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In honor of the new Ghost Rider film coming out in February, I’ve decided it’s time to take a look at the best and worst of comic book movies.  These are the ten worst comic book movies I could think of.  Regardless of what you might think, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Turtles in Time was an awesome movie.  Maybe awesome is too strong a word but it is still much better than part two.

10. The Punisher – If ever there were a comic book character that would simple to adapt, The Punisher would be it.  No super powers, special guns or flashy costumes, The Punisher is just a guy with a grudge and lots of weapons.  Even the costume is jeans and t-shirt with a skull painted on it.  How hard is that to screw up?  It seems really easily.  The first time around they cast a Swedish actor who could barely utter the simple dialogue and the second time around, they took him out of his natural environment of New York and put him in a Miami Vice episode.  Oh and it also turns out The Punisher story is plot line to about 50% of the action films out there so it doesn’t feel any different from any other movie.  Sadly, Man on Fire is a better Punisher movie then The Punisher movie.

9.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze – Like most people, I loved the first TMNT film.  The second film was released and like most sequels, it was bigger and louder than the original.  We learned the secret origin of the Turtles, which was cool.  Unfortunately Vanilla Ice also performed a number where the Turtles did a breakdance number.  I hope Eastman and Laird got paid well to sell out their creations.

8.  Capt. America – Unlike the dreadful Fantastic Four movie that was made to fulfill a contract before the rights expired, this movie was actually meant for a theatrical release.  Instead it got a very short direct to video release and with good reason.  I’ve seen this movie once and it still haunts my dreams with its awefulness.  Horrible jumps, huge leaps in story with little to no explanation and bad acting all make this one of the worst comic book films ever made.

7.  League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – This is one of the best comic books ever written and one of the worst adaptations ever made.  If they had just stuck with the source material, the movie would have been tremendous.  Instead they had to dumb it up for American audiences and as usual, ruined a perfectly good story.  Curse you Hollywood.

6.  Steel – I know this is based on the DC superhero but you’ll be hard pressed to find any resemblance to him.  Other than both the comic book character and movie character are black and have the name Steel, there is little resembling the comic book.  Fortunately Shaq quit acting after this.  If only he could have quit acting before ruining a comic book character.

5.  Howard the Duck – I love the Howard the Duck comics.  It’s such a bizarre concept and it’s amazing that Marvel ever released a comic book about the character.  What’s even more amazing is that someone thought it would be a good idea to do a movie about him.  George Lucas used to do a movie every few years just so he could test technology.  This is one of those films.  Even if the movie bombed (which it did), he still owns the technology created for the film that he sells to other companies.  Brilliant.  If only he had sunk some of that brilliance into a decent script.

4.  Judge Dredd – A much beloved British comic icon become a much-hated Sylvester Stallone film.  Almost unwatchable from the first moment, Judge Dredd takes away all the edginess of the comics and replaces it with Rob Schneider.  We’re all worst for the trade.  If any film deserves to be remade on this list, Judge Dredd is it.

3.  Tank Girl – Another British comic ruined by an American film crew.  The fun rambunctious Tank Girl is now a loud annoying punk wannabe that you hope dies a painful death.  This post-apocalyptic story about a villain that controls the world’s water supply is just a mistake on every level especially the kangaroo men that provides the love interest for Tank Girl and her sidekick Jet Girl. 

2. Superman IV – The Quest for Peace – Ahhh…the movie that killed Superman.  Honestly, I haven’t seen this movie all the way through.  I’ve seen the first 20 minutes five times but I can never get farther then that.  Superman has so many great villains and the creator’s had to come up with a new incredibly lame villain called Nuclear Man.  Supergirl might have made this spot but I’ll never know since I can’t bring myself to watch it.

1.  Batman & Robin – Honestly, George Clooney wasn’t the worst thing about this film. He actually brought the film up a level.  Why is this the worst comic book film ever made?  There are so many reasons.  First you have the bat nipples.  The bat suit should never have nipples.  Then you have Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, which would have been cool (no pun intended) except Schwarzenegger can’t act.  Add to his suckiness the fact that his freeze ray worked differently on different people and objects.  The only villain to ever break Batman, Bane is reduced to a chauffer and don’t even get me started on Batgirl.  Alicia Silverstone is so bad as Batgirl, I want to take knitting needles and jam them in my ears so I never have to hear her say “No, I have you” again.  Batman has a credit card…why would Batman need a credit card?  My head hurts just think about it. Damn you Warner Brothers.