The history of comic books being translated to the screen - TV and movie - has been checkered in its beginnings. For every Adam West, there was a Nicholas Hammond. For every George Reeves, there was a John Wesley Shipp. (For every Superman movie, there was a Superman 3!) but the genre has taken off recently, what with the success of the Spider-Man franchise last decade to kick things back off, then the wildly popular Iron Man to piggyback off of that wave, leading into the blockbuster (and one of the most successful films of all time) that was The Dark Knight. Movies with smaller spotlights but great results such as Kick-Ass and the upcoming Scott Pilgrim vs. The World are benefactors of such successes. Gone are the days of half-ass representations, second rate heroes who had no business being adapted in the first place, flagship heroes who were unceremoniously pushed back into sloppy seconds (I know - I have this one on tape for some reason), and of course, the movie that almost ended it all.
Two years from now, the failures and successes of these adaptations will contribute to the biggest summer that comics have ever seen, and probably will ever see - the ensemble cast of the Avengers opens on May 4th, 2012, with the third entry in Christopher Nolan's Batman series opening two and a half months later, on July 20th. So which one do I bet on having the bigger box office pull?