10 Best Comics For Fans Who Loved Netflix’s Marvel Shows

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In November 2013, it was announced that Netflix and Marvel made a deal to craft a small-scale, cinematic universe of television shows in a prestige drama format similar to the series released over at HBO. With this announcement came what was later learned to be internally called the “Marvel Knights” lineup, a series of television shows that would, seemingly overnight, completely take the superhero fan world by storm.

Starting with Daredevil in 2015, these shows expanded heavily, with Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and even The Punisher getting their own series shortly after Matt Murdock. Of course, these shows would be nothing without the comics—and in some cases, these shows adapt the comics much more closely than practically any other MCU property. Now that this universe is officially ten years old, rewatches are starting to get a little stale, and it’s about time fans check out the comics that inspired their favorite superhero shows.

10

Elektra: Assassin Introduced Readers To Her Origins

Elektra has a cult following, having been granted about one hundred legacy solo issues worth of story over the decades. It makes sense why that is because the character became a fan favorite almost immediately after being introduced in the first issue of Frank Miller’s Daredevil run. The writer also seemed to have a soft spot for her, continuing to include her in series like Daredevil: Man Without Fear and her own series like Elektra: Assassin.

This comic was made while writer Frank Miller and artist Bill Sienkiewicz were at the top of their games. The two were in perfect sync developing the title, and what ensued was a wild, surreal story that retold Elektra’s origins on her own terms, set against an insane conspiracy the assassin found herself embroiled in.

9

Marvel Knights Inspired Netflix’s The Defenders

While Netflix’s The Defenders is named after a real Marvel Comics team, the comic book Defenders are hardly similar to the show’s version. The comics Defenders primarily starred Hulk, Doctor Strange, Namor, Silver Surfer, and Valkyrie, a lineup of very powerful characters unlike what the show presented. In fact, the show was much more similar to the Marvel Knights comic series and the imprint from which it got its name.

Marvel Knights was a late 1990s-2000s imprint for Marvel Comics, featuring more grown-up stories for the late teens audience. The imprint, however, shared its name with a comic series starring a street-level strike force of heroes led by Daredevil—and featuring Punisher, Black Widow, Dagger, and Moon Knight for a bit. The impact of the imprint and comic series on the Netflix shows is so strong that showrunner and executive producer Jeph Loeb even claimed it was called the “Marvel Knights” universe behind the scenes.

8

Cage! Was A Non-Stop Action Adventure By A Cartoons Legend

Luke Cage has had his fair share of great, fun comics, though the most unique has to be Cage! It was a four-issue miniseries following Power Man in a cartoony style. Cage! was beloved by the few who remember it, and it became a modern cult classic popcorn comic.

However, while Cage! itself is interesting, it’s made even more enticing when considering who wrote and drew it: Genndy Tartakovsky. The name is instantly recognizable to cartoon fans as the co-creator of shows like Dexter’s Laboratory, Primal, and most notably, Samurai Jack. The comic is dripping in Tartakovsky’s flair, with his trademarked blocky art style and strong action scenes filling it front to back.

7

Defenders Was Made As Synergy For The TV Show

While the Defenders didn’t originally have any of the Netflix lineup’s street-level icons in its roster, a 2017 miniseries changed that. Made to help synergize with the television series, Brian Michael Bendis gathered the Netflix roster on the page in a team setting for the first time.

Instead of the classical Defenders lineup of Doctor Strange, The Hulk, and various other powered figures, 2017’s Defenders acted in favor of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist—all characters that Bendis has a deep affection for, even co-creating Jessica. The series even worked to parallel the Netflix series’ plot, with Elektra as a brief antagonist, Diamondback as the overarching villain like in the Luke Cage show, and a Punisher appearance to reference the wider Netflix Marvel world.

6

Heroes For Hire Breathed Life Into These Two Heroes

In 1977, it seemed like two of Marvel’s heroes were unfortunately staring down the barrel of cancellation, with little hope for their series continuing. However, in a stroke of editorial genius, it was decided they’d have a brief team-up and then share a full ongoing series together. This was, of course, the teaming up of Iron Fist and Power Man.

Starting in Power Man #48, Iron Fist quickly became a mainstay character in Luke Cage’s series, eventually grabbing title billing in issue #50, with the book being retitled Power Man And Iron Fist. In hindsight, the team-up is a no-brainer, with both characters being riffs on ’70s action movie tropes of Blaxploitation and martial arts. The combination made perfect sense, and the character dynamic is still iconic. It was revived in the Heroes for Hire title, having a 2016 series of the same Power Man And Iron Fist name, and referenced in Season 2 of Netflix’s Luke Cage.

5

Punisher MAX Is The Defining Frank Castle Comic

Punisher is a character whose fullest potential can’t be fulfilled in Earth-616 Marvel. Not because the universe is bad or anything, but purely because the mayhem he’s capable of unleashing wouldn’t fit within the more PG-13 sensibilities of the main continuity. This is partly why the character of Frank Castle thrived for years under the MAX Comics imprint, Marvel’s attempt at a Vertigo-esque line of titles that felt more R-rated.

Within the pages of MAX, primarily handled by writers like Garth Ennis and Jason Aaron with art by the late great Steve Dillon, the Punisher was taken to new depths with little restraining him. Many of his foes were crueler, the book bloodier, and Frank Castle a much more unsettling individual. His psychology and past in the military were explored in rather interesting ways. As such, it’s little wonder why many of the Punisher’s MAX storylines found themselves in several adaptations.

4

Brian Michael Bendis’ Daredevil Tonally Matches The Show

Daredevil has had countless iconic runs over the years, thanks to the crime noir reinvention of the character by Frank Miller. In the 2000s, another crime noir writerwould take over the title, having recently just come to Marvel for Alias. That writer was modern legend Brian Michael Bendis, and the work he did on Daredevil was some of, if not the greatest writing the character has ever had.

The Bendis run on Daredevil spanned sixty issues—five of which were a brief refrain starring Echo by her creator, David Mack—and shook up the foundations of the character. Starting off with a bang, the Man Without Fear’s secret identity was leaked to the press in the early stages of the run, leading to a chaotic saga following Matt Murdock’s desperate attempt to fix his life, culminating in cinematic battles between Bullseye, Typhoid Mary, The Owl, and of course, The Kingpin.

3

The Immortal Iron Fist Made Fans Love Danny Rand Even More

Danny Rand is an iconic Marvel hero, surviving as a staple of the brand for fifty years now. However, his solo runs have often left much to be desired, with the Iron Fist usually being more of a supporting figure or co-star of books like Power Man & Iron Fist—in fact, his original run sold so badly it got canceled.

However, in the 2000s, Iron Fist’s reputation was on the mend, so he was granted his first solo title in a decade. The book would become a modern classic, co-written by two modern legends, Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker, and drawn by Fraction’s future Hawkeye collaborator David Aja. Danny wasn’t the only Iron Fist in this title, as a Golden Age pulp-inspired new hero named Orson Randall premiered, existing as the Iron Fist of the 1930s. The run overhauled a major amount of Iron Fist lore, reinventing the character in a way unlike most runs—and for the better, as it’s credited as being what saved the character and helped make him an icon.

2

Frank Miller’s Daredevil Defined The Character’s Comics

Daredevil was a struggling title for many, many issues. He was a hero who couldn’t quite find his footing for a while, and his series was on the verge of cancellation before an artist quite new to the comic business, Frank Miller, offered to step in and write it. Marvel had little to lose at that point, so they allowed it, with what ensued was a masterful reinvention of an otherwise okay character.

Miller infused his Daredevil with noir, darker and more mature subject matters, and truly phenomenal art. It’s one of those series that can only be read to be believed and was a revolutionary title for Marvel in the 1980s. His time on the character wasn’t just contained to the main title, though—iconic miniseries, storylines, and one-shots like Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, Daredevil: Born Again, and Elektra Lives Again were also notable for establishing this new, more mature era of Daredevil.

1

Alias Is One Of The Greatest Marvel Comics Ever

It’s not too often that a character’s debut issue is within their solo series. Jessica Jones is special like that—especially as Alias was one of Brian Michael Bendis’ first series while working at Marvel, releasing as he was just getting started on such iconic titles like Ultimate Spider-Man and Daredevil. An insurmountable amount of faith went into the project, and for the better, as Alias endures as a truly phenomenal Marvel title. Alias is a grounded series that looks at the wider Marvel universe with a worm-eye view.

It focuses on Jessica Jones, a woman who once briefly had a career as superhero Jewel before a traumatic encounter caused her to retire and become a PI. While Jessica has powers, they’re not very dramatic or often used; instead, she relies on her skills to investigate the array of strange cases on her desk. Jessica is a compelling character, a self-destructive mess that slowly learns to confront her demons, and her growth is excellently handled in Alias‘ pages. The art by Michael Gaydos is also a treat, inky and grimy while also being incredibly expressive, and never fear- while Alias caps off after twenty-eight issues, its story is continued in the pages of The Pulse and the 2016 Jessica Jones comic series, both written by Bendis with the latter having Gaydos on art again.

“}]] Netflix’s Marvel shows are enjoying a reprisal in Daredevil: Born Again, though fans can also dive into a few great comics featuring those characters.  Read More