For close to a century, cartoons and animation have stood alongside comic books as popular pastimes for kids, giving them endlessly imaginative escapism. At the same time, comics have delivered consistently great entertainment, often crossing paths with these popular cartoon universes. With the likes of Dynamite Entertainment’s Space Ghost showing readers how great cartoon-based comics can be, it’s worth looking over the industry’s proud history of adapting ‘toons to comics.

Cartoon-based comic books represent some of the most enjoyable and nostalgic titles in print, reigniting the love of shows that date as far back as the 1940s. While some of these properties have been directly adapted to ensure verisimilitude with the original, others have been reimagined into entirely new ideas. These stories have reeled in new readers while also appealing to viewers of the original shows, and continue to demonstrate comics’ versatility.

10

Looney Tunes Has A Great Ongoing Series

Based on Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes takes place in a whimsical world populated by anthropomorphic animals, with Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny standing out as the faces of the franchise. The same is true in the Looney Tunes comics, which continue to document everything from Wyle E. Coyote’s ongoing attempts to catch the Roadrunner to Western-style Yosemite Sam stories.

The ongoing Looney Tunes comic book series holds true to the format of the series, following its creatures in an endless stream of adventures, rivalries and hare-brained schemes. The series has also played with parody of the likes of DC, with one story casting Daffy in the role of a duck Man of Steel, while also exploring his alter egos, like the Duck Dodgers. As a fun piece of trivia, due to DC Comics’ New 52 relaunch, Looney Tunes is technically the current longest-running, uninterrupted DC title, having launched in 1994 and being spared the 2011 renumbering.

9

DC Crossed Over With Hanna-Barbera and Looney Tunes

Based on Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, Space Ghost, Speed Buggy, Dynomutt & Blue Falcon, Hong Kong Phooey and Jabberjaw

In the late 2010s, DC launched a line of one-shot comics that united DC heroes with various Warner Bros. cartoon characters, namely those from the Hanna-Barbera and Looney Tunes universes. Among the highlights were Green Lantern’s team-up with Space Ghost, Jonah Hex’s encounter with Yosemite Sam and Martian Manhunter taking on Marvin the Martian.

DC’s crossover with Warner Bros’ cartoon properties brought a combination of serious stories and comedy, with creators like Tom King, Jimmy Palmiotti, Kelley Jones, Aaron Lopresti and more working on the initiative. More highlights of the crossover include Booster Gold traveling back to meet the Flintstones, an unlikely meeting of Joker and Daffy Duck, and the Martian crossover.

8

Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries Is A Fun Detective Series

Based on Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?

Scooby-Doo has been one of the most popular Saturday-morning cartoons on TV since the 1969 debut of the original series introduced the world to Mystery Inc. and their weekly cases. Due to their popularity, the Scooby Doo franchise actually has one of the strongest footprints in comics outside of the core Marvel and DC Universes, with some 400 issues from various publishers, like Archie and Gold Key. Honoring a TV crossover from the 1970s, the gang were partnered up with Batman on a long-term basis for Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries.

Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries follows Mystery Inc. in Gotham, where they work alongside Batman, as seen in Scooby-Doo and Guess Who, and his supporting characters, like Nightwing. In the Dark Knight’s city, the teen sleuths are forced to reckon with the existence of very real monsters, from Solomon Grundy to Man-Bat, as they solve cases together. Considering how dark the main Batman comics are, this team-up provides some much-needed levity for the Caped Crusader.

7

The Simpsons Has Received Mutliple Great Comics

Based on The Simpsons

Set in the town of Springfield, The Simpsons follows its titular family as they navigate life, from work to school. The family is made up of the bumbling patriarch, Homer; the loving and organized homemaker, Marge; the intelligent and socially conscious Lisa; the mischievous Bart; and the innocent baby, Maggie. Surrounded by exaggerated yet familiar figures around town, the series casts the family in a never-ending cavalcade of absurd situations, often caused by Homer’s well-meaning but silly actions.

The Simpsons comics range from episodic issues designed to expand the show to the adventures of Bartman, Bart Simpson’s comic book superhero alter ego. The series has also done a great job of honoring the series’ use of satire and parody, delivering sharp social commentary while poking fun at popular trends and franchises.

6

Scooby Apocalypse Did What Velma’s TV Show Couldn’t

Based on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?

While MAX’s Velma has been taking heat for presenting viewers a twisted take on the Scooby-Doo lore, DC Comics actually beat them to it with Scooby Apocalypse. Set in an alternate world to the main Saturday-morning cartoon, the series retells the origin of Mystery Incorporated. Reimagining Scooby as a lab experiment and Shaggy as the hipster who freed him, the book brings the five heroes together at the start of a monster apocalypse.

Scooby Apocalypse merges parody with dystopia as it reimagines a variety of Scooby characters as monstrous mutations, replete with a gun-toting Scrappy and hordes of zombies. The series isn’t just a fun horror book, it was actually worked on by prolific DC creators, including Jim Lee, Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis. As the friends navigate the hellscape wastelands, they form a tenuous friendship, with the aid of Velma’s scientific ingenuity and a hard-boiled Daphne.

5

Justice League Infinity Continued The DCAU Story

Based on Justice League (2001)

The DC Animated Universe adapted some of the DCU’s best heroes to their own series, initially focusing on Batman and Superman in their respective shows. In 2001’s Justice League, the writers reimagined the origin of the JLA, uniting their two flagship heroes with Wally West, John Stewart, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter. Despite not being the original Just League line-up, this roster became the favorite of a generation, and DC continued these adventures in comic book format. This culminated in Justice League Infinity, which returned to the franchise’s original seven for a multiversal adventure.

Justice League Infinity follows the League as they explore the multiverse and take on the arrival of a dark Amazo, who has ascended to full goodhood. Ranging from a universe where Darkseid loved Wonder Woman to the fascistic Earth-X, the League teams up with alternate versions of themselves and take the fight to the villainous android. The series is packed full of well-delivered fan service, and is a true continuation of the DCAU.

4

Kings Watch Reunited Three Pulp Hero Icons

Based on Defenders of the Earth

The world of comics may be known for superheroes like Superman and Spider-Man, but American comics actually started out with pulp magazine and newspaper strip heroes. Three of the most prominent of these were Flash Gordon, Phantom and Mandrake the Magician. Under the ownership of King Features Syndicate, the heroes were given their own 1980s Saturday-morning cartoon show, Defenders of the Earth, which united all three into one team. While the series has gone overlooked by modern audiences, they were given a great reunion by Dynamite Entertainment: Kings Watch and its sequel, Kings Cross.

Kings Watch follows Flash Gordon, Mandrake and the Phantom as they take on a supernatural cult leader intent on transporting an alien menace to Earth. The miniseries — and its sequel — unites all the core elements of each character, from the sci-fi of Flash, the supernatural touch of Mandrake and the jungle adventure of Phantom. For fans of old-school pulp fiction, the two miniseries are brilliant windows into pre-Golden Age comic book heroism, and firmly surpasses its inspiration show.

3

X-Men: The Animated Series Built a Comic Legacy Before X-Men ’97

Based on X-Men: The Animated Series

As the 1992 X-Men animated series found success bringing Marvel’s mutants to mainstream TV, the publisher seized on its success. While the original animated-based comics were direct adaptations of the series, the company took creative license with the show’s scripts. The series primarily focused on the mutants’ fight against prejudice, and the rivalry between the main team and Magneto, while also fighting off the Sentinels. Later comic series such as X-Men ’92 would incorporate characters and stories introduced after the animated series ended. X-Men ’92: House of XCII reimagined the popular Krakoa Era of the X-Men in the style of the animated series.

Knowing that the X-Men ’97 revival would be a success, Marvel also launched a prequel comic book series, with Steve Foxe and Salva Espin working on the story and art. The series fills the gap between the end of the original series and the revival, taking the heroes back to the ’90s for fresh adventures. While the series is limited by the events of the show, it’s still a great companion book to the cartoon.

2

Batman: The Adventures Continue Modernized The Animated Series

Based on Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series remains arguably the most iconic superhero cartoon in TV history, thanks to its dark stories, character studies and the voice work of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. The series follows the Dark Knight’s career as Gotham’s protector, where he takes on everything from his classic rogues’ gallery to werewolves and made-for-TV villains.

Batman: The Adventures Continue takes the original animated series and brings it in line with modern-day DC Comics, introducing plot threads like Deathstroke taking on an apprentice and revisiting Roxy Rocket. Having recently concluded its third volume, the series is the best ongoing Elseworlds continuity, and is a perfect match for the original show.

1

Future Quest Transformed Hanna-Barbera Into A Shared Universe

Based on Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, The Herculoids, Moby Dick & the Mighty Mightor, Birdman & the Galaxy Trio and Frankenstein Jr and the Impossibles

As much as many people may look back on Hanna-Barbera with great fondness, very few of the company’s characters have actually endured. Fortunately, in DC’s Future Quest, many of these characters were resurrected, being placed in a shared, pulp-inspired universe. There, the likes of Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Mightor and Frankenstein Jr unite to protect their world from evil.

Future Quest doesn’t just stand out as a fun superhero comic book series, it’s a masterclass in adapting even the most obscure cartoons into a brilliant universe. The series made Hanna-Barbera’s lost shows more relevant for a new generation, showing the full potential of the company’s history. Merging science fiction, adventure, superhero action and fantasy, the series is not only a great adaptation of an animated series, it’s everything comic books should be.