With “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The Dark Knight,” and the new “Hellboy” installment all hitting theaters this summer, the comic book movie biz is on fire. But how do these new adaptations stack up against their caped competitors? Well, today I’ll be playing teacher as I grade the most popular comic book movies of the last 20 years. Now get out your pencils...

CLASS VALEDICTORIAN (THE BEST):

“Iron Man” (2008)

Grade: A+

Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark/Iron Man was outstanding. He had it down as he pulled off all the facets of Stark’s character: a billionaire playboy, an engineering genius and a man with only a troubled conscience and a glass of scotch. On top of that, the script was well written and the direction was excellent. The movie stuck to its comic book roots and even had a little surprise after the credits! Jon Favreau, kudos.

“Batman Begins” (2005)

Grade: A

Excellent casting made this movie as good as it was. Christian Bale captured the darkness and anger that Bruce Wayne dealt with as Batman. Liam Neeson, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman also gave great performances as Batman was brought into the new millennium (without Robin, thank God). Let’s just hope “The Dark Knight” is as good as its predecessor.

“Sin City” (2005)

Grade: A

It was visually stunning, and the actors were as raw and rugged as their characters. Frank Miller’s art and dialogue jumped off the pages. This movie stuck to the graphic novel religiously and it definitely paid off.

“Spider-Man,” “Spider-Man 2,” “Spider-Man 3” (2002; 2004; 2007)

Grade: A-

All three of the “Spider-Man” films were very good. The first movie captured Spidey’s origin well. The second was the best written of the trilogy and did a great job of showing Peter Parker’s struggles with being a superhero. And the third featured some of Spidey’s best comic book stories. Although Tobey Maguire may not play the webhead again, he was definitely the right fit for this trilogy.

“X2: X-Men United” (2003)

Grade: A-

This movie had the best and most anticipated action scenes of all of the comic book movies ever made. When Wolverine went berserk on Striker’s gang at the school for mutants and Nightcrawler attacked the White House in the opening scene, geeks everywhere salivated. It... was... awesome! Also, great acting came from Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Sir Ian McKellen as Magneto, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler and Famke Janssen as Jean Grey.

“V For Vendetta” (2005)

Grade: B+

A great story made this film worthwhile, not to mention Natalie Portman gave an inspiring performance as Evey, the strong female lead in the film. The camerawork and dialogue were also excellent. Dry spells with little action are the only reason this film didn’t earn an A.

“Batman” (1989)

Grade: B+

A Tim Burton film with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson — enough said.

“Batman Returns” (1992)

Grade: B

Although the plot was just average, Michael Keaton played a pretty good (but not as good as Christian Bale) Batman. Couple that with delightfully disturbing roles from Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, and you have a good superhero movie.

“Daredevil” (2003)

Grade: B-

In my opinion, “Daredevil” is the most underrated superhero movie ever made. Why don’t people like this movie? Ben Affleck brought a lot to the role by capturing Matt Murdock’s difficulties as a blind man and the dark sense of humor that Daredevil always had. It was a gloomy movie with decent performances by the villains: Colin Farrell as Bullseye and Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin. I guess it did suffer from that ridiculous fight between Daredevil and Elektra on the playground.

“Hellboy” (2004)

Grade: C+

Ron Perlman’s swagger as Hellboy saved this film. It’s worth watching just to see him deliver his one-liners. However, the special effects are none too special, and the end of the movie was weak. But if you want to see a fun comic book flick, “Hellboy” delivers in that aspect.

“X-Men” and “X-Men 3: The Last Stand” (2000; 2006)

Grade: C+

These films were OK. “X-Men” had to use most of the film to introduce the mutant team, which was cool, but the plot suffered as a result. Meanwhile, “X3” was poorly lumped together. Despite great action, the movie had too many characters and too many things going on.

“The Punisher” (2003)

Grade: C+

The story fell apart as the movie went on and John Travolta brought nothing to the film as the Howard Saint character. However, Tom Jane embodied the vengeful vigilante spirit of the Punisher. And this R-rated film benefited from turning up the violence.

“The Incredible Hulk” (2008)

Grade: C

Excellent special effects + excellent action - a plot = an average movie

“Fantastic Four” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (2005; 2007)

Grade: C

In both movies, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis turn in great performances as the Human Torch and the Thing. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast wasn’t so “fantastic” in either film; especially Julian McMahon could not be any more horrible as Dr. Doom. In the first film, the final battle was a huge disappointment. In the second, the Silver Surfer was very cool, but the filmmakers turned Galactus into a lame, invisible force. C’mon...

“Blade,” “Blade II,” and “Blade: Trinity” (1998; 2002; 2004)

Grade: C

Wesley Snipes was an excellent cast as Blade. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a decent script to turn his great portrayal into a great movie. Although Ryan Reynolds was pretty funny in “Blade: Trinity.”

“Superman Returns” (2006)

Grade: C-

It was so mediocre. It was boring, bland, and unexciting. Kevin Spacey was decent as Lex Luthor, but even he couldn’t make this movie better. This film had a great amount of potential, but fell flat.

“Ghost Rider” (2007)

Grade: D+

Nicolas Cage seemed like he was reading his lines off of a cue card in most of “Ghost Rider.” It also suffered from the absence of a strong villain. Even worse, the Rider’s flaming skull looked very, very fake.

“Batman Forever” (1995)

Grade: D

Why did they have to put Robin in a movie? Chris O’ Donnell is not cool, and neither was Val Kilmer as Batman. Meanwhile, Tommy Lee Jones and the writers had no clue how to portray the Two-Face character. Jim Carrey was entertaining in “Batman Forever,” but his personality may have been a better fit as the Joker rather than the Riddler. However, director Joel Schumaker proved three years later that he could do worse.

“Hulk” (2003)

Grade: D-

Ang Lee needs to stick to dramas. Sam Elliott needs to stay out of superhero movies. And Nick Nolte needs acting lessons. I sincerely wonder if any of the cast or crew had heard of the Hulk before making this movie because none of them got it. Could “Hulk” have been any more of a disaster? Yes. Lou Ferrigno could have donned the purple pants again. Oh wait, that would have made the film more entertaining.

“Elektra” (2005)

Grade: D-

“Elektra” should have never been green-lit. Elektra was never a very interesting character, although Jennifer Garner played the role decently. This film suffered from bad special effects, a bad script, bad acting (other than Garner), and a host of characters no one had ever heard of before.

“Catwoman” (2004)

Grade: F

Even Halle Berry, who starred in the film as Catwoman, called this movie a “piece of --” well, you know.

DROPOUT (THE WORST):

“Batman and Robin” (1998)

Grade: F

Joel Schumaker nearly killed the Batman movie franchise with this film. Worse than his direction, was the acting in the movie. Mr. Freeze was an emotionless villain in the comics, but Arnold Schwarzenegger sadly, angrily, happily and very emotionally wore his heart on his sleeve. George Clooney, on the other hand, was emotionless in his portrayal of Batman, a hero who was meant to be dark and disturbed. And I’m pretty sure Chris O’ Donnell got the role as Robin because he was the only actor they could find who was shorter than Val Kilmer (who played Batman in “Batman Forever”). Also, Gotham City looked like a lavish nightclub the whole movie even though Gotham was always intended to be an older-looking city. And the writing! Oh, dear God, the writing. “Freddy Got Fingered” had more intelligent dialogue than “Batman and Robin.” Does anyone remember this classic gem from Mr. Freeze?: “All right everyone, chill!” Nothing says “great movie” quite like ice puns...

Lifestyles reporter Shea Conner can be reached at sheaconner@npgco.com.