop Locater."

I hope when The Walking Dead gets the axe, they will continue it in comic book form.

I think it's always a good idea to continue a show in comic form. If it sucks, it sucks but I imagine a Lost comic book series with the adventures of Hurley and Ben would be pretty high selling, as far as comics go, since it would draw in the casual fan.

However the problem is the writers. How many writers that worked on a particular show for a number of years want to continue writing the same show in a different medium? Comic book writing is a step back for a tv writer and if the show they were working on was successful I imagine they would be more inclined to get a job writing for another show before going to comics.

So that leaves you with a different group of writers. Ones that either never worked on the show or just weren't big contributors. Well, in that case, you have a good chance of the comic sucking. Plus I can't imagine it would be cheap to get the license for the show to begin with.

Biggest reason in my mind is that it is two kinds of audiences. Most folks who watch TV don't read comics though I'd imagine most who read comics watch TV. When a show is canceled the thrill is gone for the majority. I don't think they'll be enough hard core fans to support a show's transition to comics. And, if they did, it would probably be short lived. I also feel you lose the star appeal of the actors in comic book form. Some shows work because of perfect casting and an actor brings it to life. There are certainly artists that can convey that element in their work, but I'd doubt those talented individuals wouldn't want to work on a TV-based comic book.

It would be a cool idea if you could get very talented people on it, but realistically most franchised spin-offs are getting B or C-list talent at best working for them. Combine that with the rights holder probably not allowing any innovation or risks, and you end up with a dud.

The usual rule is "90% of everything is crap" but in comic books I'm sure that's at least at 95%. Most innovative and exciting comics only happen when the creators are given free reign and limited oversight, totally the opposite of what you're going to get with hired help churning out more franchised property schlock.

Cross promotion of product doesn't seem to happen much as you say.

I didn't watch Smallville but I'm surprised that DC didn't build into the contract with The CW or even just buy ad time during the show to direct people to iTunes to buy Superman comics for their iPad.

A lot of writers seem to disappear after a series is done. It seems like so few from DS9 got steady work after the series ended. If I was them I'd consider it like a back up part time job since there's only 12 issues a year for comics compared to 20+ for a TV season. Even if they only published it every other month I would have totally been into a DS9 comic from the creative team.

Although not a comic book when I think of the TV series to comic book concept at it's best I thinking of the audio book Star Trek: DS9: Legends of the Ferengi .

It's barely known but they were able to get two of the main writers involved in the series to write the book as well as Armin Shimerman as Quark to read it.

If they had just put an insert advertising it in the season sets or something I'm sure it would have done gangbusters since it's a phenomenal product that's DS9 at it's best - 4.5 stars out of 5 for dozen reviews and *every* review is either 4 or 5 stars.

It really is that wonderful and I'm sure cost next to nothing to make compared to a full episode despite being on par with the best DS9 has to offer..

More TV writers actually have been getting into the comic book industry. But there's been just as much as a backlash against them because while its understandable their jobs as writers for TV takes precedence over their side job writing the comics, the delays that have been happening more and more in getting the comics out because of TV is making the comic book fan base not want them around.

We want them be here to write their stories, but don't act like they're doing us a favor by being here and they'll only write for us when they can find the time. Like in TV, if you want to write for comics, you better be able to fit it in your schedule on time or don't do it at all.

And if you look at who wrote the last Chuck comic books, it was the writers (and one of the EP's) of the show.

I like the idea. I just started watching Buffy and like knowing there's a season 8 out there in printed form. On the other hand, I agree that you need the right property (Chuck would be one of them) and the right talent. I've watched Serenity umpteen times but just haven't been been grabbed by the comics. An animated Firefly would be awesome, but they wouldn't be able to get the voices so would people accept new ones (probably, but grudgingly)?

People still read comic books?

I bet they could. Several members of the cast have done voice work, and they could record their parts in a few days.

Yes, I was going to add that I know Nathan Fillion does animated movies. One-shots would be easier than a regular series.

Now that I have a tablet I'm looking at getting into them. However it'd have to be under the right circumstances - like a good remounting of DS9 would certainly be something that'd catch my interest.

Agreed. Matt Groining didn't seem to have much trouble getting the cast of Futurama back together and that included bigwigs like Billy West and Kathy Segal.

The problem with TV-to-Comics continuations has been the creators say that going to comics allows them a much bigger scope: there are no budgets to worry about, the only limitation is what the artist can draw. That leads to the comic's story getting too big and losing the charm the show had. That was my main complaint about the Buffy season 8 comic.

The comic may bring over some of the show's writing staff, but they may also use some writers who were not involved in the show. To use Buffy as an example again, that's when the comic really went off the rails - when they had Jeph Loeb and Brad Meltzer writing.

And finally, while the publisher may enlist some big names to do covers, the interiors are usually drawn by a C list artist who can't maintain a decent likeness for the actors. Or they don't even try, but don't have a unique enough style to make you overlook it.

I've seen a few times where the non-TV version is so 'big' that it doesn't feel like it fits with the series. Star Trek TNG books come to mind. Books I read had them in huge environments or in complicated action scenes that never happened in the series. It was such a contrast that it never felt like it was the same continuity. There was the TV series continuity & the book contiunity.

Still waiting for the pop-up pushing daisies continuation

I really enjoyed jericho while it was on for 2 seasons. They released season 3 comic book style and i can't bring myself to read them

There's always fanfic!