The Stand
Novel by Stephen King · adapted by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, drawn by Mike Perkins · Marvel, 2008–12
A weaponised flu escapes from a military laboratory and kills almost everyone on Earth. The survivors are drawn, through dreams, to one of two camps: a kindly old woman in Nebraska, or a smiling man in denim called Randall Flagg, who is setting up shop in Las Vegas and is not, in any sense, human.
King's longest novel becomes a long comic, running across several volumes, and Aguirre-Sacasa and Perkins do well by it, with Perkins' grounded, realistic art making the empty American landscapes suitably desolate. It is a big commitment, but for fans of the book it is a rewarding one.
