Hollywood continues to mine the comic-book industry for all it's worth, and the result is that more and more popular superheroes make their debut in theaters and on television each year.

<b>The+Adventures+of+Shark+Boy+and+Lavagirl+in+3-D+(2005)</b>

<b><a+class='autolink'+href='https://dvd.ign.com/objects/848/848333.html'>Blankman</a>+(1994)</b>

<b><a+class='autolink'+href='https://bluray.ign.com/objects/065/065737.html'>Darkman</a>+(1990)</b>

<b><a+class='autolink'+href='https://movies.ign.com/objects/061/061895.html'>Defendor</a>+(2009)</b>

<b><a+class='autolink'+href='https://movies.ign.com/objects/487/487297.html'>Hancock</a>+(2008)</b>

But the superhero craze doesn't stop there. Hollywood occasionally attempts to create original superheroes on top of the likes of Batman and Spider-Man. Sometimes that's a good thing, as in the case of The Incredibles . Other times... not so much.Let's look back at some of the more significant attempts to create new heroes for the big and small screen, and judge whether or not they managed to live up to the heroic standard of the comic industry...Robert Rodriguez took a break from the Spy Kids franchise for a similarly family-oriented tale about superhero children come to life. Here, Shark Boy was a Tarzan-like boy raised by sharks, while Lavagirl could make lava and fire.While the movie borrowed a little of everything from the X-Men to Harry Potter, it never struck a chord with audiences or critics. However, this may have been due less to any storytelling problems and more to the hideous 3D effects that plague most of the action sequences. Conceptually, Sharkboy and Lavagirl was sound, and it managed to spin out into the realm of comic books for a brief period.Blankman is surely one of the more bizarre superheroes Hollywood has cooked up. This character channels his naive innocence and his love of Batman into a costumed alter ego designed to protect the ghetto from crack dens and gangsters.Blankman suffered from not really knowing what it wanted to accomplish. The movie is generally silly, but also veers towards the dramatic side of the spectrum later in the film. Is it a brainless comedy or a legitimate satire of superhero storytelling? Can anyone buy Damon Wayans as a superhero in the first place? It's never quite clear with Blankman.Before Sam Raimi was the man responsible for the multi-billion dollar Spider-Man franchise, he was a cult-favorite director trying his best to make a Shadow movie. When that fell through, he created his own original vigilante – Darkman.This hero looked and operated like The Shadow, but he had enough suffering and pathos to make even Batman raise an eyebrow. This horribly burned character possesses enhanced strength and synthetic skin that disintegrates after remaining in the sun for longer than 99 minutes.Darkman carved a niche for himself in a market that was largely devoid of quality superhero movies. Sadly, the two forgettable direct-to-video sequels all but buried the hero for good.Defendor is one of several recent films to explore the idea of ordinary people becoming superheroes. In this case, Defendor is a mentally ill psychiatric patient who battles his nemesis, Captain Industry. The plot of the film is pretty outlandish despite the realistic surroundings, but at least the characters do a good job of keeping things grounded. Though somewhat comedic in tone, Defendor is in many ways a more serious take on the real-world superhero premise than Kick-Ass.Hancock had the misfortune of debuting in one of the most superhero-crowded summers in Hollywood history. That certainly didn't help the movie stand out, but the filmmakers also made plenty of mistakes that sealed the movie's own doom. Will Smith was strangely unlikable as the gruff, alcoholic superhero Hancock. While this might have actually been a worthwhile change for the actor, the film veered too often towards comedy and slapstick. Moreover, the script was a jumbled mess that reportedly went through numerous rewrites before and during filming. Hancock could have been one of Hollywood's more successful superhero creations, but the first film pretty much killed any hopes for a franchise.