Once a refuge for the maladjusted and the childish—and a cool dip in the pop art pool for the rest of our tired masses trudging through another summer—the comic book movie has shed its pulp trappings. It now strives for middlebrow respectability as a box office tactic. The new pitch is: After a hard day of tooling around in your Prius listening to "This American Life," why not come to the theater and spend some time with your pal Iron Man (played by Less Than Zero star Robert Downey Jr., so don’t forget to get a head start on your 80s party!) instead of curling up in front of the DVR full of "Men of a Certain Age" and "True Blood" with a Trader Joe’s meal-ready-to-eat? READ MORE

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An excited fan, thrilled by the news that actor Ryan Reynolds will play superhero Green Lantern in an upcoming live-action film, sent the folks at /Film his handmade version of how Reynolds might appear in costume. (Click that link to see it in its full-sized glory.) Normally, this is the kind of thing we'd mock, but I'm moved by the exuberance and creativity. In fact, I'm a bit of a Green Lantern fan myself. Here's my version of what Reynolds will look like. This is a more domestic scene, where the Lantern spends some time with his dog Astro. READ MORE