Sequential history

My wife and I made a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation the other day whilst waiting in queue to watch 'Miami Vice', that by the time the 4th sequel of every character the Marvel/DC comics stable had come out, our kids would (theoretically) be going to college. Think about it: Spiderman-3 in May 2007, Fantastic Four (2008), Hulk sequel (2008), Batman (2008)...then you have the Hellboys and Spawns, not to mention Thor, Black Panther et al who are just starting to crawl out from under the woodwork at comic-central. So where does that leave the average movie-goer? And how long do the guys at Marvel/DC think they can keep this up before the comic-book juggernaut runs out of steam?

If the responses of the 30-40 something crowd at my local Vue are anything to go by, they don't have much to worry about. I caught one bespectacled, pop-corn-chewing, father-of-three, middle-aged hombre staring goggle-eyed at the screen as he took in Brandon Routh's latest capers, whilst the hapless wife slept with her eyes open in the seat beside him. The expression on his face said it all. To quote Kevin Spacey in his latest avatar as the balding Lex Luthor ' Bring it on!'

We just can't get enough.