Comic books, the movies and the last 17 years...

The better part of the last two decades have seen probably the most successful marriage of the comic book and film industries ever. Sure, there were adaptations for film and television of some of the biggest names in the comic book industry that predate 1990 - most notably the Adam West Batman series and films and the early Superman serials and the George Reeves series, not to mention the reinvention of the character in 1978 with Christopher Reeve.

Since 1990 and Tim Burton's popular butchering of Batman, we have seen everything from the cerebral American Splendor, to the heroic X-Men, to the heroic Goth tragedy The Crow (boy, there's a mouthful). Some have been excellent, others less so.

For my money, the ten best have been (the order is pretty much subject to change on my whim, but this is pretty much how I see it) -

1. American Splendor - How Paul Giamatti didn't get at least a best actor nomination out of this is beyond me. The movie may deal with many more serious issues than other comic book adaptations, but this little slice of Harvey Pekar's life is absolutely fascinating, in part because of how it was filmed, but in larger part because of Giamatti.

2. A History of Violence - Admittedly, I am coming from only one side of this, having never read the graphic novel, but for a movie, it was pretty damn good. Worth watching, if for no other reason than to see the performance of William Hurt.

3. The Crow - Honestly, I enjoyed Brandon Lee's swan song more than the comic book itself. Dark and moody, this is the movie that Burton's Batman should have been. Even Michael Wincott who played the villain in The Crow was a better villain than Jack Nicholson's Joker.

4. Blade - Very nice adaptation of one of Marvel's fringe characters. Good action, decent acting, and nice development of their very own mythology surrounding Vampires.

5. Batman Begins - Finally, a Batman movie that was shot right, cast right (Katie Holmes notwithstanding), and scripted right. Ironic though that it took pretty much a British cast to get the American super hero right.

6. Spider-man - Outside of making the Green Goblin look like some sort of nouveau sports mascot, I was impressed with the adaptation's faithfulness (in spite of certain liberties, such as the biological webbing) to the comic book, and personally had no issue with Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane as many fans do. The character itself is kind of innocuous, so why would I be bothered by any vaguely competent actor in the roll?

7. X-Men - An entertaining action film well done from beginning to end.

8. Heavy Metal - This animated piece, dated by today's standards, is a personal favorite, and I know, not to everyone's taste. I never understood the need to string the vignettes together, as most of the stories probably would have stood on their own. Like the magazine, the stories varied from the comic, to the tragic, to the melodramatic...and it always reminds me of college, but that's a different story.

9. Sin City - Frank Miller's homage to the noir detective stories of the 1940's. If you go into it expecting a deep and meaningful film, be prepared to be disappointed.

10. The Rocketeer - Reminiscent of the 1940's serials, upon which the comic book was based, this was just fun. Pay particular attention to Timothy Dalton and Alan Arkin who appear to be enjoying their parts more than anyone else in the picture.

There are plenty of others that I would consider - Akira, Men in Black, The Mask are all worthy, and on another day, one of them might bump one of the above. For today, though, that's my list.

I would love to hear what others have to say about their favorites, or what you might disagree with that made my list.