Adult Swim Almost Made A TV Show Based On DC's Most Underrated Characters

Few comic book readers might know about Jack Kirby's "Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth." The "Kamandi" property was created by Kirby (the comic book legend behind "Eternals") in 1972 and fell in line with the then-rising trend of post-apocalyptic stories like "Planet of the Apes," "I Am Legend," and the 1978 film version of "The Time Machine." The apocalypse was looming large, and pop culture tapped eagerly into those impulses to imagine distant sci-fi worlds where anything could happen.

Kirby's entrance into this genre fast-forwarded to a point in the far-flung future after Earth had been devastated by an unknown cataclysm. The planet has since been renamed Earth A.D. (After Disaster), and most of humanity had devolved into violent savagery. Some people were keeping civilization alive in underground bunkers, although they had to hide from multiple new species of anthropomorphic animal monsters. Indeed, animals had rapidly evolved thanks to a combination of post-nuclear bomb radiation and an experimental brain-growing drug called Cortexin.

Kamandi — a young, blonde, long-haired muscle stud — was an escapee from one of the underground bunkers, specifically "Command D," which is where he got his name. He had to flee his bunker when a wolf broke in and ate his grandmother (yes, seriously), forcing him to wander the savage post-apocalyptic Earth, searching for a new bunker to call home. He befriended some enhanced mutants and mild-mannered animal people during his adventures, including the dog-like Dr. Canis and Caesar, the king of the tigers. 

The original "Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth" comic book series debuted in October 1972 and lasted 59 issues. It was slated to be adapted into a low-budget animated series in the 1970s, but that project fell through. Then, decades later, in 2018, comics writer (and all-around comics genius) Evan Dorkin revealed that he had been working on an animated "Kamandi" series for Adult Swim seven years prior. The show had died a tragic death, but Dorkin was still willing to share the details.

Dorkin is known in the comics community as the creator of the underground titles "Milk & Cheese" and "The Eltingville Club." He and his wife Sarah Dyer also contributed to "Space Ghost Coast to Coast," while Dyer authored the "Action Girl" comics series. Together, they pitched a "Kamandi" TV show that was to take Kirby's famously overblown melodramatics and turn them into something wild and comedic, all in the Adult Swim mode. Dorkin ran down all the details in his pitch on Twitter (now known as X) and was happy to share, stating that the whole experience had been positive despite the series failing to be picked up.

It seems Dorkin was very attentive and had incorporated Kamandi's famous map (printed in the original comics) into the show, writing stories wherein Kamandi visited each one of the post-apocalyptic animal tribes. Dorkin even incorporated the events of "Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth" issue #29, wherein the blonde hunk ran afoul of a tribe of intelligent gorillas that worshiped a long-dead Superman. He added that DC Comics also allowed him and Dyer to include the OMACs, a species of cyborgs programmed to kill superheroes, as well as Brother Eye, a Batman-created supercomputer that had gone rogue. Moreover, the pair re-worked the animal tribe mythology and did their best to distinguish it from the lore of the "Planet of the Apes" movies.

Ultimately, Dorkin and Dyer had what Dorkin described as "a long, long game plan" for the "Kamandi" cartoon. Their pitch read as follows:

"'Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth' is a post-apocalyptic action comedy which follows the adventures and misadventures of a teen-aged boy forced to survive in a strange world of human-like talking animals, mutants and monsters ... He and his traveling companions (talking animals and a psychotic robot) undergo a journey that's a mash-up of Kirby, Kerouac, and Cormac McCarthy. Along the way there's exciting action, thrilling adventure, black humor, a whiff of satire and ... a  lot of raging hormones."

Sounds pretty good.

This was no idle idea. Dorkin wrote about how much effort he and Dyer poured into the project. They wanted to update what he called "Kirby's '30s WB backlot movie tropes" and make the animal kingdoms look and feel more modern to a 21st century audience. For instance: Dyer's idea was to have the tiger tribes base their society after what they had found at a disused Medieval Times dinner theater arena.

Most importantly, Dorkin wanted to add in the fact that Kamandi is constantly horny. He's a teenage boy, after all, and one of his primary motivations is to get laid (which has echoes of "A Boy and His Dog"). Brother Eye was going to send information to Kamandi, promising him hot-to-trot women at the end of his quest, but it would all be a lie. Moreover, Kamandi's sexual frustration was an overarching theme on the show. As Dorkin wrote:

"Kamandi never gets laid. Never. THE LAST FULLY-HUMAN BOY ON EARTH is universally c***-blocked by fate or design. His frustration leads to poor-decision making. His chronic masturbation ... Well, you get the idea. He is a miserable wreck throughout the series."

The only woman who shows sexual interest in Kamandi is Flower, a woman from a tribe of cannibals who eat their mates after sex. Kamandi would occasionally meet other humans — like Kommando and Kommanda — and have a pet dog named Scruffy. Dorkin included similar story ideas for the animated series as well, providing mini-outlines for each one. "Kamandi" was to be something special.

Why was the series rejected by Adult Swim? Who can say. It was simply not picked up. Perhaps it would have been too expensive. Or maybe Adult Swim thought it was too high-concept. Regardless, the "Kamandi" TV show never came to pass. Dorkin moved on to other projects and the world kept rotating. It's a pity, though, as the series sounds pretty amazing. It could've been one of Adult Swim's all-time best shows.