Comics Movies
Comics and movies both blossomed in the cultural landscape of the 20th Century. And as they flowered they cross-pollinated one another with their brightest blooms and their most effective arrangements. The digital revolution has opened many doors to the previously unfilmable, leading to an explosion in the number of comic book adaptations.
For many people 'comics movies' mean gaudy titans in tights pounding the snot out of one another. However, if you remove the properties of the two big American companies (DC and Marvel), a broader spectrum of the fantastic and mundane is revealed.
Presenting for your selection, a cornucopia of pocket universes born of ink, transformed into light. For Superheroes peruse the DC and Marvel sub-headings under Comics Movies, stage left.
Pictured: Marv (Mickey Rourke) takes a moment to collect his thoughts in 2005's "Sin City" - cinema's most faithful comic book adaptation to date.
Lone Wolf and Cub 1: Sword of Vengeance (1972)
Director: Kenji Misumi
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama
He was Ogami Itto, a man who held himself to the harsh code of Bushido, entrusted by the Shogun with the gravest of responsibilities, that of official... Read more
Lone Wolf and Cub 2: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972)
Director: Kenji Misumi
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama
The Yagyu clan has murdered Ogami Itto's wife, and had him stripped of his position of Official Shogunate Second. Now Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro w... Read more
Lone Wolf and Cub 3: Baby Cart to Hades (1972)
Director: Kenji Misumi
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama
"Child and Expertise For Rent" reads the sign on the crude baby cart that Ogami Itto pushes, carrying his infant son, Daigoro, as they wander the Japa... Read more
Tintin: Mystery of Shark Lake ( aka Tintin and the Lake of Sharks ) (1972)
7.3/10
Director: Raymond Leblanc
Starring: Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Snowy, Tintin
Aka "Tintin et le Lac aux Requins". Someone is stealing priceless works of art from museums and replacing them with excellent forgeries. Meanwhile, fo... Read more
Fritz The Cat (1972)
6.3/10
Director: Ralph Bakshi
Starring: Skip Hinnant, Rosetta Le Noire, Judy Engles
This x-rated cartoon by Ralph Bakshi hit a responsive chord with the counterculture audience of the seventies. This now classic cult rendition of Robe... Read more
A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)
7.4/10
Director: Bill Melendez
Starring: Charlie Brown, Snoopy
The first full-length 'Peanuts' cartoon. Charlie has won his schools' spelling bee and, accompanied by Linus and Snoopy is off to New York for the Nat... Read more
Asterix and Cleopatra (1968)
7.2/10
Director: Albert Uderzo, Georges Dargaud, Rene Goscinny
Starring: Asterix, Obelix, Getafix, Cleopatra, Artifis
After Cleopatra enters an ill-advised bet with Caesar that her Egyptian builders can construct a grand palace in only three months, her distraught arc... Read more
Barbarella (1968)
5.9/10
Director: Roger Vadim
Starring: Marcel Marceau, Ugo Tognazzi, Milo O'Shea, John Phillip Law, Jane Fonda, David H...
Barbarella is marked by the same audacity and originality, fantasy, humor, beauty and horror, cruelty and eroticism that make comic books such a favor... Read more
Danger: Diabolik (1967)
6.5/10
Director: Mario Bava
Starring: Adolfo Celi, John Phillip Law, Michel Piccoli, Marisa Mell, Terry-Thomas
The suave, psychedelic-era thief, Diabolik, can't get enough of life's good - or glittery - things. Not when there are currency shipments to steal fro... Read more
Asterix the Gaul (1967)
6.6/10
Director: Albert Uderzo, Georges Dargaud, Rene Goscinny
Starring: Asterix, Obelix, Getafix, General Phonus Balonus
The Roman war machine has conquered all of Gaul except for one lone, remaining village. Centurion Crismus Bonus sends a spy to the village to find out... Read more