Superhero movies are notoriously difficult to do well. The action is larger than life, the characters traditionally dressed in outlandishly colorful garb, and translating the dynamic nature of superhero comics to film has presented huge financial and technological hurdles. But the tide is turning. Technology has finally started to catch up with the wild imaginations of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and all those kids from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s who grew up reading and loving comics are now writers, directors, actors, and studio executives. For maybe the first time, we can routinely see the biggest sights and sounds comics have to offer come to life.

So what does that mean for you and me? It means in recent years we’ve had loads of completely awesome superhero movies thrown our way, packed with heart-thumping action, jaw-dropping visuals, and some damn fine stories to boot. And not only are they accepted by the mainstream without rolling eyes and scoffs, they are full-on embraced. Superheroes have hit the big time – and moviegoers have done nothing but benefit from that.

With this in mind, we polled members of the staff and some of our key contributors, and asked them what their top superhero flicks were. Asked them to put together their list of favorites. We compiled the numbers. Did some whiz-bang math. And behold! By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth we bring unto you a TOP TEN LIST! That’s right, True Believer, it’s DIMP's Top 10 Superhero Flicks (of all time!) What say you? What are the ten greatest superhero flicks of all time? Here’s what our contributors have to say:

10) Hellboy (2004)
Hungry for a sardonic hero to share your dread of having to do a thankless job? This is the movie for you, then. Hellboy was taken from comic artist Mike Mignola’s demented brain and brought to the silver screen by the likes of Ron Perlman. Remember the awesomely cool sniper dude in the Russkie WWII flick, Enemy At The Gates? The one that got his head opened like a melon in mid-leap by that Nazi sniper dude? Yeah, that’s Perlman. Well, Mike reassembled Ron’s head and put some ground-down horn stumps on it, along with a lot of red dye, and soon enough Ron was the living, breathing, cat-loving demon spawn hero known as Hellboy. Ron’s portrayal of the monkey-demon-from-hell-turned-good seems almost too perfect to critique. So, let’s not. Ron is fucking perfect for the role – just don’t forget that.

Hellboy started as a single sketch with his name across a belt buckle just for fun. Later on, Mike added the over-sized hand as an homage to Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. But, it was the personality of Hellboy that intrigued me the most. Mike has claimed he brought forth Hellboy’s personality from childhood memories of his father. His father was a cabinetmaker and would often come home with bloodied hands, cuts and bruises. He would then relate, in a matter-of-fact manner, the horrifying and gruesome details of fingers being lopped off, limbs being shattered on wood-carving machinery, and all sorts of other nefarious tales.

Dark Horse Comics loved the idea of Hellboy and soon sent him to print. Can we say instant cult hero? Not fast enough, I tell you. Not fast enough. And why not? A hero, built like Thor, that comes from Hell, and has the personality of a blue-collar worker? What’s not to like? If you see the 2004 film (the extended director’s cut, obviously) and want more – well, there is plenty more out there, including all the fantastic art drawn by Mike himself. So, get off your lazy ass and go find your copies right now.

-- John 'Pender' Zarate-Khus (top superhero flick: Spider-Man)

9) Batman Begins (2005)
Few characters have been thrown to the public in as many guises as Batman. From crazy old serials (here and here) to the wonky (and fun!) antics of the beloved 1960s' television series to futuristic cartoons to the dark fairy tale given to us by Tim Burton to later Batman films we’d sooner forget, the Dark Knight has been goofy caped crusader, detective, shadowy avenger, and more. Needless to say, when it was announced that the franchise would be “re-booted,” Batman fans had a right to be dubious.

Those trepidations were cast aside with the raw, gritty, sprawling example of AWESOME that was Batman Begins. Never before had Gotham City been so well-realized, not even in Burton’s impressively stylized Batman (1989). Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne was a perfect portrait of a tortured and driven young man with the skill, will and bill(fold) to take the battle for Gotham’s streets right to where the thugs do their mischief. Begins rehashed the now overly-familiar Batman origin, yet somehow managed to make it seem fresh and new. And the look of the film and the sheer spectacle of its action was never less than impressive. Yet maybe the biggest signal that Batman Begins was something special is that it managed to be so damn cool despite featuring two B-level villains largely unknown to the public. It did not need a Joker or Riddler or Penguin to be awesome; even with Qui-Gon Jinn and Super Cheekbones Boy, Batman Begins was a ride and a half.

--Eric San Juan (top superhero flick: The Incredibles)

8) Spider-Man (2002)
Of all the major superheroes – Superman, Batman, Captain America, the Hulk, Wonder Woman – none are more difficult to translate into real life than Spider-Man. We can fake flying and strength, we can invent gadgets and gear, but the web-slinging acrobatics of everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man? A tall task indeed. Yet Sam Raimi – helped by a heaping dose of technology – was up to the challenge. Spider-Man delivered all the gravity-defying action and jaw-dropping superheroics fans wanted from ol’ webhead.

But even more importantly than that, Spider-Man delivered heart, humanity and humor, vital elements in bringing to life the awkward everyman that is Peter Parker. More than anything, it is Peter Parker who makes Spider-Man the timeless hero he is. He is Peter first, Spider-Man second. Sure, some segments of the always critical comic book community gnashed their teeth at changes to the comic, but for the mainstream, Parker and his wonderful supporting cast hit home in a big way. His goofy smile. His loser-who-won’t-give-up attitude. The irresponsible mistakes he makes on the way towards learning valuable life lessons. Spider-Man was a smash hit not only because it looked awesome and delivered big action, it was a smash hit because it had the heart and soul of a hero.

--Eric San Juan (most underrated superhero flick: Darkman)

7) The Crow (1994)
I don’t even know if I can start talking about The Crow without complete gushing. James O’Barr’s graphic novel The Crow holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first one I ever read, and to this day it sticks with me right along with Miller’s The Dark Night Returns, Moore’s Watchmen and Linsner’s Lucifer’s Halo. You see, long before the film was bastardized by a series of sequels (which range from “merely okay” to “the creators have no soul!”) and the before the Goth-chic crowd adopted the brand as a fashion label for Hot Topic, The Crow was a very independent and underground comic book published by Caliber Press. If it wasn’t for the fact that Brandon Lee was accidentally killed eight days before the film wrapped up, it probably wouldn’t have the popularity that it enjoys to this day.

But none of that really explains what’s great about The Crow, as a film. It’s difficult to choose one thing. All of the villains have believable personalities and are despicable and evil enough that the audience can share Eric Draven’s need for vengeance. The cinematography and set design are beautiful, with gothic architecture and weathered streets that make the city both seem calming and scary at the same time. While the story itself isn’t an exact following of the graphic novel, it does completely replicate its atmosphere. Combine all this with a classic final mano-e-mano fight atop a cathedral in the rain (see also, Batman), a completely bad-ass assault on the villain Top Dollar’s hideout, and a score and soundtrack album better than any comparable film, and you’ve got a winner. The Crow is the superhero avenging angel you wish really existed. He’s bad-ass enough to go after humanity’s very uncomical true villains. No, he can’t swing from webs, but he gets the job done.

I encourage everyone to rewatch The Crow. It’s simply awesome in every way.

-- Shawn McLoughlin (top cape flick: Spider-Man 2)

6) X2: X-Men United (2003)
As one of the few films this decade I’ve seen twice in theatres (which is saying something, because I never rewatched X-Men, and I still haven’t seen X-Men: The Last Stand), X2 ran laps around its predecessor in just about every way imaginable. For one, there is the awesome, straight-outta-comics Wolverine/Jean Gray/Cyclops love triangle for which there is a surprisingly strong sexual undercurrent (for a comic movie). Then there is the growing fear/hatred of mutants among the general population, which is also taken directly from the four-color page, with the Mutant Registration Act becoming increasingly popular among the powerless public. The film helps bring the comic characters into the real world thanks to the stellar direction and being perfectly cast, and it achieves entertainment points as a sequel by not having to go into details with the characters’ origins as they had to in the first film.

But what really is the most amazing thing with X2, is the finale when Jean Gray sacrifices herself to save her teammates. The way it was done is emotionally powerful enough that the uninitiated can still feel the emotion of the scene, with a subtle enough nod to the comic geeks in the audience that already know the back-story of Jean and her evolving into Phoenix that they’d be delighted. It’s the one moment in all of comic movie history that I can think of that perfectly balances the established fans as well as the theatre ghosts. That’s perfection in writing.

-- Shawn McLoughlin (out of left field cape flick pick: Barbarella)

5) Flash Gordon (1980)
Flash Gordon has everything I demand from a superhero flick. Crazy special effects, a princess having sex with everyone in the movie, corny one-liners, Timothy Dalton, and - best of all - one hell of a glam rock soundtrack. Not a single element of this film is taken seriously, and that really brings out the kid in me.

So what makes this so much fun? It’s certainly not Flash (whose sole character development consists of a t-shirt with his name printed on it). However, Ming The Merciless is easily one of the best movie villains of all time. Princess Aura? I could masturbate to her all day long. Queen’s perfect soundtrack, the lush (and over-produced) set design, the awesome fight between Flash and Prince Barin over a black hole (!), and Brian Blessed's vocal range - individually, these things do not make a great film. Together, they are spectacular.

Flash Gordon is like a circus. Nobody comes for just the clowns, or the tigers. We want it all, and this movie delivers in over-abundance – with complete disregard for plot, continuity, and other things that win Oscars. But I don’t care, because I’m having too much fun watching Flash save the Earth and get the girl.

-- Chris Knight (top superhero flick: Superman: The Movie)

4) Batman (1989)
Batman is one of those movies that created a national vibe that I haven’t seen anything since replicate. In the summer of ’89 and well throughout the following year, you would have been hard pressed to find a kid that didn’t have either a Batman t-shirt, a Batman notebook, a Batman action figure, or some sort of Batman-related piece of pop culture. For a film that’s actually rather violent, with a singular vision of revenge and very, very dark, it’s surprising that the whole Batmania resonated as well as it did. Rewatching Batman today, I’m actually surprised at how well it has held up, and maybe it is due to those very same reasons. Dark times (and these are dark times, kids) call for vengeance-hungry heroes. But if I could put my finger on only one thing that made Batman great, it has to be Jack Nicholson’s performance as the Joker. Yes, it could be argued that Jack is, as usual, playing a caricature of himself, but regardless, in this case it fits everything that the Joker represents. Hysterical, maniacal, hateful, homicidal and even a philosophical poet. It’s true! Few villains in film history (outside of maybe Darth Vader) are as quotable as the Joker.

“Ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?” “Never rub another man’s rhubarb!” “This town needs an enema!” “Where does he get all those wonderful toys?” “Wait till they get a load of me!” – that’s just off the top of my head.

Mark my words. In another decade, when Batman Begins is long since forgotten by the next generation of film fans, people will still be remembering Tim Burton’s Batman as one awesome comic book movie.

-- Shawn McLoughlin (wank-worthy superhero flick: Supergirl)

3) The Incredibles (2004)
For all the wounded geek teeth-gnashing about how comic books have matured in the past two decades (with the nom de plume "graphic novels" bandied about frequently), the vast audience superheroes have been aimed at over the years has been children. Give a child a comic featuring a towering figure swathed in spandex, trailing a colorful cape and beating the tar out of bank robbers and criminal masterminds and they'll eat it up like gummi bears. But there should be a happy medium between the two extremes. And The Incredibles was it. Brad Bird's exuberantly witty animated adventure The Incredibles managed the task of equally appealing to children and their adult chaperones with the same kind of effortless wit that marked his tenure as creative consultant on The Simpsons during it's salad days, as well as his first 'toon feature, 1999's criminally overlooked The Iron Giant.

The Incredibles is a film that bubbles over with sly commentary on the minutiae of comic books, '60s' James Bond thrillers, and the post-modernnuclear family, wrapping the satire and genuine warmth of the storytelling around a series of dazzling action set pieces that, freed from the leaden pull of gravity that weighs down even the best live-action superhero films, approximates the busy, kinetic panels of comic book pages with eye-popping relish. (Underlying it all is Michael Giacchino's wonderful pastiche score offering an array of musical cues that fuse the frenzied brass exclamations of John Barry's early 007 scores with the funky bass grooves of 70's Lalo Schifrin.) The Incredibles leaves the adult viewer gasping, laughing with delight, and projected back to the time when a dog-eared comic stuffed into one's back pocket provided a universe of escapist thrills. To quote the kid witnessing the family's heroics at the film's climax, "DOOD, THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!!!"

-- Robert Knaus (top superhero flick: The Incredibles)

2) Spider-Man 2 (2004)
When Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus are going at it on the elevated train, smacking the hell out of one another, crawling on top (and the side! Wow!) of a moving train, beating the snot out of one another, it’s a full-on AWESOME bunch of superhero amazingness that had me ready to cheer. Wow! And then Doc Ock sends the train out of control, and Spidey does everything in his power to stop the train before it plunges into the river and kills dozens of people, but Spidey ain’t Superman, he’s Spidey, and the task ends up being tough as hell. But he does it! Nearly kills him, but he does it (Wow!), and the people of New York hail him as a hero, and they see him without his mask and can’t believe he’s just a kid, and it’s an AWESOME and moving scene. And then Doc Ock comes back and BAMN! Fight’s on. It’s AWESOME!

That’s how Spider-Man 2 makes me feel. If the first movie in the franchise managed to pull off the web-slinging decently enough, Spider-Man 2 pushed it into overdrive. Cars behind thrown and battles on the side of buildings and hospital beat-downs and much, much more. Jeez, just writing this has me wanting to pop in the DVD, crank up the surround sound and watch two of the greatest characters in comic history beat the snot out of one another. It’s AWESOME!

Even better, Spider-Man 2 delivers on the humanity, too. Dock Ock isn’t some two-dimensional “It want to rob banks and rule the world” bad guy. Mary Jane isn’t some empty-headed girlfriend who only exists to be in peril. Heck, even Aunt May isn’t a cookie-cutter old lady with white hair and a habit of leaving her turn signal on for 100 miles. These people live and breathe and make the film so much more than just a bunch of huge action set pieces. It’s got heart and soul, and that’s awesome.

And also, the action set pieces are AWESOME! Spidey! Dock Ock! Beating the holy hell out of one another! Wow! Spider-Man 2 rocks.

--Eric San Juan (surprise superhero flick pick: Unbreakable)

1) Superman: The Movie (1978)
This is it. The unstoppable force. The towering Mount Everest of superhero films. Almost three decades later still among the most beloved, respected and watched superhero flicks of all time. Superman: The Movie did it all, and did it all well. From story to action to characters and so much more, it delivered in a way few superhero movies had ever delivered before. And it all hinges on one thing: Christopher Reeve. Reeve was Superman. He inhabited the dual roles of Superman and Clark Kent with such charming nobility and Jimmy Stewartesque wit, respectively, that audiences couldn’t help but love him. He was affable and kind, a hero and a regular guy. We had to believe – and Reeve allowed us to do exactly that. The role turned him into an icon, and once again put Superman forward as an American ideal. Truth. Justice. The American Way. That’s what it was all about.

Yet Superman: The Movie had even more going for it than just Reeve. Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor may have been over the top and goofy, a far cry from the maniacal evil of comicdom’s Luthor, but that was no flaw. Years before Nicholson stole Batman’s show as the Joker, Hackman comes close to doing the same as Luthor. Throw in the always fantastic Ned Beatty, Margot Kidder’s ear-shreddingly annoying Lois Lane, and Marc McLure in a good turn as Jimmy Olsen, along with many others, and you’ve got the makings of a great cast.

But a cast is nothing without a good script … and this one was great! We get a fantastic origin story, sink into the world of Superman, watch him save the day again and again, and even get to see him turn back time. Awesome! It’s superhero goodness in its purest form. No angst. No gritty violence. No sex, drugs or rock and roll. Just tried and true, red white and blue heroism.

And isn’t that what being a superhero is all about?

--Eric San Juan (top Superman artist: Curt Swan)

Conclusion
The best superhero films of all time? You bet they are. They are because we say so. But superhero fans are an ornery, feisty lot prone to staking out a position and sticking to it. We know because we are superhero fans … so if we got it “wrong,” by all means, tell our sorry asses how we screwed up and set us straight. Just click the HOLLA! Link below, surf over to our forum and give us what for. We’re big boys. We can take it. Just be sure to leave your Kryptonite at home, thanks.