The Greatest Comic Book Films Of All Time! (So Far)

THE GREATEST COMIC BOOK FILMS OF ALL TIME! (So Far)

1) Spider-Man/Spider-Man 2 (2002, 2004): Spidey has always been my favorite comic book character, and Sam Raimi certainly captures the essence of the old Stan Lee comics in these wonderful films. Toby Maguire really adds depth and pathos to his portrayal of Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man.

2) Batman Begins (2005): This is the first live-action Batman film to be worthy of the complex comic book character. Director; Christopher Nolan, writer; David S. Goyer and lead actor; Christian Bale do a magnificent job creating the dark world of Bruce Wayne and his even darker alter ego.

3) Hellboy (2004): When I first read Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic I didn't think it could ever be put on the big screen, but not only does director Guillermo del Toro succeed in capturing what makes the comic great on film, he improves on the source material.

4) Conan the Barbarian (1982): I know that it could be argued that Conan got his start in the Robert E. Howard pulp novels and magazines, but I was first introduced to the Cimmerian Barbarian in the Marvel Comics of the 70s, so in the back of my mind I always think of him as a comic book character. This film captures everything that is great about Conan, perhaps the best sword and sorcery pulp character ever created.

5) Superman/Superman 2 (1978, 1980): These still stand up as some of the greatest comic book films of all time, thanks, in no small part, to Christopher Reeve who inhabited the character of Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman like no other actor could. I did believe a man could fly.

6) The Incredibles (2004): This is the film last summer's lackluster Fantastic Four should have been. A movie about a family of super-heroes with heart. This is my favorite Pixor film so far, and that is saying something.

7) X2: X-Men United (2003): Bryan Singer does a splendid job of balancing several interesting characters and plot lines in this action-packed adaptation of the Marvel Comics world of Mutants. I can't wait to see what he does with Superman Returns, next summer.

8) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993): This animated Batman film comes the closest to the spirit of the D.C. Comics source material. I'd also highly recommend Batman: The Animated Series, which this movie was spawned from.

9) Frank Miller's Sin City (2005): To adapt this crime comic to the big screen, Robert Rodriguez literally used Frank Miller's comic art as story boards and replicated his scripts word for word creating the most faithful adaptation of a comic work thus far.

10) Unbreakable (2000): In this remarkable film, M. Night Shyamalan takes the basic rules of comic books and plants them in the real world, showing us how super-heroes and villains might behave if they escaped from their four color universes.

Honorable Mention:

11) The Iron Giant (1999): Another great animated movie where, like in Hellboy, the hero fights what he was created to be to become something greater.

12) Robocop (1987): Paul Verhoeven's awesome, over the top, film about a dark future and the cyborg super-cop trying to make things right.

13) The Crow (1994): An excellent adaptation of the James O'Barr comic book. Only marred by the fact that it is Brandon Lee's last performance.

14) Darkman (1990): Sam Raimi's first foray into super-hero films. Well, maybe his second (see Evil Dead 2).

15) Blade/Blade II (1998, 2002): Another example of the movies improving on the comic book source material with great scripts by David S. Goyer and a strong lead performance by Wesley Snipes.

16) Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987): Some may argue that this is a horror movie, or even a horror comedy, but to my mind it's a super-hero origin film. Ash rocks!

*

17) Batman (1989): I do have to give props to Tim Burton for his first Bat-flick. The production design is awe-inspiring and actor Michael Keaton gives a much stronger performance as the Dark Knight than anyone gave him credit for. But it is Jack Nicholson's bizarre, over-the-top, take on the Joker that steals the show. Let's face it, the movie should have been called, the Joker. It's just too bad that the plot falls apart in the last half hour.

*

18) X-Men (2000): While Bryan Singer's first go at an X-Men film isn't perfect, it is none the less a very enjoyable picture with some excellent acting and direction amid sub-par special effects. As with Tim Burton's Batman, the story falls apart in the third act.

*

19) The Rocketeer (1991): Highly enjoyable adaptation of the Dave Stevens graphic novel. Bill Campbell makes an excellent protagonist and Jennifer Connelly has never looked better.

Ten Kick-Ass Comic Book Characters

Anyone who knows me know how much I love fictional characters. Below is a list I have compiled of 10 of the greatest tough-guy, grim-and-gritty, take-no-prisoners, characters currently appearing in comic books. They all have a kind of pulp fiction vibe and if you are not reading their books, I would recoment that you seek them out.

And now, without further ado, here is the list of the characters in no particular order...

1) John Gaunt AKA GrimJack (IDW): This character is a great fusion of Sam Spade and Conan the Barbarian and he resides in the cool pan-dimensional city of Cynosure.

"When they come to me, they're in trouble, or they want some. I bust people out of prison, hunt down vampires, fight alien Gods--All the fun jobs people are too squeamish or too polite to do themselves. Call me a mercenary. Call me an assassin. Call me villain. I am all that and more. My name's John Gaunt, but out on the streets of Cynosure, I am called... GrimJack."
--GrimJack, (Vol 1) #1 (Comic Book), John Ostrander

2) Hellboy (Dark Horse): The worlds greatest paranormal investigator (and by "paranormal investigator" I mean that he beats the holy bejesus out of paranormal stuff).

"I never deal with what I am. I don't think about it. I just do my job, which usually involves me beating the crap out of things a lot like me.
--Hellboy, The Right Hand of Doom (Trade Paperback), Mike Mignola

3) The Goon (Dark Horse): He routinely beats the crap out of zombies and monsters with his fists. If there are too many of them, he grabs a wrench.

"The nameless man, the zombie priest, had come to town to build a gang from the undead. But even the undead fear... The Goon."
--The Goon, Rough Stuff (Trade Paperback), Eric Powell

4) Conan the Cimmerian (Dark Horse): As a child, he tore out a wolf's throat with his teeth. Nuff said.

"Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities... there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars... Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand... to tread the jeweled thrones of the earth under his sandalled feet."
--The Coming of Conan, the Cimmerian (Novel), Robert E. Howard

5) Red Sonja: the She Devil With a Sword (Dynamite Entertainment): This chick slaughters her enemies wearing a chain mail bikini. That makes her one tough broad in my book.

"Know also, O'prince, that in the selfsame days that the Cimmerian did stalk the Hyborian Kingdoms, one of the few swords worthy to cross with his was that of Red Sonja, warror-woman out of mystic Hyrkania. Forced to flee her homeland because she spurned the advances of the a king and slew him instead. She rode west across the Turanian steppes and into the shadowed mists of legendry."
--Red Sonja, the She Devil With a Sword, #0 (Comic Book), Michael Avon Oeming & Mike Carey

6) Snake-Eyes (Dynamite Entertainment): From the pages of G.I. Joe this silent ninja is the badest bad-ass in a battalion of bad-asses.

" ... "
--Just about any issue of G.I. Joe.

7) Cal McDonald (IDW): This foul-mouthed, alcoholic, drug addict is also a hard boiled L.A. detective who screws with the supernatural daily.

"Cal McDonald has made a career helping and hunting the dark creatures that haunt the world and has made as many friends as he has enemies. Among the docile ghouls of the city he is a friend. But to most, those who prey on innocent human lives, Cal is a sworn enemy."
--Savage Membrane: A Cal McDonald Mystery (Novel), Steve Niles

8) Doc Frankenstein (Burlyman): The wonderful premise of this comic book is, what if Dr. Frankenstein's creature survived into modern times to become a Doc Savage-like pulp hero.

"I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, kicked at, and trampled on."
--Frankenstein Or, The Modern Prometheus (Novel), Mary Shelley

9) Frank Castle AKA the Punisher (Marvel): No super powers. No fancy, high-tech gadgets. Just guns, guts and an endless pit of rage.

“Been walking the streets all night. But the city's dead. Times Square is filled with tourists. The park is filled with cops. Not five years back I could've gone to either and been up to my eyes in scum. Tonight I may as well have stayed home.....Giuliani's got a lot to answer for."
-- Punisher, (Vol. 3) #5 (Comic Book), Garth Ennis

10) Jonah Hex (DC): This hatchet-scared, ex-confederate, western bounty hunter makes Clint Eastwood look like a pansy.

"Twilight faded when the desert finally went silent…In full light of the moon, James Ronnie’s face showed all the contortions of a coward who has lost the resolve to continue masking his fear. And yet, he still clung to hope…like a drowning man with a fistful of straw. The irony stood marked by the fact that it was James Ronnie’s guns that aligned with Hex on the side of justice earlier that night. But as any man, woman, or child knows, he had no friends, this Jonah Hex…but he did have two companions……one was death itself……and the other, the acrid smell of gunsmoke."
--Jonah Hex, #1 (Comic Book), Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti

There you go! What do you think? I was going to put down the Batman and Wolverine, but then I thought that they get enough exposure.

--Johnny D. (Anti-Hero)