4 Years Later, This Underrated Image Comic Still Needs a Live Action Adaptation (& Walking Dead Fans Would Love It)

Image Comics have some of the boldest, most boundary-pushing books in the entire comic book industry today. While Marvel and DC both have certain limits and restrictions about the kinds of books they can typically release, Image is able to take full advantage of the medium's inherent strengths. With books like Invincible, Spawn, and the recent Assorted Crisis Events, Image has proven itself as one of the most important names in comics.

While Image Comics made their mark on the industry with books like The Walking Dead, Saga, and East of West, there have also been slightly lesser-known titles that have impacted the industry in more subtle, but no less important ways. An incredible aspect of Image Comics' methodology when it comes to creating exciting comics is its willingness to explore any length of story. For example, long epics like The Walking Dead can stand alongside shorter, more self-contained stories, such as writer Rick Remender's 11-issue bloody odyssey, A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance.

A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance Is One of the Most Cinematic Comics Ever Made

It Should Join Other Image Comics Adaptations Like The Walking Dead

Writer Rick Remender is perhaps most known for his incredible work on Marvel books like Uncanny X-Force, Uncanny Avengers, Captain America, and Secret Avengers. Each one of those books contained some of the most compelling and terrifically unique spins on classic comic book characters, and they proved Remender as one of the most exciting voices in the industry.

On top of those books, his incredible Image book, Deadly Class, made him one of the most sought-after and engaging writers in the modern landscape of comic book storytelling. Deadly Class showcased a number of Remender's incredible strengths, like his punk rock attitude, an incredible sense of pacing and movement, and striking social and political commentary. In 2021, much like his previous acclaimed works, Remender's A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance took the comics world by storm.

Terrifically violent, emotionally engaging, packed with almost entirely dialogue-free pages, and paced like a high-stakes action film, A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance follows Sonny, an unassuming man who becomes embroiled in the terrifying world of contract killings, psychopathic murderers, dark web hit lists, and uber-rich predators getting away with anything and everything.

The first few issues of A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance actually leave the reader a bit confused as to who Sonny is and how he got himself involved in all of the events unfolding. Because of the book's minimal dialogue, it relies on a strong sense of visual storytelling from the incredible artist, André Lima Araújo, who imbues the book with a dynamic, cinematic feel.

Equally engaging with base-level material like high-stakes action and thrills while simultaneously dissecting and breaking down ideas of childhood innocence, sexual violence, class warfare and corruption, and what it takes to be a good person, A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance takes readers on a journey through a terrifying world that feels all too real at times.

The book is not for the squeamish or the faint of heart, as the violence and graphic nature of the subject matter make A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance a terrifically harrowing tale. That, of course, is all part of the point that Remender is making with his eleven issues, but it might take some readers aback who are used to more typical comic storytelling from the likes of Marvel and DC.

This Brutal Image Comic Would Be Even Better Live-Action

It Would Be Perfect for an Action-Packed Movie or TV Show

A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance feels as if it were crafted with the live-action medium in mind. That might sound like a negative, implying that it only exists to be adapted in a "better" medium, but that could not be further from the truth. In actuality, the book is so uniquely expressive in its storytelling that it would be a genuine shame if it were never brought to new audiences in a new form.

Of course, Comic books and cinema are incredibly different beasts. Comics flourish with their page and panel design, implying movement and shifts in character rather than literally depicting it. With static imagery as their only tool, comic books have pushed the boundaries of illustrative creativity in an effort to effectively convey emotions, actions, and character beats to readers. Similarly, movies and TV utilize their innate strengths to get emotional reactions from their audiences. Live-action projects can utilize longer dialogue scenes, more subtle and complex character actions, and sound (and the lack thereof) to great effect.

A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance is unique from most of the comic books released in the last five years insofar as its aspirations seem directly connected to whipping its readers through the story at a breakneck speed. Reading A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance's eleven issues in one sitting is shockingly easy, and it might honestly be the best way to experience the story.

The story overall is paced and designed in a way that emulates the three-act structure of a film, and despite the long-form medium of comic books, it plays better when read in quick succession. The comic also feels incredibly tactile, utilizing brilliant artistry to emulate real-life items like foods, technology, and wildlife. It lends weight and realism to the story, and that feeling could be easily adapted into the world of live-action.

Comic Book Adaptations Should Veer Away From Superheroes

Many Non-Superhero Comics Deserve Adaptations

The number of films and television shows based on comic books that don't feature any superheroes or superpowers of some kind is incredibly limited. Typically, comic books are viewed by Hollywood executives and producers as the medium of the superhero, and while that isn't necessarily incorrect, it is a significant oversimplification of an entire medium.

Films like director David Cronenberg's A History of Violence, Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition, the RED films, and even Park Chan-wook's iconic Oldboy demonstrate that comic books, graphic novels, and manga can be easily adapted into live-action films without requiring superheroes. A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance could easily join the pantheon of excellent, non-superhero comic book adaptations, and it absolutely should.

The book deserves so much more attention, and one of the best ways for that to happen is for new kinds of audiences to engage with the material. The political and social angle of the story, paired with the incredibly graphic violence, would absolutely bring in viewers, and its no-holds-barred style of brutalistic storytelling would certainly appeal to fans of films and series like The Killer, Oldboy, or The Sopranos. It's a grounded, intense work of epic fiction, and the idea that it might remain a piece of excellent comic book pulp without ever getting a chance to become more than that is incredibly disheartening.

Rick Remender's works are deserving of so much more praise than they receive, and he might just be one of the best comic book writers working in the industry today. His bold and compelling storytelling style is truly unique, and his simultaneously pragmatic yet optimistic outlook on narratives and the contemporary world is spectacularly engaging. His Deadly Class series was actually adapted into a short-lived live-action series in 2019, and although it didn't resonate with audiences in the same way as the source material, those who did watch the series were quite fond of it.

A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance would only need one season of television or one feature-length film to adapt its relatively bare-bones story, and audiences would absolutely eat it up. The world needs more adult-oriented, real-world comic book adaptations, and Remender's epic 2021 series is the perfect choice.