Honorable Mention: THE ADVENTURES OF TARZAN (1921)

• film serial (silent)
• released 12/1/1921
• directed by Robert F. Hill & Scott Sidney
• produced by Great Western Producing Company

CAST (boldface denoted character directly lifted from comic or source material)

Tarzan  (Elmo Lincoln)

Jane  (Louise Lorraine)

Clayton  (Scott Pembroke)

Rokoff  (Frank Whitson)

Monsieur Gernot  (Zip Monberg)

Queen La of Opar  (Lillian Worth)

Sheik Ben Ali  (Charles Gay)

Prof. Porter  (Charles Inslee)

My impressions:

The third and final appearance of Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan is a loose adaptation of the Burroughs novels The Return of Tarzan and Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. And I'll probably never bother seeing it as the only available print has chopped the original 15 chapter serial down to an incomprehensible 60 minutes.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX (2013)

• direct-to-video animated feature
• released 7/30/2013
• directed by Jay Oliva
• produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation
• based on the DC Comics "Flashpoint" maxi-series

CAST (boldface denotes a character directly lifted from comic or source material)

The Flash / Barry Allen  (Justin Chambers)

Professor Zoom / Eobard Thawne  (C. Thomas Howell)

Cyborg / Victor Stone  (Michael B. Jordan)

Batman / Thomas Wayne  (Kevin McKidd)

Etrigan the Demon / Top / Canterbury Cricket  (Dee Bradley Baker)

Lex Luthor / Captain Thunder  (Steve Blum)

Batman / Bruce Wayne  (Kevin Conroy)

Superman   (Sam Daly)

Lois Lane  (Dana Delany)

Nora Allen / Young Barry Allen / Martha Wayne  (Grey DeLisle)

Aquaman   (Cary Elwes)

Green Lantern / Hal Jordan  (Nathan Fillion)

Iris West / Billy Batson  (Jennifer Hale)

My impressions:

Haven't seen this one yet, but I will because I have great faith in WB Animation and their treatment of DC Comics' great treasurehouse of characters. Even when they fumble the ball, the end result is always worth seeing because they put in the time. They care and it shows.

Here's the imdb synopsis:

An alteration of the timeline for the superhero, The Flash, creates ripples that disastrously alters the Universe. The Flash must team with other heroes to restore the timeline while the Earth is ravaged by a war between Aquaman's Atlantis and Wonder Woman's Amazons.

Honorable Mention: THE MARK OF ZORRO (1920)

• feature film (silent)
• released 12/5/1920
• directed by Fred Niblo
• produced by Douglas Fairbanks Pictures
• based on the novella "The Curse of Capistrano" by Johnston McCulley
• the first Zorro adaptation in any medium
• in later versions of Batman's origin story, this is the film that Thomas and Martha Wayne took young Bruce to the night of their tragic murders

CAST (boldface denoted a character lifted directly from comic or source material)

Don Diego Vega / El Zorro  (Douglas Fairbanks)

Capitán Juan Ramon  (Robert McKim)

Lolita Pulido  (Marguerite De La Motte)

Bernardo  (Tote Du Crow)

Sgt. Pedro Gonzales  (Noah Beery)

Don Alejandro  (Sidney De Gray)

Fray Felipe  (Walt Whitman)

My impressions:

First, allow me to celebrate with you the first break in the reign of Tarzan. No offense, I love the Lord of the Jungle, but it's about time another heroic archetype was represented. And here he is!

As entrenched in the collective unconscious as he has become, Zorro, the champion of the peons of Old California, might have faded as quickly as he arrived. The creation of a pulp novelist with a very shaky knowledge of the actual history of 19th century California, Don Diego Vega's (sometimes named "De La Vega") debut adventure in All-Story Weekly happened to catch the idle eye of one of Hollywood's biggest stars, the dynamic Douglas Fairbanks who was looking for a new action property to bring to the big screen.

The film, The Mark of Zorro, is one of the most successful silent films of its time and certainly influential. It holds up today with its kinetic pace and amazing stunts as designed and performed by Fairbanks himself. And the character he delineated - both the laughing, masked daredevil "El Zorro" (The Fox) and his public face, the outwardly foppish Don Diego - went on to influence every super hero with a dual identity that would follow.

Highly recommended!

Honorable Mention: STEVEN UNIVERSE (2013)

• animated TV series
• created by Rebecca Sugar (former artist/writer on Adventure Time)
• debuted on Cartoon Network 11/4/2013 (yet IMDB lists 7/27/2013 - so I'm going with that official date)

CAST (boldface denotes character directly lifted from comic or source material)

Steven Universe  (Zach Callison)

Garnet  (Estelle)

Amethyst  (Michaela Dietz)

Pearl  (Deedee Magno)

My impressions:

Well, to be honest, while this looks adorable and, if it's anything like Adventure Time, it's probably funny and surreal as well, but I don't know if I'll ever get around to seeing this.  Why include it? Thoroughness. Here's the description from Wikipedia:

"In Steven Universe, the world is protected from evil threats by the Crystal Gems, a group of intergalactic female warriors who use the power of special gem stones embedded on their bodies to summon magical weapons. Joining the cool-headed Garnet, the laid back Amethyst, and the gentle Pearl, all teenage girls, is the unlikely fourth member of the team; the eponymous Steven, a young boy who inherited a gem stone from his mother, a Crystal Gem named Rose Quartz. As Steven tries to figure out the secrets to using his gem, he spends his days in Beach City doing activities with the other Crystal Gems, whether it's helping them save the universe or just hanging out."

Honorable Mention: SON OF TARZAN (1920)

• film serial (silent)
• released 05/?/1920
• directed by Arthur J. Flaven and Harry Revier
• based on the Burroughs novel of the same name, the main character is actually Korak, Tarzan's son, though the old man does show up
• a National Film Producing Corporation production

CAST (boldface denotes characters directly lifted from the comic or source material)

Korak, Son of Tarzan  (Kamuela C. Searle)

Lord Greystoke / Tarzan  (P. Dempsey Tabler)

Meriem  (Manilla Martan)

Lady Greystoke / Jane  (Karla Schramm)

Ivan Paulovich  (Eugene Burr)

Sheik Amor Ben Khatour  (Frank Morrell)

My impressions:

Haven't seen it and, so the web tells me, the only version available is an indecipherable mess, chopped-down from the serial length to a short feature.

HULK AND THE AGENTS OF S.M.A.S.H. (2013)

• half-hour animated series
• debuted 8/11/2013
• airs on Disney XD channel
• a Film Roman/Marvel Animation production
• guest-starring characters portrayed from the comics: The Leader, Devil Dinosaur, J. Jonah Jameson, Annihilus, The Thing, Absorbing Man, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Ego the Living Planet, Mole Man, Wendigo, The Collector, Laufey, Titania, Doc Samson, Galactus, Terrax

CAST (boldface denotes a character directly lifted from the comic or source material)

Hulk  (Fred Tatasciore)

Red Hulk  (Clancy Brown)

A-Bomb/Rick Jones  (Seth Green)

Skaar  (Ben Diskin)

She-Hulk  (Eliza Dushku)

My impressions:

Haven't caught this yet, but there are good names behind it (Paul Dini is listed as a series writer). It seems aimed at a younger crowd (which is a good thing), but you gotta love the cartoons for not worrying about budgets or costumes! And it's readily apparent they are dipping deeply into the Marvel Universe's pool of characters. I approve. 

Honorable Mention: THE REVENGE OF TARZAN (1920)

• feature film (silent)
• released 5/30/1920
• NOT a sequel to the previous Elmo Lincoln Tarzan films
• directed by Harry Revier and George M. Merrick
• produced by the Great Western Film Producing Company

CAST (boldface denotes character directly lifted from comic or source material)

Tarzan  (Gene Pollar)

Jane  (Karla Schramm)

Countess de Coude  (Estelle Taylor)

Nikolas Rokoff  (Armand Cortes)

Paul D'Arnot  (Franklin B. Coates)

Count de Coude  (George Romain)

My impressions:

Another lost silent film. All I can tell you is what I've found on the web, that this was based on the Burroughs novel The Return of Tarzan and that this go 'round Tarzan was portrayed by Gene Pollar.