The 50 Best Comic Book Movies

From Akira to The Dark Knight, we count down the most kick-ass adaptations.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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We are living in a golden age. As kids in the '80s, we were starved for comic book movies, desperate for even suspicious adaptations like Howard the Duck and Sheena. If you had told us back then that comic book movies would one day be so ubiquitous that we would actually groan at the thought of another Fantastic Four sequel, we would have thought you were crazy. But here we are, two decades later, and comic books are regularly adapted to the big screen, for better or worse.

While there are scores of poorly cast, unfaithful shit shows like Daredevil and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Hollywood has also hit us off with X2 and The Dark Knight, transcendent adaptations that respect their source materials. With so many eagerly anticipated comic book movies dropping in 2011Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Green Lantern, to name a few—Complex decided to curate a countdown of the 50 best comic book movies. Hopefully this year's crop is so good that it knocks some of our favorites down a peg, but even if it doesn't, at least we know there will be many more comic movies to come.

By Alex Cox

The Punisher

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Swamp Thing

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Red Sonja

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Flash Gordon

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Punisher: War Zone

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Blade 2

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The Incredible Hulk

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Popeye

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Hellboy

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Barbarella

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30 Days of Night

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Flash Gordon

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Batman Returns

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V for Vendetta

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300

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Fritz the Cat

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Batman

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Iron Man 2

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The Rocketeer

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Dick Tracy

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Ghost World

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Heavy Metal

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Men in Black

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Sin City

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American Splendor

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Dororo

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X-Men

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Death Note

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A History of Violence

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Adventures of Captain Marvel

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Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance

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Superman II

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Danger: Diabolik

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Persepolis

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Ichi the Killer

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Lady Snowblood

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Road to Perdition

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Akira

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Spider-Man

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Batman Begins

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Annie

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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

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X2

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Oldboy

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Batman

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Iron Man

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Superman

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Spider-Man 2

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The Dark Knight

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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

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