10 Most Stunning Comic Book Movies Ever Made

The comic-book movie genre has absolutely exploded over the past twenty years, bringing with it a whole spate of entries that range from the great to the good to the bad to the best-left-in-a-corner-and-not-talked-about-ever-again ever since it conquered the multiplex.

Though superhero movies and graphic novel adaptations had their place in the last century, it's been the medium's post-millennium work that has struck the biggest chord with audiences, pushing box-office coffers on to giddy heights.

There's a dime-a-dozen lists out there ranking just what the best of the bunch are though - and that's why we've gone about it a little bit differently, by instead presenting ten of the most visually striking entries in the wider comic-book canon to make it to the big screen.

We've kept our focus mostly on this century, while accepting that several great entries from decades gone by deserve their place in the spotlight too - and we've also, by and large, tried to keep our findings to a single entry per franchise too, for those wondering where Batman & Robin is.

Without further adieu, here's what we believe to be the ten most richly invigorating entries to the naked eye...

Like it or loathe it, last year's bold reinvention of Batman's most enduring foe as a down-on-his-luck stand-up seduced by the thrall of violence proved to be a cultural flashpoint on par with conventional comic-book blockbusters. It was a billion-dollar smash thanks in no small part to Joaquin Phoenix's now career-defining performance at its maladjusted centre.

But if Todd Phillips' work had another ace up its sleeve, then it was surely Lawrence Sher's cinematography. Inspired heavily by Taxi Driver-era New York in its sense of place and time, he captures the grimy, everyday insidiousness that drowns out Arthur Fleck with aplomb - and once the latter completes his transformation, he captures his ascent into disturbing folk legend with unexpectedly sweeping power and panache.