There have been so many good comic book adaptation movie's released in recent years like the Ironman, Spiderman and Batman movies with more recently Green Lantern (yes I liked this film), X-Men: First Class, Captain America not to mention movies coming to our screens very soon that I am excited about like the Batman sequel ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2012), Spider-Man reboot ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ (2012) and the next Superman instalment Man of Steel (2013).

Along with the movies there is has been and still are some great TV shows both Animated and Live action for example Smallville, Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes, Batman: Brave and the Bold and not to mention the totally brilliant Walking Dead from Robert Kirkman along with the soon to come Green Lantern Animated series.

This is fantastic for comic book fans like you and I. This got me thinking, what if I could choose which was to be made next what would I pick?

After thinking about this for a while I have chosen four that I would love to see. It would be far to big a column if I chose script writers, directors and the like so all I have done is choose the medium, the comic I would like seen transformed and lastly the main actor/actress role and who I would like to see play them.

If you have any ideas as to what you would like to see please leave a comment telling me or hit me up on twitter and let me know.

Witch Doctor - Dr Vincent Morrow played by Michael Sheen

First up is my beloved Witch Doctor, I would ABSOLUTLY LOVE this comic to be given a TV deal in the same way as Walking Dead has. Brandon Seifert could help with the writing as Kirkman has done with walking dead, it would be amazing. In the lead role of Dr Vincent Morrow I could only see one person and that one person just happens to be my favourite actor in the world Michael Sheen. He not only looks a bit like Dr Morrow but he would bring that depth to the character we see in the comic to screen so well and I think it would be a smash hit.

Aquaman – Arthur Curry played by Daniel Craig

Three films ive chosen now the first of which is Aquaman, this has been the surprise smash hit of the DC new 52 titles,I think with the right direction and making him more gritty and less comedy that the film would be amazing. Ive put Daniel Craig in the role here as I think for a less comedy approach he would be great.

Animal Man – Bernhard "Buddy" Baker played by Ewan McGregor

Another DC new title here and another male, Animal Man has been one of the best received comics of the relaunch and if there was ever a time to capitalise on this with a movie its now. Ive chosen a Welshman for Witchdoctor, an Englishman for Aquaman and now a Scotsman for Animal Man, step forward Ewan McGregor, not only an amazing actor but a Jedi too how could this possibly fail.

Suicide Squad – Harley Quinn played by Zooey Deschanel

Ok lastly is another DC title and to be perfectly honest ive chosen suicide squad with Zooey Deschanel just because I would love to see her in the new Harley Quinn outfit, I am a red blooded straight male what can I say. I do though, firmly believe that she would great in the role, she has a real cheekiness about her and is not a waif like so many actresses that I could totally see her in the sexy uniform swinging a big hammer about.

For a while now, I’ve been toying with branching out with my Behind the Masks column, and looking at characters who didn’t start out in the world of comics. Not to say they haven’t appeared in comics at all, of course, as you’d be hard pressed these days to find a character who hasn’t, but certainly the characters we’ll be looking at over the next three weeks are more famous for their appearances in films and novels than for the comics. With Halloween fast approaching, we’ll be taking a gander at three characters who can easily be labelled icons of horror, starting with arguably the original (and best) mad scientist, Doctor Victor Frankenstein.

This column presented a challenge for two fundamental reasons. The first reason, which is also shared by the next two columns I’ll be tackling, is that there have simply been so many versions of Frankenstein in film and TV that it’s hard to pick just five versions to hold up as the best. Especially since, with the sheer number of Frankensteins available, I haven’t actually seen each and every one out there. So instead of a definitive list (which all my other columns clearly have been), consider this simply a choice selection from a range of Frankesteins, though by no means all of them. That said, anyone who disagrees with the number one choice is a wrong person.

The second problem is, which performances do I consider? When I threw the voting open to you, my lovely readers (and you are lovely), there were votes coming in for Gene Wilder, Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff. Now, while all three have played characters named Frankenstein, they weren’t technically playing the original Doctor Victor Frankenstein, but instead one of his descendents. So could they be considered eligible? I wrestled with this for a while, and in the end, decided that yes, they could. While they’re not playing the same Frankenstein, the character they do play fits the same purpose within the confines of the story they appeared in, reflecting certain aspects of the character of Victor Frankenstein who appeared in the original novel and displaying a very similar relationship to his creature as their forefather. So, votes for these actors were counted, and one or two of them may appear in the list which follows.

However you count it though, your favourite Doctor Frankenstein was the legendary Peter Cushing, and who could argue with that? Well, those of you who voted Colin Clive into a close second, probably. But which side will Behind the Masks fall on?

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The DC animation wagon of quality just keeps on trucking with the latest offering Batman: Year One, adapted from Frank Miller's seminal comic of the same name. Not long to wait now as it'll be released in the US 18th October.

Continue past the jump for the clip...

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There have been some truly awful Thors over the years. In researching this column (yes, I do research. It involves watching a lot of cartoons) I was reminded of how difficult it can be to bring a character like Thor to the screen. Things that work well in the comics, such as his faux Shakespearian dialect or his long, girly hair, just don’t really translate that well unless done properly. You either have to go all the way, and adapt the comic character as is (will only work in animation), or you have to make some pretty drastic changes somewhere.

To pick a prime example, check out Eric Allan Kramer’s awful turn in nineteen eighty-eight’s The Incredible Hulk Returns. While the original Hulk TV series was absolutely brilliant, Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno’s return to our screens in several low budget TV movies left a lot to be desired. Of the three, and opinions are divided, but in this writer’s opinion, this first one was the worst. Yes, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk featured a completely uninspired version Daredevil, but the Thor who showed up in Returns, and had his ass handed to him by the Hulk, was, at best, a one note joke. An Asgardian warrior who relished battle, women and drink. There was no nobility to the character, and he was incredibly difficult to sympathise with. He also looked bloody stupid.

So, as with last week’s look at Iron Man, we’re faced with a dilemma. There are few truly great Thors, and not a whole lot of good ones to choose from either. Still, I did manage to find five who, at the very least, could be considered adequate. Four of the men on this list deserve their places. This first guy though, I’ll admit, is mostly there to fill out the numbers...

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This week’s column presented a challenge. When I decided to write the next three columns on the Avengers Big Three (Iron Man, Thor and Captain America), I hadn’t really factored in that they haven’t actually been played by as many actors as, say, Batman or Spider-Man. Until their recent movie adventures, the characters didn’t have the same level of popularity as their slightly more famous friends, and they just haven’t clocked up as many screen appearances.

Of course, all that changed with the release of the first Iron Man movie, but it’s only really been in the last few years that the general, non-comic reading public (or Flatscans. Maybe Muggles) have become aware of the Armoured Avenger, et al. This means fewer (though by no means a total shortage) animated or computer game outings in which actors can portray them, and a distinct lack of great Iron Man performances.

In fact, and I’m aware that this is a controversial statement that may well generate some backlash, for my money, while there have been several good Iron Men, there are only two performances who stand out as great. But let’s visit some of the good ones first...

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When I saw the first trailer for The Immortals, I did actually laugh out loud, pretty rude considering I was in the cinema at the time. This second trailer really isn't helping things, will it be long live the Immortals or The Immortals who? May be worth checking just to see how much of a man of steel Henry Cavill really is.

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Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a 90lb weakling from Brooklyn who wants nothing more that to fight for his country in WW2. Unfortunately, he’s a 90lb weakling, which is not exactly a quality high on the list of your average Army recruiter. However, what he lacks in brawn, he more than makes up for in fight and spirit, which is what catches the eye of Emile Erskine (Stanley Tucci), an enigmatic German scientist with a Super-Soldier serum that should be right up Steve’s alley. It is a resounding success, but while Steve is put to work as a USO sideshow, selling war bonds and socking “Hitler” in the jaw up and down the Eastern seaboard, Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) and his ultra-Nazi offshoot Hydra are harnessing the power of an ancient artefact with an aim to make Hitler’s plans for world domination look positively anaemic. A punch-up between the two seems more than inevitable.

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When I first started writing these columns, many moons ago (twenty-eightish), I was going to take a slightly different approach to them. As well as listing my five favourite actors to portray each character, I was also going to give one example of how not to play the part. It was while I was writing about how awful George Clooney was as Batman that I realised this wouldn’t work. Where would it go? You couldn’t start an article about the best with the worst. And you want to finish on a high, so the end’s out too. So I cut it, and decided it wouldn’t appear.

But Pat Fraley, who voiced Wolverine in Pryde of the X-Men pilot and on Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends needs mentioning here. For Odin’s sake, he played Wolverine as an Australian! Everyone’s favourite Canadian, with an Aussie accent. It just didn’t work. At all. I’m not anti-Fraley here, after all, the guy was also Krang in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but…did he ever read an X-Men comic? Rumour has it, the accent came about because in the script, Wolverine called Pyro a dingo. Pyro, who was an Australian. No one bothered to check. And we get the worst Wolverine ever. But anyway, on with the best!

As ever, I put it to the good people of the internet who their favourite Wolverine is, and it was surprisingly close. Two Wolverines stood head and shoulders above the rest, with Hugh Jackman taking the gold. But only just. But, as we all know, it’s not what the public thinks that matters. No. It’s all about me. And so…

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The trailer to the prequel of The Thing has finally arrived:

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Link: http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20483133_20510114,00.html#20988715

What we have here is our best look at Andrew Garfield as The Amazing Spider-Man including a good look at the costume, those mechanical web-shooters, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and some kind of bandito Spider-Man all courtesy of Entertainment Weekly where you can see even more pics from the flick.

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