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Seminal crime comic Criminal getting TV adaptation from Amazon Prime Video

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Criminal is (finally) coming to the small screen

Illustrated cover of The Last of the Innocent
Image credit: Sean Phillips

In a world where comics series (and partnerships) come and go (usually in 6-12 issue increments), it's rare to see a series last for years - let alone a decade with the same writer and artist. It helps that the series, when it's on the stands, is one of the most best comics you can pick up pretty much anywhere.

That's why its so exciting to see Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Criminal get more widespread attention, as Deadline reports in an exclusive that Amazon has ordered to series an adaptation of Brubaker and Phillips' crime comic that was originally announced to be in development early last year. It's also good to see some of the creative team involved, with Brubaker penning the pilot and serving as co-showrunner with crime fiction author Jordan Harper.

This is not Brubaker's first foray into television. Brubaker has served as co-showrunner of Batman: Caped Crusader, supervising producer on Westworld, and worked on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (some of which was based on his comics work at Marvel Comics).

As for when to expect the Criminal TV show to hit Prime Video for streaming, we don't know much beyond the fact that Amazon MGM Studios opened a writers room early last year, and that the work was interrupted by the Writers Guild strike. Hopefully today's news that Amazon has ordered the adaptation to series is a good sign that we'll hear more about the project soon.


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Tiffany Babb

Tiffany Babb: Tiffany Babb is a professional lurker (aka critic) who once served as Popverse’s deputy editor and resident Sondheim enthusiast.

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