Comic books and superheroes are very often and very popularly adapted as movies and TV shows. Right now, there are a number of TV shows on, on precisely the same theme. Arrow, The Flash, Gotham, Agent Carter, Agents of the S.H.I.E.L.D and several other shows take characters from Marvel and DC comics and weave stories out of them for millions of fans worldwide.
This article however, due to paucity of space, time, energy, length, fandom etc, will focus only on shows adapted from the DC comics. Marvel fans, don’t worry… keep watching this space and we’ll feature your shows too. Very soon.
The Flash
The Flash, currently one of my favourite shows, is about a boy, Barry Allen, who is “the fastest man alive”. Except he’s not. Barry, as a child, saw a mysterious yellow blur murder his mother, a crime his father was convicted for. Ever since then, Barry is all set to clear his father’s name and find his mother’s murderer. Then, Barry gets “struck by lightning” (Ok, this is not true. Please watch the show. Please) and can now move at superhuman speed. Which, you’d think, would make his life easier. Except it doesn’t. He darts around, helping the police solve crimes, with the help of his friends and associates. The show is fun and well… flashy but mostly it’s light-hearted and humorous and has a very different set up compared to the usual superhero adaptations. The Flash has received positive response, from critics and fans alike. Rotten Tomatoes describes, “The Flash benefits from its purposefully light atmosphere, making it a superhero show uniquely geared toward genre fans as well as novices.”
Arrow
Arrow, in its 3rd season now, is based on the comic book hero Green Arrow. Oliver Queen, a multi-millionaire, comes back to Starling City after 5 years on a hostile island. He’s a trained warrior, good with a bow and arrow (if you hadn’t figured it out) and now he wants to make his city safe. Helped by his team-Diggle, Roy and Felicity (who are all by the way, totally awesome) he manages to solve crime and get in the bad books of the League of Assassins. The narrative also moves back and forth between Oliver’s life now and his life on the island, drawing comparisons and parallels. While the show might seem a little slow and patchy in season 1, it soon picks up and has amazing character development and acting. The fact that it has several very good looking people just helps to make the show totally awesome!
Gotham
Set in Gotham City, at the time when Thomas and Martha Wayne have just been murdered, the show mainly focuses on the life and rise of Detective James Gordon. It also focuses on the back-story of several Batman villains, especially The Penguin, and has a young boy (David Mazouz) playing Bruce Wayne who totally looks like he can grow up to look like Christian Bale. Almost. It’s got very positive reviews and while the show is dark and brooding, it has very good actors and picks up considerably towards the 4th and 5th episodes.
Constantine
Drawn from the comic book series Hellblazer, Constantine is the story of an ex- “demon hunter” who’s sworn to protect the innocent from supernatural threat. 11 episodes of the first season are out, at the time of writing this, and the show has received decent ratings. Rotten Tomatoes describes, “Constantine’s creepy atmosphere, high-stakes action, and splendid special effects combine with a welcome touch of humour to overcome narrative flaws and present a version of the title character that’s close to his comics counterpart.”
There are plenty of TV shows right now, based on comic book characters that are exciting to follow. There’s a lot of drama, action, adventure and sheer hotness. There’s plenty to keep track of, plenty to gush about and plenty of lives to get connected to! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
By Shreemayee Das
