Comic Book Movies and TV: The Year 1995

Comic book adaptations to other media have been popular since the early 1900's. Here's a look at 1995's translations from paper to film.

In Theaters:

Batman Forever

Joel Schumacher took over directing duties from Tim Burton on the Batman franchise with this feature. Val Kilmer was now in the role as Batman, and this movie introduced Robin to the series. Jim Carrey played the Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones portrayed Two-Face, two of Batman's most deadly villains. The lighter tone of the film turned off fans, but the movie was still financially successful, insuring another sequel.

Judge Dredd

Sylvester Stallone played Dredd, ruthless law enforcer of Mega City. This movies was based on the UK comic book, long admired among readers. The movie also starred Diane Lane, Armand Assante and Max Von Sydow. The movie, directed by Danny Cannon, was released in the summer with hopes for blockbuster potential. Its theatrical returns surpassed its budget but the film was considered a box office disappointment.

Tank Girl

Based upon the independent comic book by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, Tank Girl starred Lori Petty along with Ice-T, Naomi Watts and Malcolm McDowell. The film is set in an apocalyptic future where water is scarce. Tank Girl, along with her rebel friends, fight to free the available water from the powers that contain it. The film was unsuccessful critically and financially, but did bring exposure to the comic book series.

On Saturday Mornings:

Fantastic Four

Part of the Marvel Action Hour, this animated series actually started in the later half of 1994. It featured Marvel's premiere superteam battling their greatest villains. Unlike the previous series, this cartoon featured all four members, including the Human Torch. It also guest starred many other Marvel heroes such as the Silver Surfer, the Hulk and Black Panther. This series ran for 26 episodes.

Iron Man

Also part of the Marvel Action Hour, this cartoon featured Iron Man protecting the world with the help of this team at Stark Enterprises. His team included War Machine, Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch, Spider Woman and Century. Together they battled the evil forces of the Mandarin. Prior to this, Iron Man's only animated series had been the TheMarvel Super Heroes cartoon in 1966. This 1994-96 effort ran for 26 episodes.

Savage Dragon

Image comics' co-founder Erik Larsen saw his prime character translated to animation with this series that ran on the USA Network. The Dragon is a green-skinned humanoid that protects the city as a law officer. He has incredible strength and stamina. The cartoon toned down the violence of the comic book but kept in the colorful characters Larson had created to populate the Dragon's world. The series lasted for 22 episodes.