Marvel and DC comics have been around since the 1930s. Since then, they has been behind such classic comics like Batman, Spider-Man, and X-Men, alongside countless others. In 2008, the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was released, which was the first Iron Man film. In just over a decade, Marvel movies have dominated the box office with unbridled commercial success.
When it comes to comics adapted into film, Marvel & DC movies often take the spotlight, as the franchise releases several blockbuster hits a year. But beyond Marvel & DC, there is a whole world of wonderful, often underrated, comics that have been adapted into film. So many great films were inspired by fantastic comic books. Let's take a look at 10 of the most notable.
Blue Is The Warmest Color (2013)
Le bleu est une couleur chaude is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Julie Maroh and first published in 2010. The English language version, Blue Is The Warmest Color (also known as Blue Angel) was later published in 2013. The graphic novel received widely positive reviews and was adapted into a film in the same year it was published in English.
The film version of Blue Is The Warmest Color premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, developed in French with English subtitles. The film followed its source material closely, managing to be just as bleak and heartwrenching as the graphic novel of the same name. As depressing as it is, this story is still considered to be iconic to this day.
Hellboy (2004)
Hellboy is a character that first began appearing in 1993, in miniseries and one-shots, before the first full-length graphic novel, Hellboy: Seed Of Destruction was published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994. In 2004, the first of multiple Hellboy film adaptations was released in theatres.
Guillermo Del Toro wrote, directed, and produced the first Hellboy film. Though it only loosely followed its source material and virtually created its own lore for the notorious superhero, Del Toro's film is widely regarded as the best adaptation of this character and story.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)
In August of 2004, Canadian author and illustrator, Bryan Lee O'Malley created the first volume of his soon-to-be cult classic comic series. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life was published by Oni Press, and would later be followed up by five more volumes. The comic series concluded in 2010, the same year that the film adaptation, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World was released worldwide.
Today, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is considered to be one of the most accurate, iconic examples of a classic comic series brought to life. With it's popping, vibrant imagery and unerring casting, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is fondly ed and well-loved to this day.
Oldboy (2003)
Oldboy is a Japanese manga series that ran from 1996 to 1998, spanning eight volumes and seventy-nine collective chapters. Being a complex and multilayered story, bringing it to life on the big screen was definitely not an easy task. But in 2003, director Park Chan-wook adapted the Oldboy series into a critically acclaimed, award-winning film by the same name.
The film adaptation of Oldboy is often considered to be one of the most disturbing movies to come out of the 2000s. It's still talked about to this day, and it's worth noting that the 2003 adaptation of Oldboy still garners much more recognition than the more recent 2013 adaptation.
A History Of Violence (2005)
Before the 2005 hit film was released, a graphic novel titled, A History Of Violence, was published in 1997, written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke. Originally published by a rather obscure company, Paradox Press, this standalone graphic novel did not garner much attention until its film adaptation hit theatres nearly ten years later.
Some don't even know that this film was inspired by a graphic novel, which is understandable as its tone and visuals bear striking differences from other films adapted from comics.
Persepolis (2007)
The first Persepolis graphic novel was published in 2000 and depicted the life of author and illustrator, Marjane Satrapi, and her experience growing up during the Islamic Revolution. Persepolis was later followed up with a sequel that was published in 2004, and a film adaptation of the same name was released in 2007.
With strong social commentary, both the novels and the film version of Persepolis remains relevant to this day. The story is timeless and was beautifully brought to life in a memorably animated film.
Snowpiercer (2013)
Snowpiercer was originally published in French and titled, Le Transperceneige. It was released in 1982 by the company Casterman, and it wasn't until decades later, in 2014, that an English version of this cult classic was released.
A year before that, however, Academy Award-winning director, Bong Joon-ho, wrote and directed a film adaptation of the French graphic novel. The critically and commercially acclaimed film called attention to its source material, with the English version being published shortly after the film's worldwide debut.
The Mask (1994)
In 1991, the first installment of author Doug Mahnke and illustrator John Arcudi's limited series was published by Dark Horse Comics. The original series consisted of three volumes - The Mask, The Mask Returns, and The Mask Strikes Back - and concluded in 1995, however more installments and spin-offs would succeed it later on.
In 1994, while the comic book series was still in its prime, a film adaptation the story hit theatres. This was of course titled, The Mask, and starred Jim Carrey as the lead character, Stanley Ipkiss, the dorky bank clerk whose life is changed forever when he encounters the titular supernatural mask.
Ghost World (2001)
The first appearance of what would later become a cult classic story came in author and illustrated Daniel Clowes' comic series, Eightball. After the acclaim of said story, it was published as its own standalone graphic novel, titled Ghost World. This occurred in 1997, and in 2001, a film adaptation of the renowned comic book was released.
Bringing Ghost World to life on the big screen was achieved on a small budget, but was nonetheless a success. It starred Scarlett Johanssen and Thora Birch as the lead characters, Rebecca and Enid, and was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film had its worldwide premiere at the Seattle Internation Film Festival. It was not a commercial success, but today, it has earned a cult following and holds a respectable reputation.
30 Days Of Night (2007)
In August of 2003, the first of three issues of Steve Niles' 30 Days Of Night comic mini-series, was published. Following that, the other two issues of the horror graphic novel series were published in September and October of that same year. The series did not initially receive much recognition until it was eventually adapted into a film in 2007.
Bringing this dark story to life was no easy task, nor was doing justice to the comic book's illustrator, Ben Templesmith's haunting and gruesome take on vampires. But the film adaptation 30 Days Of Night was a success nonetheless, calling attention to both the source material and the vampire genre in general.
