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How do?

So it's another solidly neutral 'Mad Doc would like to know' type threads. And this one is pretty simple, as the title sums it up neatly.

But, a few rules. By expanded universe, I mean everything except fan fiction/fan films. I've nothing against either medium, but I'm looking for stuff produced under license, which can therefore be said to be at least partially canon.

This of course includes - TV spin offs, Comics, Graphic Novels, Novels, Web Series etc. Please note that just because a film series has ropey/awful entries, doesn't matter here. It's the spin-off tie-in media I want to hear about.

Right, off you go



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Oh, and feel free to offer recommendations/warnings on specific examples.

For instance, the Star Wars EU (including the Old EU) is a mixed bag. Some is great, some is utter dross. So if you've a strong opinion on one or the other, weigh in.

I know that a lot of productions get comic-tie-ins that are not as heavily advertised as they should be and many a film is based off a book, likewise often not as heavily marketed. Though with the latter often as not the book can be only a very casual link to the film in terms of story structure.



That said one that springs to mine is Alien. There's a wealth of comics produced around the release of the first 3 films, with several story arcs even happening before the second and third films which changes up the story somewhat. They are a mixed bag of artistic styles and stories from loan ships being infested through to epic wars and battles from the alien homeworld to Earth.

They've got several omnibus releases that gather up the majority of them plus Dark Horse keeps publishing a few new ones every so often which are always worth a read. There's also a couple of classic comics that copy the film or provide insight.

Overall its quite a wealth of story and lore and even if a few bits involving Ripley are changed from the first 3 films (ergo that she survives) its actually a minor element as she hardly features in all but a handful. The majority focus on the Aliens themselves. Which is a really neat way to flesh out the world without slaving itself so much to a single focal human character.



Predator also got similar treatment though I've not dipped into those comics yet. Plus there's also AVP comics from WAY before the modern films.






Otherwise I know that the US Godizlla film (the first one) got a pretty darn good animated TV spin-off series that went on for a while.

Flash Gordon also had multiple TV series, both live action and animated; heck I think there's even a radio series (I don't think I've ever heard it but its of that era where such things were popular and thus I'd expect there to be one).

Highlander films also got an earlier Cartoon series and then a later live-action one. The cartoon was pretty good as I recall and focused more on the fantasy world they came from; whilst the live action was more focused on Earth and the story here.



Of course there's also the big names like Starwars and Dr. Who; which almost don't need a mention for the sheer volume of comics, novels, tv series and more that they've had over the many years.

Agreed on Alien. Got a few of the collected volumes of Dark Horse's stuff at home. Should dig them out, see where the gaps are, and complete that collection. Ditto their Predator and Terminator series too.

If you can track them down, I really can recommend the collected volumes. They're pretty cheap, and packed with content. So yes, tales and art vary in taste and quality. But it's still hard to feel short changed.

I've got most of them on Comixology - for reading comics I really like a tablet. Bright and vibrant colourful screen and no nightmarish worries about images running to the very page edge or into the middle (a crime that NO book or comic should ever fall for and yet happens constantly).

Plus the sales happen fairly often so you can grab them cheap - I think they've even been in a few humble bundles over the years too.

Will keep my eye out

What about Buffy? Without the original movie, we wouldn't have the TV series and everything else.

Dark Horse also did a load of Predator comics too,

plus alien/predator cross overs


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and of course Firefly which generated a movie and at least a couple of official comic series and a bunch of novels

.. let alone the fan fic, full fan movie and endless short stories (some of them even SFW)

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
What about Buffy? Without the original movie, we wouldn't have the TV series and everything else.

Stargate is in a similar position. An okay movie lead to a great couple of TV series.

Babylon 5 had some pretty good material in the RPGs, although the tie in novels and follow up series were nothing to get excited about.

Oh dang I can't remember all of the ones I liked but here are some I can think of right now:

Star Wars (I used to only like the 'Legends' or old EU but have started to take a liking to some of the current stuff they're doing).

Alien (I really started to get into the universe when the toys came out during the early 90's)

Predator (The first Batman vs. Predator mini-series got me interested in exploring the expanded universe)

I know I had a couple more I used to look when I was in high school but I can't recall them.

I hear that Game of Thrones tv show has a very impressive extended universe written by the series creator.

By that token, we have Dune via the Dune Encyclopedia and the son's books, and Larry Niven's Known Space via the Man-Kzin Wars anthologies. The Cthulhu Mythos has been expanded by dozens of authors into just about all media.

Star Wars has, or rather had, one of the best expanded universes of any franchise. I mean technically they can still be found (as the "Legends" timeline), but Disney has axed them, even though I personally think they should be continued as sort of an alternate timeline from the TFA/TLJ/TROS canon and its related books.

Star Trek also has some really great books that I've greatly enjoyed reading.

Stargate, as mentioned above, was a decent, if not great, movie, but the TV shows are what really make the franchise (especially SG-1). There are some novels, but I've only read a few of them, but the ones I read were pretty good.

The Riddick universe. Escape From Butcher Bay is a FANTASTIC triple-A video game taking place before Pitch Black, and the anime Dark Fury linking Pitch Black to Chronicles of Riddick is fun.

The Matrix - the Animatrix is a stellar anthology of universe-expanding anime by a variety of acclaimed artists. But even if you don't like most of them, the 2-part origin story detailing humanity's creation of the original AI, and the eventual robot uprising, is essential.
The 'Enter the Matrix' videogame, while now extremely dated graphics-wise, was an impressive work at the time. The Wachowskis filmed live action scenes for it while filming the two sequels, using the cast/sets/etc. but with an entirely original plot that runs parallel+intersects with the events of The Matrix Reloaded and really adds a lot to the saga. I'm sure you could watch it all on Youtube.

Godzilla has tons of awesome comics. "Godzilla: The Half Century War" is a good one. But there's loads of random comics, of whatever flavor you like.
Likewise, the Planet of the Apes - "Planet of the Apes Omnibus" by BOOM! fleshes out the story in a big way. Even some interesting expansion of the Tim Burton apes universe by Dark Horse back in the day, if you're into that.

Blade Runner - they released several short films before 2049, which bring you up to speed on the world after the original movie and bridging the gap to the sequel. One is an anime, 2 are live action starring some of the actors (Bautista, and Jared Leto). There's also a "Blade Runner: 2019" comic currently in publication.

There's also a Blade runner anime series in production for release 2020 sometime.

Dark Horse also did some pretty extensive comics following the conclusion of the Last Airbender animated series.

 Sentionaut wrote:
The Matrix - the Animatrix is a stellar anthology of universe-expanding anime by a variety of acclaimed artists. But even if you don't like most of them, the 2-part origin story detailing humanity's creation of the original AI, and the eventual robot uprising, is essential.
The 'Enter the Matrix' videogame, while now extremely dated graphics-wise, was an impressive work at the time. The Wachowskis filmed live action scenes for it while filming the two sequels, using the cast/sets/etc. but with an entirely original plot that runs parallel+intersects with the events of The Matrix Reloaded and really adds a lot to the saga. I'm sure you could watch it all on Youtube.

Came here to say this. The comics were really exceptional too, imho, really interesting stuff using the possibilities of the premise.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
What about Buffy? Without the original movie, we wouldn't have the TV series and everything else.

That's a good example. Off the movie you got a TV show, a spinoff show, various novels, canonical comics continuing both shows, a couple video games, the fray comics. Off a movie that's at best decent.

I've not read them, but I have heard of The Witcher getting some novels based on the video game universe, and obviously fairly soon we will have a TV series based on the game universe as well.

It may breach into the territory of "utterly ridiculous" but hear me out: WW2.

Think about it. . . You've got the actual event. Then there's a ton of written historical books on it. There's movies about it. There's Sci-fi "what if" books written on it. . . . although I suppose an argument could be made that most movies/alt-history sci-fi stuff on the subject could be considered "fan fic"

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
I've not read them, but I have heard of The Witcher getting some novels based on the video game universe, and obviously fairly soon we will have a TV series based on the game universe as well.

It may breach into the territory of "utterly ridiculous" but hear me out: WW2.

Think about it. . . You've got the actual event. Then there's a ton of written historical books on it. There's movies about it. There's Sci-fi "what if" books written on it. . . . although I suppose an argument could be made that most movies/alt-history sci-fi stuff on the subject could be considered "fan fic"

The Witcher began life as a book series which then turned into a game and is now also being turned into a TV series. The guy who wrote it actually doesn't like CD Prjoekt either because he negotiated a deal that left him with less potential earnings because of how big the game was as a seller (though I believe I recall reading that CD Projeckt even advised him he could be losing out when they settled the deal).


And I do see what you mean about WW2. There is certainly whole fantasy that has grown up around it far more than almost any other major world conflict or era.

Dr. Who? TV show, movies, comics, radio plays, etc.

 Overread wrote:


The Witcher began life as a book series which then turned into a game and is now also being turned into a TV series.

Anyone able to point me to the original novels? I remember seeing Witcher novels around the same time as the first game, but I honestly thought they were novelizations of the game (similar to what I've seen in a couple of WoW novels at the bookstore)

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 Overread wrote:


The Witcher began life as a book series which then turned into a game and is now also being turned into a TV series.

Anyone able to point me to the original novels? I remember seeing Witcher novels around the same time as the first game, but I honestly thought they were novelizations of the game (similar to what I've seen in a couple of WoW novels at the bookstore)

That's really easy now as most are translated into English - the original story was in Polish. Note all the books below are by the same author, Andrzej Sapkowski, the creator of the Witcher.

It begins with two short story collections, note that the Last Wish is published after, but the stories within are set before Sword of Destiny and were originally within another completion that was never re-released (and I think was only in Polish).
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny

Following on from that there's the "main story" as it were which is a series of currently 5 books as follows:
Blood of Elves
Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of the Swallow
The Lady of the Lake

 Overread wrote:

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 Overread wrote:


The Witcher began life as a book series which then turned into a game and is now also being turned into a TV series.

Anyone able to point me to the original novels? I remember seeing Witcher novels around the same time as the first game, but I honestly thought they were novelizations of the game (similar to what I've seen in a couple of WoW novels at the bookstore)

That's really easy now as most are translated into English - the original story was in Polish. Note all the books below are by the same author, Andrzej Sapkowski, the creator of the Witcher.

It begins with two short story collections, note that the Last Wish is published after, but the stories within are set before Sword of Destiny and were originally within another completion that was never re-released (and I think was only in Polish).
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny

Following on from that there's the "main story" as it were which is a series of currently 5 books as follows:
Blood of Elves
Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of the Swallow
The Lady of the Lake

Awesome!! I wasn't sure if that was the right setup or not, but looks like amazon has the set for a decent price

Blakes 7

On a related note apparently The Martian film is part of the Expanse history

 Mr Morden wrote:
Blakes 7

On a related note apparently The Martian film is part of the Expanse history

I can dig it. Gotta say, having read the novels the Expanse was based on Leviathan Wakes and some of its sequels(I'm not done yet!), it really reads like a transcript of a great science fiction roleplaying session. I highly recommend them.

Player- My character's an Earth diplomat.
DM- Gotcha.
Player I'm an Indian Grandma.
Dm- Oookaay....
Player- I have no combat skills, and I curse like a sailor while being demanding and thoroughly unpleasant to be around.
DM- Why are you like this?