By The ’80s have become such a sacred era in pop culture as of late; you’d almost think they’re forgetting the nuclear tensions and the crack epidemic! But certainly there’s a lot of fun stuff to get to when diving into the ’80s, evident in Paper Girls, the comic series by Brian K Vaughan and Cliff Chang. Soon we’ll go from page to screen with a series adaptation coming from Amazon Studios.
Making their paper rounds the day after Halloween, 1988, a group of friends become embroiled in a cosmic war between time traveling factions. Paper Girls sweeps you off your feet with a very we-aren’t-in-Kansas-anymore story, going wildly off the rails and providing visual spectacle as well as a core cast to grow with and learn about. Sounds like good television!
The news comes as a development in series writer Vaughan’s ongoing deal with Legendary Entertainment, and is one of several screen projects gestating for the comic writer. An adaptation of his series (with Pia Guerra) Y: The Last Man has been swirling in development limbo for sometime now, though things are looking up. Vaughan is also writing the script for the live-action Gundam film.
Paper Girls would seem to continue a healthy trend of slightly-niche comic series finding success in TV series adaptations. And by “slightly-niche” I mean “not Marvel or DC superheroes.” Sure, The Walking Dead has been a success for years now, but shows like The Umbrella Academy and Preacher have found critical praise and solid viewership. There are also upcoming programs like Amazon’s The Boys and HBO’s Watchmen are making a case for comics other than those from the Big Two.
Expect to hear more on Paper Girls and Vaughan’s other screen projects in the coming months.
‘Paper Girls’ Graphic Novel Adaptation From Legendary TV & Plan B Gets Amazon Series Commitment [Deadline]