Biographic - Sunday February 15, 2009 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Comic Books have provided the inspiration for scores of tv and movie adaptations, bringing the likes of Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man to life on the screen, swooping down to rescue a Louis Lane or Mary Jane Watson. But not every female character is a Damsel in Distress, and comic books have provided the source for some memorable superheroines of TV and movies. Based on the first comic book heroine to get her own title, the 1950s, tv show "Sheena, Queen of The Jungle" was set in Kenya but filmed on locations in the jungles of Mexico. Anita Ekberg was originally slated to play the title role, but when she backed out to star in John Wayne movie, Irish McCalla was drafted in to fill out the leopard-skin leotard. Tanya Robers and Gena Lee Nolin have subsequently played Sheena in movies and on TV. Former ballerina Yvone Craig, whose screen credits include playing opposite Elvis Presley in the 1964 movie "Kissin' Cousins" was introduced as crimefighter Batgirl, in the third and final season of the campy 1960s, TV series "Batman" the character was resurfaced in tv and movies, with Alicia Silverstone among those who have donned the uniform. Based on the DC Comics title, "Wonder Woman" aired in the '70s making a tv star of former Miss World USA, Lynda Carter. The success of the Christopher Reeve "Superman" movies led to the 1984 movie "Supergirl" starring screen Newcomer Helen Slater as the "Girl of Steel" The next year, following the success of the Arnold Schwarzenegger "Conan The Barbarian" and "Conan the Destroyer" movies Brigitte Nielsen starred as "Red Sonja" Schwarzenegger's appearance in the movie failed to help it at the box office. The character has since resurfaced in the "Conan" series, and Rose McGowan is slated to portray Red Sonja in an upcoming movie. In 1990s, saw Talisa Soto star as "Vampirella" Lori Petty became Tank Girl" and Janeane Garofolo play The Bowler in the comedy "Mystery Men" this decade, Jennifer Garner stared as "Electra" and Jessica Alba "Fantastic Four" movies. Oscar-winner Halle Berry has tackled two comic book roles to date, taking the lead in "Catwoman" a role previously played by Eartha Kitt, Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether and Michelle Pfeiffer and playing Storm in the likes of Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen and Rebecca Romijn as fellow super-powered mutants. The eagerly-anticipated movie adaptation of the "Watchmen" comic book features Malin Akerman as costumed vigilante Silk Spectre, the latest in a line of powerful women carved from the pages of comic books and graphic novels.

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