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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Welcome, Sidekicks, to a new feature for the Sidekickcast...

GONZO Blast is a weekly (yeah, sure!) update on big news stories in the world of videogames. The idea is that you come here, read a headline and news snippet and then, when you inevitably something you are interested in, you Google the frak out of that sonovabitch!

The point is that GONZO Blast is just like bumping into your well informed pal who takes a few seconds to tell you a bunch of news - if you're interested, you enquire! If you're not, you smile politely, look at your watch and back slowly towards the door...

Here's how it'll pan out...

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Link: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43595

With the news that Sam Raimi is off Spider-Man 4, taking with him the cast and crew comes the equally startling news that Sony have now decided reboot the entire franchise. The press release says "Peter Parker is going back to high school when the next Spider-Man hits theaters in the summer of 2012". So, we know that this will be a younger Peter Parker and that we'll have to wait and extra year for cinematic Spidey, not really a bad thing as we've got plenty of superhero/comic book flicks out there to keep us entertained/annoyed.

So, what does this mean for the other Spider-Man news, John Malkovich playing The Vulture? Is this still valid or was he attatched to the now defunct Raimi production? Personally I hope he is on for this new rebooted version as firstly I think he could do a bang up job and secondly it may mean they'll not introduce the Green Goblin straight away. It would be pretty cool to have Norman Osborn just as Harry's dad over a couple of movies and his story arc slowly develop as he descends into madness. No origin story, I am sick to the back teeth of origin stories. The Incredible Hulk did it perfectly during the title sequences, we all know the charater, we've all seen the original movie just bloody get on with it and make a good story.

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Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7907345.stm

The Watchmen movie is here! Well, it's here if you were lucky enough to be able to attend last night's Leicester Square premiere (where was my press-pass Dagnamit?!) The entire cast or at least the ones that count were there, joined by the comic's co-creatore Dave Gibbons. Alan Moore, the writer of the Watchmen was of course not there as he has completely distanced himself from this and all other adaptations of his work. As you can see from the pictures, they went all out in the decoration of the 'yellow carpet', nothing less would be expected from possibly the 'most hyped film of all time'. The BBC have a shed load more pictures from the carpet if you want to see the whole thing close up.

So far not much reaction from people who actually saw the movie but you can check out a little bit more for yourself with this little clip from Rorschach's Journal video.
If you made it to the Premiere we'd love to hear your reaction to the film and what the buzz was like around the theatre. Contact us: gavinjones@sidekickcomicsuk.com

Link: http://www.hitfix.com/galleries/2009-1-13-exclusive-new-kick-ass-images/?page=3

Hitfix has debuted three new images from director Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass, starring Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson, Lyndsy Fonseca, Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Moretz. To view the pictures click on the picture above or HERE.

I have to say that in terms of looking like the comic, this film has got it all. They seem to have literally ripped this from the pages of Mark Millar's Icon published book, and seeing as I'm really enjoying the comic that can't be a bad thing. Dan did mention in the last episode of Sidekickcast that he felt they were concentrating on the movie too much and forgetting about the comic, the actual source material. There does seem to be an element of truth in that statement and normally I'd be right there with him ready to burn Millar at the stake but the visuals look so good I reckon the time is being well spent. I wonder how much, if anything at all, John Romita Jr is involved in the art design on the flick, anyone know? please don't hesitate to drop us a line and let us know.