The Silver Screen adaption of comic strips is not a new concept. Since the days of the serials played at the local Bijou kids and adults were glued to the adventures of Dick Tracy, Superman, Flash Gordon, The Rocketeer and Buck Rogers.

 

Then “Batman” hit the screen with a tongue-in-cheek Adam West playing the caped crusader which began with half hour episodes on the television screens presented like the old time serials. “Tune in next time on the same Bat Channel at the same Bat time”. The series became popular enough to spawn a movie that generated a cult following in the late 1960’s. Tim Burton revamped the cowl-wearing detective and presented him on a long awaited film starring Michael Keaton as the hero and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. It carried a darker mood than the cheesy series and spawned several sequels with stars like George Clooney, Val Kilmer and Christian Bale portraying the Dark Knight.

     

“Superman” began as a serial starring George Reeves as the Man of Steel, with an accompanying cartoon in the 1950’s. It wasn’t until 1978 when the mild manner reporter and his alter-ego was found on the silver screen played by the late Christopher Reeves which spawned several sequels throughout the 80’s, plus a series “Louis and Clark” starring Dean Cain, and “Smallville” staring  Tom Welling; and a resurgence with a darker slant in the 2000’s starring Brandon Routh.

     

Supes cousin, “Supergirl”, even got a one shot movie in 1984 played by Helen Slater featuring a cameo of Christopher Reeve. It wasn’t a big hit earning only $14,296,438 in the box office.

 

 

 

Marvel’s dark vigilante “The Punisher” has seen the silver screen several times not in sequels but in different movies. He was played by Dolph Lundgren (1989 The Punisher), Thomas Jane (2004 The Punisher) with an extended cut released in 2006, and Ray Stevenson (2008 Punisher: War Zone).

   

1990 brought in Eastman and Laird’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, a live action movie that did over $201 million at the box office. This fueled the TMNT craze and also brought forth two sequels and more movies made from independent comic book labels.

 

 

This was also the year Warren Beatty starred and directed the film adaption of “Dick Tracy”. It was closer to the comic strip than the old 1950’s serials and starred a plethora of A list celebs as guest villains from Dustin Hoffman as Mumbles, Al Pacino as Mr. Big, and Beatty’s then-girlfriend Madonna as Breathless Mahoney.

 

Also, an unsuccessful attempt at a “Captain America” movie was made. Which didn’t last long in the theatres even though it did very well opening weekend. A more successful run came in 2011 with “Captain America: the first Avenger” which coincides with “Iron Man”, “The Hulk” and “Thor” which all titles will go under the future project of making Marvel’s “The Avengers” movie.

       

“The Rocketeer” came out the following year with that same “serial” theme to it and was set in the 1940’s which is the same as the Pacific Comics version. Walt Disney took the helm of this one putting Billy Campbell in the starring role and having the same elements as it’s serial counterparts.

 

  1994 brought out more Independent label comic book heroes. Street and Smith Publications’ “The Shadow” from the old radio dramas with William Baldwin as the anti-hero who knew what evil lurks in the hearts of men. Also, Jim Carey got to put that rubbery face of his to good use in Dark Horse Comics’ “The Mask” with topped out the box office and spawned a not-so-well received sequel “Son of the Mask”.

Lee Falk’s comic book hero of deepest Africa “The Phantom” came out in 1996 played by budding actor Billy Zane as the “ghost who walks”. This movie also was not well received at the box office or by critics. The film did much better on VHS and DVD, with the storyline taken from three Phantom stories “The Singh Brotherhood”, “The Sky Band” and “The Belt”.

 

1997 brought Todd MacFarlane of Image Comics’ star project “Spawn” to film with Michael Jai White playing the reluctant demonic leader of Hell’s Army. The film did not see the success of the comic but did “spawn” a sequel which went to animation instead of live action.

 

 

In that same year, another flop came out starring Shaquille O’Neil as “Steel”, DC’s comic about a metal forger who uses his skills to fight crime. Barely making enough at the box office to cover expenses, this one didn’t even find a cult following.

 

 

1998, Vampire hunting became a fad and Marvel stepped up bringing to life their “Blade” hero with Wesley Snipes in the title role of the vampire slaying “daywalker”. The action packed innovative flick spawned two sequels and a short lived television series.

 

 

Dark Horse tried to follow up their success with The Mask with another comedic super hero movie from their title “Mystery Men”. The movie stars William H. Macy, Ben Stiller and Hank Azaria as the bungling superheroes, it didn’t do too well at the box office, but started a rabid cult following.

 

Several attempts have been made to make a “Spiderman” movie with much failure. It wasn’t until 2002 when Sam Raimi took over the project and put Tobey McGuire as our friendly neighborhood web slinging hero that it reached epic proportions in fandom and box office dollars. It is still an ongoing project with 2 successful sequels and an upcoming prequel on the way.

The long awaited “X-men” franchise began is debut in 2000. No other superhero movie was more eagerly awaited. Starring many celebrities who fit perfectly into their roles such as Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Anna Paquin as Rogue, Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, James Marsden as Cyclops, and Halle Barry as Storm. This franchise branched off into two sequels, a prequel, and upcoming origin stories.

“Daredevil” of Marveldom was played by Ben Affleck and as many Ben Affleck movies go…this one didn’t stand a chance in the box office either. It did however branch off into another comic adaption of Marvel’s “Elektra” in 2005 played by Jennifer Garner. Though it also didn’t do well in theatres, it did do better than Daredevil.

DC’s “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” came out in 2003 and was a surprise hit. Though the comic didn’t do that well on the newsstands, the movie proved itself to be a strong force in the ratings. Starring Sean Connery as Allan Quartermain, Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo, Peta Wilson as Mina Harker, Tony Curran as Rodney Skinner, Stuart Townsend as Dorian Gray, Shane West as Tom Sawyer and Jason Flemying as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.

Darkhorse Comics released “Hellboy” in 2004; Mike Mignolia’s popular comic about a rogue demon working as a paranormal investigator. A well done adaption featuring Ron Perlman as the renegade demon. This spawned a full-length cartoon movie as well as a sequel.

 

In 2004 “Catwoman” was a surprising flop at the box office, with producers trying to cash in on Halle Barry in a tight latex suit fighting crime as a vigilante. It’s video release didn’t do that well either.

 

 

After a failed attempt to bring Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” to the silver screen in 1994, 2005 gave it success with a new cast, better special effects and the success enough to have a sequel. The 1994 version never saw release, and the 2005 version starred Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Jessica Alba as Susan Storm, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm. Hmm…Jessica Alba in a tight fitting leotard…yes, I’m sure that had nothing to do with the films success.

Though he was slated to play the role of Superman, Nicolas Cage instead fitted himself with the flaming skull and motorbike of “Ghost Rider” in 2007. It brought in the sum of over $200 million to the box office with the help of Sam Elliot playing the original Ghost Rider.

 

In 2008 DC Comic’s retro hero “The Spirit” came out riding the coat tails of “Sin City” both of which were filmed in the same CG style with a noir-esque theme. The former did not do as well as the latter.

2009 brought the cutting edge project of “The Watchmen”. An alternate reality slant brought to readers by DC’s Vertigo label. Probably the first superhero movie to involve a sex scene and plenty of gore and violence giving it an R rating.

 

Playing along the same cutting edge “darkness” of the above titles, Marvel’s “Kick Ass” was released in 2010. Increasing the violence and going where no other comic book adaption had gone showing a more grittier hero than the mainstream.

DC Comics came out that same year with the theatrical version of their title “Jonah Hex”. An anti-hero western theme staring Josh Brolin as the wronged hero seeking revenge. The film received some help bringing in the fan boys with putting Megan Fox as the heroine.

Going green, 2011 released “Green Lantern” of DC fame played by Ryan Reynolds and also former 60’s TV series “The Green Hornet”. The show was campy like it’s Batman counterpart, with Bruce Lee filling in the role of his side kick Kato, the newer version puts comedian actor Seth Rogen at the helm with Jay Chou as the trusty, if not snarky, sidekick.

“Wonderwoman” unfortunately, despite much hype never saw the silver screen as the project was dropped by the production company after filming. They are now looking into making it into a television show like the popular 70’s show with Linda Carter.