Comic book to silver screen
Holy box office! An other-worldly hero, an American avenger, a team of mutants and their superhuman physiques will soon dominate movie screens with the releases of “Thor “X-Men: First Class”  and “The First Avenger: Captain America” . The new films come from a long line of successful movies with colorful characters sprung from comic book pages .

‘The Dark Knight’
This late star’s legendary performance  was the first Academy Award for a role taken from a comic book. His famous quote now decorates everything from T-shirts to wallpaper
‘Iron Man’
This genius business owner/superhero  played by a sharp-tongued Robert Downey Jr., built his own armored suit  with amazing superpowers
‘Spider-Man’
Forget your typical teenage angst. The high school student in this film gets bitten by a genetically engineered spider , falls in love for the first time AND has to fight bad guys. Yet he still finds time to help Aunt May
‘Superman’
The famous movie franchise  began with Superman leaving his home planet to take up residence on Earth. The relationship between his alter ego Clark Kent and famous female love interest Lois Lane  made them one of the most well-known fictional couples around.
‘Men in Black’
Before this noted actor/director and action star donned the dark suits and sunglasses and became famous for fighting off terrifying extraterrestrials, there was a science fiction comic book version. Which one of them originally turned down his role?
‘Batman’
The version with Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger may not be as legendary as more recent Batman movies, but it launched the comic book movie renaissance. It was a critical and financial success. Find out how much it earned.
‘Akira’
This science fiction cyberpunk film based on Japanese manga  may not be as iconic as the Superman, Batman and Spider-Man franchises, but it has a cult following of its own.
‘X-Men’
X-Men, mutants with bizarre powers,  are feared and hated by humans, but really they just want to co-exist. Especially one of the film’s more famous stars who told fans at an annual convention that his mutant was “one of the best comic book characters ever created” . The newest installment of the franchise comes out this summer .
‘300’
Historical fiction fans flocked to “300," when it opened at conventional and IMAX theaters . Based on a graphic novel by the author of “Batman” and “Sin City,” , it followed a 1962 film based on the same ancient battle.

‘Sin City’

‘Blade’
A human-vampire hybrid, the tortured character known as Blade  has been slaying evil vampires since debuting with other Marvel comic book horror characters in the ‘70s.
‘Kick-Ass’
This film based on a graphic novel comic is about a teenager who becomes a self-styled superhero. It was co-produced by a famous actor and super dad and Nicolas Cage plays an on-screen dad
‘Ghost World’
Scarlett Johansson , a gawky outsider? Hard to imagine, but she and her co-star played outsiders who just graduated from high school in this funny film based on a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes.

‘Persepolis’
There are no buff superheros in this Oscar-nominated animated movie based on an autobiographical French language graphic novel. It follows a precocious Iranian girl during the Iranian revolution.
‘American Splendor’
The late file clerk/author of the American Splendor comic books and movie adaptation is the anti-hero in a superhero genre. He nearly got himself banned from a popular television talk show after this appearance .
‘The Crow’
The movie, adapted from a dark graphic novel, tells the story of a rock star who comes back from the dead to avenge the murder of him and his fiancé. Tragically, the film’s star  was killed during the final days of filming.