[G a f f e r]

Right, what's you're favourite Comic Book adaptation?
I've listed the top ten here (not the ones that became comics afterwards like the Alien stories). When listing these films, I generally thought of the first film as the sequels are usually rubbish.
There's also no space to list the countless Manga adaptations, so I've left those out (for another poll maybe).

Oh, and the best leading lady from film has to be Betty from Hulk.

[Garrett]

Famke Janssen from the 2 X-Men movies for me.

[the_pauley]

Margot Kidder in "Superman" for me.

[the_pauley]

Er, why is "Darkman" on the list?

This wasn't a comic book adaptation. It was an original creation for the screen.

[Gregorski]

Wasn't Judge Dredd a comic book too ?

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by the_pauley

Er, why is "Darkman" on the list?

This wasn't a comic book adaptation. It was an original creation for the screen.

He may have got mixed up as the was a Darkman comic out round the same time of the film.

[Harj]

The Hulk is highly underrated, the Superman movie was excellent, as was the first 2 batman movies.

One major gripe I have with the x-men movies is how wimpy cyclops is, if anyone who has read the comics knows, cyclops is the tormented one, also the leader of the x-men and thus in conflict with his responsibilities to the x-men and the curse of his powers, and always in conflict with wolverine.

I would love to see Watchmen and V for Vendetta on the screen.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by Harj

One major gripe I have with the x-men movies is how wimpy cyclops is, if anyone who has read the comics knows, cyclops is the tormented one, also the leader of the x-men and thus in conflict with his responsibilities to the x-men and the curse of his powers, and always in conflict with wolverine.

They totally underrate Cyclops , and although his powers do seem limit he makes up with having a tactical and strategic prowess. And remember in one issue when the rest of the team went hunting him took them all down one at a time. If things go the way I hope for the next movie he will have a bigger and stronger role to play in it. I just hope they do not shift Cyclops story line to Wolverine.

[Lex]

Originally Posted by Gregorski

Wasn't Judge Dredd a comic book too ?

Yes it certainly was. I think that film is being reserved for the "worst comic adaptation" thread! Along with Tank Girl & Howard the Duck!


Personally I went for Spider-man. It seems to be the best adaptation imo in that it kept the heart of the original comic, but also made the transition to big screen blockbuster. So many other adaptations seem to sell their soul when they become movies... (although I guess there is an argument that Spider-man was the most popcorn friendly superhero anyway - no dark tormented hero or large amounts of violence like Spawn or Dredd).

Definitely have high hopes for the new Batman movie though

[runningback]

so far i think X-men nips it from BATMAN and SUPERMAN, i have high hopes
on the upcoming BATMAN year one, based on one of my favourite comics.

leading lady, also Famke, loved her ever since Goldeneye.

[Lex]

The new version of The Fantastic Four sounds interesting - I have never read any of the comics or even seen the cartoons so I have no idea if it is any good, but it does have Jessica Alba in it!


Looking forward to seeing Hellboy too.

[G a f f e r]

In case you wondered about the order i put them in, I've actually ranked them in what i think is best to worst. (best being Batman 1)
Plus, I only had space for 10 options so didn't include dredd or tankgirl (both of which i thought were poor);;;;;or flash or cpt america etc
And i'm sure darkman was a comic before it was a film, so i included it....apologies if i was wrong

Somebody voted for Spiderman? Surely a joke?

Blade is obviously the best adaptation as it is one of the few aimed at the adult market.

For a leading lady I would have to say Nicole Kidman in Batman forever, she's never looked so sexy before or since.

[the_pauley]

Nope. Darkman comics came after the movie. Deffo. Raimi's intent was to create a comic style hero, but for the screen and any comics that came were spin-offs from the movie.

[BlueOrange25]

X-Men by quite a margin in my book. Sadly the Batman series went down from the 'Batman Forever'. Here's hoping 'Batman Begins' is something to look forward to .

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by the_pauley

Nope. Darkman comics came after the movie. Deffo. Raimi's intent was to create a comic style hero, but for the screen and any comics that came were spin-offs from the movie.

Is that reply to me? If so I was not disagreeing with you as I said ‘he’ meaning ‘Gaffer74’ or I would have said ‘you’ had got it mixed up.

[G a f f e r]

think it meant me
As I said, I'm only really talking about the first films, as usually the sequels are poor....in which case Batman 1 definitely supercedes the "comic adap film number 1" of the others imo.
Heard that there was an idea for a final batman in which it's years further on and bruce wayne is retired when reports that the Joker is at it again start surfacing, so he comes out of retirement to kick ass. (Joker didn't die and was in a deep coma etc etc ). Might have been a wind up as Clint Eastwood was touted for the Batman role.....

[eviljohn2]

Are we considering the actual first Batman movie here? Although it's easily one of my favourite movies I don't think it's entirely faithful to the comics

Goes to fetch shark-repellant bat spray

[Lex]

Originally Posted by Gaffer74

Heard that there was an idea for a final batman in which it's years further on and bruce wayne is retired

There is a TV animation series called Batman of the Future which is the same as you described, could well be that they were thinking of turning it into a movie...

Originally Posted by Gaffer74

Clint Eastwood was touted for the Batman role.....

He was touted for the role of Judge Dredd as well if I remember rightly....

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by Lex

There is a TV animation series called Batman of the Future which is the same as you described, could well be that they were thinking of turning it into a movie.

That one was Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker which was a cartoon movie length of about 75 minuets and Bruce Wayne helps a teenager to be the new Batman.

Also some time back Frank Miller wrote probably the best Batman story ever The Dark Knight returns. Which is set in Batman’s future when he is getting on.

[Lex]

Originally Posted by Garrett

That one was Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker which was a cartoon movie length of about 75 minuets and Bruce Wayne helps a teenager to be the new Batman.

Yes Return of the Joker was part of the series. There are two feature length movies (the first/pilot was called simply Batman Beyond which was were Bruce Wayne retired Batman for several years and then recruits the new kid) plus two (I think) seasons of the 1/2 hour show... I really like it, its on everyday on Toonami if anyone is interested

Wasn't Underworld based on some comic book ?

Anyways i voted for Superman, the original 1978 version is still great even by today's CGI laden standards, i liked the sequel too but after that it went downhill rapidly.

I like most on the list except Spawn which was terrible, i'm looking forward to Blade Trinity later this year ( ok well next year when it hits DVD )
I haven't yet seen The Hulk or Daredevil so can't comment on those 2.

[girliedrinker]

"You're wrong and you're a grotesquely ugly freak... thanks."

The best comic book adaptation is clearly American Splendor. Harvey Pekar is the only true superhero.

[Gary Lightfoot]

I enjoyed Spider-Man for various reasons, though would have prefered that it started from the beginning and not included mary jane or the GG in that dodgy outfit. There were a lot of Ditko-esque Spidey bits which I liked too.

I preferred Blade to the Comic, and thought it was a good conversion. Batman was also well done, but I'm more of a Marvel fan than DC so I don't know how good ro bad it was in comparison to the original comics.

Daredevil was appalling - too much like Batman though it did stick to the original comic quite well in other respects. They shouldn't have linked Battling Murdocks death to the Kingpin or used the actor they did. The fight scene with electra in the playground was so embarrasing too..

The Hulk was a nice try at trying to make an intelligent film, but failed IMHO. The ending destroyed any credibility it may have had in the beginning. It was like a cross between the Absorbing man and Zaxx (sp?) - but why??. They'd have done a better job by sticking to the original origin withouth the 90s childhood trigger theory/split personalities. The Hulk survived 30 years without that addition to him, so one movie would have done OK too.

X-Men was OK, but X-Men 2 was far better. It's dissapointing they started form the new X-Man and not the original X-Men, but I guess they have to appeal to the biggest audience (sam for the other films too). They have to make money after all, so doing it for a minority won't get them big box-office. Cyclops is definately a bad characterisation of the comic character - he's nothing like the guy from the comic! Would have been good to see The Angel, Iceman and Beast from day one...

Spidey 2 looks good, but I haven't seen it yet - just the opening few minutes which seemed very much like the early Spidey comics when Ditko did a lot of the plotting. That's a big plus in my (comic) book.

gary.

[Sie]

I'd have to say that I think Ghost World is one of the most artistically authentic adaptations of all time.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by Gary Lightfoot

Daredevil was appalling - too much like Batman though it did stick to the original comic quite well in other respects. They shouldn't have linked Battling Murdocks death to the Kingpin or used the actor they did. The fight scene with electra in the playground was so embarrasing too..


gary.

But wouldn’t you say Daredevil is Marvel’s Batman?

I enjoyed the film although they did monkey around with a few thing I did not like and some we real stupid e.g. matt fighting Electra in his blind civilian identity. And the scene where he used the water sprinkler is the total opposite to what would have been written in the comics as it would have confused his radar senses.

[Gary Lightfoot]

Originally Posted by Garrett

But wouldn’t you say Daredevil is Marvel’s Batman?

The thought never occured to me - I never read any DC stuff (other than some of Kirbys concepts) so couldn't compare directly. I was dissapointed that it was so much like Batman when it didn't have to be. If they hadn't tinkered with the origin it would have kept it's own identity instead of sharing Batmans/Bruce Waynes. DD never had a secret room did he? I'll have to re-read the early stuff again I think...

Gary.

[Sie]

Ironically Daredevil seemed to be a dichotomy of a film. Schiziphrenic in that it could in parts rise above the naff Hollywood treatment that succeeded in dragging it down to the most appalling lows.

It could have been a wonderfully subtle, dark, moody and aesthetically perfect copy of the Miller era instead of ruining that potental with the poorly scripted and sappy nonsense that dominated the final result.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by Gary Lightfoot

DD never had a secret room did he? I'll have to re-read the early stuff again I think...

Gary.

No I cannot remember him having a sensory deprivation tank to sleep in.

Voted Spider Man on this one...though next year, it will probably change to Batman...and as for comic babes...Betty Brant in the Spidey movies for me...