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In my lifetime there have been dozens of comic book movies were made. Some were relatively campy like the Joel Schumacher versions of "Batman" and some were relatively dark like Tim Burton's "Batman" movies. The one thing that has remained true is the movies tried very hard to hold on to the "feel" of the comics that inspired them.

To ask for people to pick their favorites is like trying to gather a dozen fanboys together to determine their favorite comics. You're looking at getting a very varied number of responses. So, instead of trying to figure out which movies are the most popular, I'll just give my list of favorites:

"Judge Dread"
"I am the LAW!". I honestly believe that Stalone did a great job of conveying the role of a man that was police, judge, jury, and when necessary executioner in this dark future epic. Set in a dark future where millions of people are crammed into a rather large (but not quite large enough) mega-city lawlessness requires that cops be more than just baby sitters and gave an interesting look at where society could go if completely pushed to the limit. Not exactly high quality cinema, but good as comic book movies go.

"Tank Girl"
Now, this movie was not only based upon a great comic, but actually featured artwork from the original comic throughout the whole film. Lori Petty did a great job of conveying the role of a completely anarchist freedom fighter dealing with a post apocalyptic world. Lots of fun and guilty pleasures to be had by all.

"Blade" (only the first one)
What else can be said for a movie where Wesley Snipes plays a half-vampire guy that runs around killing blood suckers all day? The bad guys in this film were relatively fun as well and even though you didn't mind seeing them die, you didn't get bored when they were on screen.

"Spiderman"
Despite the fact that the movies diverged heavily from the comics in many places, I found this trilogy of films to be highly entertaining and the best part is that they stayed consistent as the movies were made. All of the characters were believable and there were a few random pokes at our media-driven society. I'm not sure if this was Stan Lee's vision when he made the original comic, but it sure looked that way.

"Sin City"
This film felt like I was actually reading the graphic novel from the start. The use of odd camera angles and colors fit perfectly and the over-the-top acting by the cast capture the feel of the original graphic novel perfectly.

"The Crow" (only the first one again)
This movie is probably the best comic (okay, graphic novel) to film movie ever made. If you've ever read the original novel you'd feel the same sense of darkness that James O'Barr created when he first penned it. There was pure emotion coming out of the screen every time you saw Brandon Lee onscreen. Combined with amazing direction by Alex Proyas and an awesome soundtrack (and the untimely death of Lee during the filming) the movie was a tear-fest waiting to happen.

The sequels were crap and everyone knows that the Miramax (a division of Disney) was only interested in profits when they were made.

There are others that might be worth noting, but none of them captured my attention enough to warrant making this list. If you find yourself going into see any movie based on a comic book movie, be prepared to suspend your disbelief and to lower your standards. You won't be disappointed usually.

Learn more about this author, David Furritus.
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