Superhero film (which debuted in Marvel Comics) and set the stage for further comic book film adaptations. After the comic book boom and the success of several comic book adaptation films (including superhero films) in the 1990s, the first decade of the 21st century brought increased interest in the genre and some of the most profitable superhero franchises, many from Marvel Enterprises. The success of the "X-Men" TV series had made 20th Century Fox license the film rights in 1994. After the success of "Men in Black" in 1997, Columbia Pictures licensed the film rights of "Spider-Man" in 1999. 20th Century Fox's
Superhero comics Superhero comics Superhero comics are one of the most common genres of American comic books. The genre rose to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s and has remained the dominant form of comic book in North America since the 1960s. Superhero comics feature stories about superheroes and the universes these characters inhabit. Beginning with the introduction of Superman in 1938 in "Action Comics" #1 — an anthology of adventure features — comic books devoted to superheroes (heroic people with extraordinary or superhuman abilities and skills, or god-like powers and attributes) ballooned into a widespread genre, coincident with the beginnings of