Is "Comic Book Movie" a Genre?

[Rocketman]

This is something that I try to wrap my head around, and it usually ends with me getting frustrated. In film, we have a dozen or more genres, including:

Action
Comedy
Drama
Horror
Western
Sci-Fi
Romance
Romantic Comedy
Animated / Children
Mystery / Suspense / Thriller / Psychological Thriller

... Should "Comic Book" be its own category?
And beyond that, should "Superhero" be its own?

I don't know. On one hand, we can't deny that The Avengers is Sci-Fi / Action, but then The Dark Knight isn't really Sci-Fi.

You have Road to Perdition and A History of Violence. Both are not superhero films. Same with V For Vendetta, or From Hell.

If we're sticking to superheroes, should The Punisher be in the same category as Pixar's The Incredibles? Are they really under the same umbrella? Should Kick-Ass be in the same category as Jonah Hex?

It just seems very odd to me that this type of movie is the biggest and most popular in Hollywood now, completely owning the box office every year, and yet there really isn't a defining, all-encompassing name for it.

Any thoughts?

[Teelie]

Comic book movies straddle a lot of genres. Just about any existing genre can include a comic book movie in it.

[cherokeesam]

I'd call Superhero a subgenre of action, and/or "speculative fiction," the catch-all for fantasy, sci-fi and horror.

"CBM" is a fairly useless term. Technically, Richie Rich is a CBM, as is The Road to Perdition, as is Man of Steel, as is Tintin, as is The Avengers. Other than the medium from which they derived, there is nothing at all that makes them belong to a shared genre.

[Senator Pleasury]

It should be. Well, I talk about it as a genre anyways.

[Lord]

If Comic Book Movie is a genre then book adaptation is one as well. Superhero movie is a genre, comic book movie however is not, comic books are just another source to be adapted.

[Senator Pleasury]

edit

[Blackman]

no. I dont think Comic Book Movies is a genre. But "Superhero movie" is one

[Senator Pleasury]

Originally Posted by Blackman

no. I dont think Comic Book Movies is a genre. But "Superhero movie" is one

This.

[Lord]

Originally Posted by Racer Morose

That happens to share a lot of very clear similarities. Unlike books being adapted that can be extremely different and varied from movie to movie.

That depends on the comic book, not all of them are about superheroes. Adaptation of superhero comics are in the superhero genre, while Red for exemple is an action-comedy. Tintin isn't a superhero either, nor is Asterix, or Rurouni Kenshin, or the surrogates, and the list goes on.

[Senator Pleasury]

Originally Posted by Lord

That depends on the comic book, not all of them are about superheroes. Adaptation of superhero comics are in the superhero genre, while Red for exemple is an action-comedy. Tintin isn't a superhero either, nor is Asterix, or the surrogates, and the list goes on.

You are right sir. I meant to say "superhero movies." My bad.

[jmc]

Comic Book is a medium not a genre. Superhero films are a genre.

[747]

Comic book movie is not a genre. Superhero movie is a genre, but a broad one.

[Heretic]

Comic book movies are not a genre any more than movies based on novels or tv shows are a genre. Until we start lumping in Twilight and Das Boot as the same genre, and X-Files: Fight The Future and Dukes of Hazard as the same genre, then we shouldn't be lumping in all comic book based movies as one genre.

Superheroes may be a blanket genre...but typically they cross over into a wide range of other genres . Also, not all superheroes are based on comic characters.

[Teelie]

And not all of them are actually heroes either. Some are anti-heroes or just vigilantes who do the job like a superhero without the actual intention of being a "good guy."

[pr0xyt0xin]

It probably is in these forums.

Its odd because I rank CBMs and other movies separately. For instance, The Avengers is a 10/10 as a comic book movie. But probably only like an 8/10 or 7/10 as a movie overall.

[psylockolussus]

Obviously not.

Its a category. Categories are different from genres.

[Lantern Venom]

""Spider-Man 2" is the best superhero movie since the modern genre was launched with "Superman" (1978)". --Roger Ebert.

If Ebert said "genre", then it's a genre.

[Lord]

He said superhero movie, not comicbook movie

[spider-neil]

Superhero movies are definately a genre.
The second a superhero turns up it's a superhero movie.
If there was nothing but detective work in a Batman movie it would be a superhero movie rather than a crime thriller.
If Spider-Man cracked jokes the entire movie it would be a superhero movie rather than a comedy.

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by Scar Predator

""Spider-Man 2" is the best superhero movie since the modern genre was launched with "Superman" (1978)". --Roger Ebert.

If Ebert said "genre", then it's a genre.

Case closed.

[Lord]

Originally Posted by spider-neil

Superhero movies are definately a genre.
The second a superhero turns up it's a superhero movie.
If there was nothing but detective work in a Batman movie it would be a superhero movie rather than a crime thriller.
If Spider-Man cracked jokes the entire movie it would be a superhero movie rather than a comedy.

Not sure what you're trying to say

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by Lord

Not sure what you're trying to say

When a superhero is in a movie it becomes a superhero genre movie regardless of the content, therefore 'superhero movie' is genre onto it self.

[Teelie]

Super heroes and comic book movies are not the same thing.

A super hero can exist as any medium from a (comic) book to a cartoon to a movie or a video game. Just about anything. Even an oral story. Beowulf or Odysseus could be considered a super hero in the abstract of terms and they far predate the comic book format.

A comic book movie can only exist from taking a comic book and adapting it into a movie. Even if no super hero is present, it's still a comic book movie.

If it isn't from a comic book but has a super hero in it, that's not a comic book movie. If it has a character (say something like Scott Pilgrim or Bone) who are not super heroes, it's still a comic book movie.

There's a difference but it is often lost in translation.

[dude love]

Superhero movies are absolutely their own genre. I can't agree with CBM's however, because you'd have to lump A History of Violence with Scott Pilgrim, which have absolutely zero commonality besides being comic book adaptations.

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I often debate this myself, and I personally think that the more CBM's that get made, the more it does become a genre. I mean we get between 3-6 a year now and the GA who I have talked to refer to them as CBM's or Super-hero movies.