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.
Modesty Blaise (1966)
5.2/10
Director: Joseph Losey
Starring: Monica Vitti, Dirk Bogarde, Terence Stamp
Of the many '60s cinema spies who arrived in the wake of James Bond, none cut a finer figure than Italian siren Monica Vitti as jewel thief-turned-sec... Read more
Peanuts: Charlie Brown Collection (1965)
7.8/10
Director: Bill Melendez
Starring: Charlie Brown, Snoopy
Since 1950 the world's most loved beagle, Snoopy, and his troupe of irrepressible friends have been a staple of the back pages of newspapers everywher... Read more
Tintin and the Blue Oranges (1964)
Director: Philippe Condroyer
Starring: Jean-Pierre Talbot, Jean Bouise, Felix Fernandez
This hugely successful (with 'Tintin-ologists' and families alike) live-action series sees the young adventurer investigating fruit in his second outi... Read more
Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece (1961)
Director: Jean-Jacques Vierne
Starring: Jean-Pierre Talbot, Georges Wilson, Georges Loriot
Herge's beloved Tintin bursts onto the screen in a globe-trotting, live-action adventure in this French-language family film. The first ever live 'Tin... Read more
The Phantom: The Serial (1943)
4.9/10
Director: B Reeves Eason
Starring: Tom Tyler, Jeanne Bates
Tom Tyler stars as the purple-and-black hero of the African jungle, helping fiancee Jeanne Bates' archeologist father locate the Lost City of Zoloz an... Read more
Terry and the Pirates (1940)
6.3/10
Director: James W Horne
Starring: Granville Owen, William Tracy, Shelia Darcy
Based on the 1934 comic strip by Milton Caniff, and transferred to the big screen in this thrill-a-minute, 15-episode serial. Young Terry Lee and his... Read more
Buck Rogers: The Serial (1939)
7.3/10
Starring: Larry 'Buster' Crabbe
A classic action packed sci-fi serial in 12 chapters. Emerging from a state of hibernation after 500 years, Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe) and young Budd... Read more
Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers - Chapters 1-4 (1936)
6.5/10
Director: Ray Taylor, Ford Beebe
Starring: Larry 'Buster' Crabbe, Carol Hughes, Charles Middleton
Chapters 1-4. Buster Crabbe stars as Flash Gordon in this classic 1930s serial. Humanity is doomed to destruction! A distant planet has broken its orb... Read more
Go West (1925)
7.2/10
Director: Buster Keaton
Starring: Buster Keaton
With little luck at keeping a job in the city a New Yorker tries work in the country and eventually finds his way leading a herd of cattle to the West... Read more