Comic Series That Brought Sports Action to the Page

Sporting Chance

Sports and comics have not always been a match made in heaven, with fans of both tending not to have a huge amount in common.

However, there are some comics out there that capture the essence of athletic competition and wrap it all up in the pages of a brilliant comic book.

Here are some of our favourites from past and present

Get some sports comics in amongst your other favourite titles

Strange Sports Stories – DC Comics

We begin with a true golden oldie, this collection of weird and wonderful stories that were first released in 1973.

One of the stand-out stories in this comic anthology is To Beat the Devil, in which the red man himself abducts an entire baseball team and leads them to victory by any means possible. It is ludicrous, but there is no doubt that such a team would have MLB and sports punters in general rushing to sites like bet365 to back a roster led by none other than the devil. For now, though, they will have to make do with the newly crowned LA Dodgers.

You will never view baseball in the same way after reading Strange Sports Stories

Eyeshield 21

If you find baseball a little boring, then maybe the American football action in Eyeshield 21 will be more to your taste.

However, do not go thinking this is a comic set in the US, because this is Manga, and the players in its pages are therefore all Japanese.

The series, which was released in the early 2000s, became a huge success, being turned into a television series as well as a video game.

Slam Dunk

Manga is a genre that appears to have hugged sports themes to its ample bosom, as is evidenced here by yet another sporting manga title in the form of Slam Dunk.

This comic series follows the exploits and escapades of a basketball team from the Japanese region of Shōnan. Although the first comics in the series were released way back in the mid-90s, there have been rumblings that it will make a comeback in 2020, so keep your eyes peeled.

The Guardian Project

No, this is not the name of some new cyber security software or a code name for a special forces mission, instead this was the comic series that the NHL teamed up with Stan Lee to create.

Each NHL franchise was turned into a superhero whose job it was to then repel an alien invasion. In truth the comics bore not relation to the sport itself and that is probably why the series died a quiet death.