Comic book movies tickle me. For instance, what self-respecting male isn't going to like the concept behind Iron Man? He is just your average genius playboy billionaire, wrapped in a bunch of circuits that flies and essentially shoots lightning out of his hands. 50-year old boys are going to love that premise as much as every 10-year old boy will. I probably have a predisposition toward loving the film versions of the books that I read voraciously as an adolescent because my fantasy world included Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, and the Justice League. Unlike the poor attempts at the film adaptations that occurred previous to the fine-tuning of CGI, many of the most recent versions of comics brought to the big screen have not disappointed.

X-men and Spider-Man have helped kick off what has become a billion dollar industry in movies and related merchandising. Even some of the less celebrated heroes in these mythical worlds, such as Hellboy and Blade, have experienced much acclaim from audiences because the stories and the heroes themselves have been so well developed. In spite of how far-fetched these characters and their abilities might be, many of the personal struggles they face are not unlike our own. Where these movies tend to come up short is when they fail to fabricate a super villain that can match wits and brawn with the super heroes that they create.

Part of the appeal about the comic book world is not just the epic feats of the super heroes, but the equally daunting foils that the super villains provide as a contrast. Where they might lack in strength or ability as compared to the heroes, they more than make up for in ruthlessness, intelligence, and psychopathy. It is no coincidence that the most entertaining of these movies also had the best portrayals of the villains. The victories of the good guys become so celebrated because the bad guys counterbalance their heroics with such diabolical prowess. Would Hercules have become a God if the labors he had to perform were not otherworldly? Likewise, the X-Men franchise thrived because Magneto and his minions were worthy foes. We loved the first Spider-Man movie because the Green Goblin was so obviously psychotic. Whereas last summer's installment of Spider-Man floundered because the story was so divided between poorly constructing the characters of both Sandman and Venom, the latter proving an enormous tragedy considering how wonderfully evil the character is.