Why the world needs comic book movies

Ashamed as I am to admit this dark secret from my past, for many years I had given up hope on comic books. From around age five I had become fascinated with comic books. Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, you name the superhero and I was either reading it or about to go pick it up. Yet by the time I reached the age of 12, just a mere year before teenager status, I went cold turkey. I was bored to death with comics -- the stories were either foolish or misguided, the heroes fought the same villains over and over, or some of them were even being killed off for good only to be brought back in four different forms, none of which were the real deal. \nMost comic book movies for that time weren't worth a damn either. "The Punisher?" Terrible. "Captain America?" God awful. "The Shadow" and "The Phantom?" Let's not even bother going there. Granted there was "Superman" and Tim Burton's exciting "Batman" offerings, but by the late nineties the Man of Steel was dead in the comics and the big screen while the Dark Knight was given nipples on his batsuit. My hope for comics was officially forsaken. \nIt was only a few years later until what was once claimed to be impossible had actually happened: Spider-Man, my favorite superhero of all-time, had made it to the big screen. Of course I was there opening night if only for the sake of having seen it but by the end I was certain I had died, seen only my comic book life flash before my eyes and then resuscitated by my friends who were eager to grab dinner. It was the reawakening of a once lost childhood love. \nSo why is it that the world needs comic book movies? I'm sure with today's abundant comic book movie output one could say they're box office gold -- I wouldn't deny that -- or perhaps they're just a surefire guarantee for entertainment and again I would agree. Yet for me and surely many others it is the observance of watching so many beloved works we grew up on brought to life from one frame at a time to 24 frames per second. \nSuperheroes have earned their place at the box office. Look at Spider-Man or the X-Men and tell me they aren't successful visualizations. Even those that I didn't find all that entertaining such as "The Hulk" or "Fantastic Four" (for the record I've never been a fan of either during my comic book readership), they still were successful in shutting up the naysayers who all claimed it couldn't be done in a movie. \nThese movies have come to a point where they aren't just meant for kids. Look at 2005 and what did the older crowds get? "Constantine," "Sin City" and "Batman Begins" -- the latter which I personally think surpasses all four of the original movies. \nYet if you think only superheroes have a place on the big screen then you are sorely mistaken. Fresh off his "American Beauty" Oscar success, where did director Sam Mendes turn for his next project? The graphic novel "Road to Perdition." When horror auteur David Cronenberg went searching for his next examination of violence and sexuality what did he discover? "A History of Violence" which was indeed a graphic novel. Or what about Terry Zwigoff, who not once but twice has examined the troubles of post-high school graduation with "Ghost World" and "Art School Confidential." Yeah those were comic books as well -- all of which are great examples at letting people know that there is more to comic books than characters in fancy costumes or spandex.\nThere is no sign of this art-form slowing down at the box office either. Why this past year we've seen Superman finally make his return to the silver screen while the Wachowski brothers brought "V for Vendetta" to life. And then comes all the sequels for 2007 and beyond: "Spider-Man 3," "Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer," "Sin City 2," and of course Batman and Superman will surely be returning in the near future. Hell with the success of the X-Men series, even characters like Wolverine and Magneto are getting their own spin-off projects -- clearly a sign that movies are taking to the same methods of comic books where if a character is popular enough, why not give them their own series?\nOf course after having spent the weekend at the San Diego Comic Con, I could go on and on about the amount of comic book movies headed to the big screen -- "Iron Man," "Frank Miller's 300" and "The Spirit" just to name a few for all you curious folks. The fact of the matter is I'm glad a lot of these films are being made because not only do they make me feel like a kid again, but they gave me reason to get back into comic books which I should've never stopped reading in the first place.