A few days ago, I was reading an article on the Comic Book Resources website, revealing that one of DC Comics’ best writers, Jeff Lemire, is collaborating with LOST guru Damon Lindelof for an upcoming anthology called Time Warp. The comic comes out in March, and it’s been announced that Lemire and Lindelof will be working together on an 8-page story focusing on Rip Hunter, sometimes referred to as “Time Master.”
Although Hunter had his own comic book fifty years ago, and has been in and out of the DC Universe over the years. In some versions of continuity it has even been hinted that the very 1950’s-sounding “Rip Hunter” is not even his real name.
As soon as I read the article, and especially after reading about Lindelof and Lemire wanting to work together on other projects, possibly in other mediums, it hit me: This would be great for TV!
Now, I’d imagine Damon Lindelof’s television services do not come cheap, but how cool would a time travel series be from one of the guys who brought you LOST?
A DC Comics-based TV adaptation of a decade ago almost did have the time-travel angle. In 2003, The WB was developing a take on The Flash where he was a time traveling college student from Gotham City named Jay Garrick. It didn’t even have a pilot shot. But that’s The Flash, too… a character with a set of expectations and hopes. Rip Hunter? Who outside of comic book fandom really knows him? It’s a fairly blank canvas to do something cool. Even the comic book creators who have done good things with the character — such as Dan Jurgens — have taken the character several different ways and approaches.
So, Mr. Lemire and Mr. Lindelof, I hope you guys have already talked to DC about the possibility of taking something like this to other media. I think it could be pretty cool. The U.S. needs our own equivalent of Doctor Who, and if we’re not getting that Booster Gold show any time soon, this could be a great alternative. Give it a catchy name, like, say, Time Warp… I know I’d watch. And, as always, if anything actually did happen, I’m just speculating on what I’d like to see and claim no rights, etc. Take it! It’s yours!
