A new movement has been taking place in feature films over the past few years: the Comic Book Film Movement. Unlike comic book movies of the past, this new movement has created an entirely new style that has altered both the way the public views comic books as well as the way comic stories are told on the silver screen.

On August 3rd, Kick-Ass comes to Blu-ray and DVD. This is a prime example of a comic book movie that transcended the genre. Instead of merely creating a lofty superhero movie, Director Matthew Vaughn interweaved pop culture, comic books, the viral video society of YouTube and teen rebellion into an entertaining film with a social message. Symbolically, it showed viewers that the days of untouchable superheroes were quickly coming to an end.

Vaughn wasn't the first to push the envelope of comic book-based cinema. In 2005, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez decided that just adapting a comic book into a feature film was not enough--the two media had to collide to form something new. Stylistically, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez's Sin City did more than make a movie out of a comic book; it was a comic book come to life on the silver screen. Watching the movie was like watching a panel-by-panel flipbook of the actual comic.

The Comic Book Film Movement rekindled interest in comic book adaptations at that point but something was still missing. Rodriguez, and Miller redefined the visual aspect of comic books, but the Comic Book Film Movement needed one last element to be complete: the story. In 2008, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight showed the world that the heart of comic book movies was the story and relationships between the characters. Most viewers didn't even think they were watching a comic book adaptation when they saw The Dark Knight. Comic books and film had finally achieved perfect harmony.

The Comic Book Film Movement has rekindled the public's interest in comics--graphic novel sales continue to grow. Not only are filmmakers incorporating the visual style of these auteurs, the public no longer perceives comic books as a genre for specifically for children. The Comic Book Film Movement is a Character Approved development and a new art form with its own living breathing life.

[Image: Warner Bros. / Dimension]