TVSquad

For those who don't know, DC Comics is more than superheroes and spandex. Under their Vertigo imprint, they've brought such sophisticated fare as The Sandman, Preacher and 100 Bullets to the masses. And by masses, of course, I mean the sixty-two people still reading comics.

This forthcoming season sees DC/Vertigo's Human Target make the leap to the small screen. And now a much lesser known property is following its lead as NBC has picked up Midnight, Mass. as a live-action drama. Over two series, Midnight, Mass. ran a total of fourteen issues from 2002-2004.

Well this is promising news indeed. Human Target is one of the most interesting concepts in the DC Universe and the Peter Milligan Vertigo series of the same name was one of the highlights of the early 2000s. The story centers on Christopher Chance, who takes on the identity of his clients to protect them from pending threats and help them eliminate them. He's a master of disguise in a way that Face/Off would envy. And now he has a name.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Mark Valley has been cast as Christopher Chance in the Fox pilot for Human Target. Valley has been a staple on the screen for years, most prominently for three years on Boston Legal and currently recurring on Fringe, where he has mastered the creepy stare. The guy can go from comedic to heartfelt to bad-ass to, as I said, creepy, and diversity is what you need for this role. This is a great casting choice. He's not too young, he's big and he's got an intensity about him. Man, I hope Fox picks this up even more now! Maybe Valley can go in to FOX in disguise and vote to go to series.

The comic book Fables is heading to television. ABC has given a pilot commitment to the show.

For those who haven't heard of it, Fables is an excellent comic. The concept is that the characters in all the fairy tales and folklore, some that Disney subverted (Snow White, Cinderella, etc.) and a few that they haven't (the Big Bad Wolf, Jack and the Beanstalk) are living in modern New York after having fled their homeland of Fabletown, which had been conquered by someone known as "The Adversary".

One of the beautiful aspects of the series (which creator Bill Willingham made his mantra) is that all of the characters are in the public domain. No entity has the rights to any of the characters so they can all be freely used. I give a minor spoiler as an example: Peter Pan was originally supposed to be the villain of the comic until Willingham learned that the character is still privately owned.

This concept has a lot of potential. I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully, it won't end up being another example of The Charmings.

It looks like HBO is just TV after all. After airing such intense fare as The Sopranos and Carnivalé, the new head of production, Sue Naegle (or at least that's my guess on who pulled the plug based on the quotes) is pulling the plug on the in development HBO adaptation of DC/Vertigo's Preacher. The Garth Ennis-Steve Dillon comic book series was controversial for its intense violence and handling of religious subjects, but it was also a huge sales and critical hit.

There was talk of adapting the series with each episode comprising exactly one comic issue. Dialogue was lifted almost exactly from the book with the comic art used as the storyboard. Fans were incredibly enthusiastic about it, but "the new head of HBO felt it was just too dark and too violent and too controversial," according to Mark Steven Johnson (Daredevil, Ghost Rider). Naegle loves In Treatment, Big Love and Tell Me You Love Me, so that tells you where here tastes lie. These aren't bad shows but they're also not going to jump out and grab headlines, and headlines are exactly what HBO needs for its original series.

It looks like the comic book invasion of the movie theaters is coming to television. Showtime has picked up a drama project based on the DC Comics/Vertigo series The Exterminators (although apparently the television adaption will simply be called Exterminators). The comic book was created by Simon Oliver and Tony Moore.

The series will be produced by Sara Colleton, whose credits include Riding In Cars With Boys, Live From Baghdad, The Painted Veil and Dexter. The comic revolves around an ex-con who joins an exterminator company with a freakish cast of supporting characters and several mysteries involving his girlfriend and pesticide manufacturing. Originally conceived of by writer Simon Oliver as a television pitch, it's been described as Six Feet Under but with pest control.

Having never read the original comic (although I found an online review of the first issue), it certainly seems an interesting concept (aren't they all?). It seems to have a Twilight Zone-ish, sinister vibe that may make for interesting viewing.