Despite a massive media push from the geek hype machine anticipation, 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,' ended up being one of the biggest flops of the year, pulling in just $10 million on its opening weekend against a $60 million budget. The reason? While hardcore comic fans, hipsters and indie trendmakers queued up around the block for 'Scott Pilgrim,' the general public stayed away in droves, their absence asking a simple question: Scott who?

It's a reasonable question. And with 'Scott Pilgrim's' failure, it's becoming increasingly hard to escape the fact that when it comes to Hollywood's obsession with comic books, A-list properties are an endangered species, with nary a Batman, Superman or Spider-man anywhere in sight this summer. Oh, sure, we got 'Iron Man 2,' but that was a sequel and let's face it: Before 2008, nobody knew who Iron Man was either. Despite a massive media push from the geek hype machine anticipation, 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,' ended up being one of the biggest flops of the year, pulling in just $10 million on its opening weekend against a $60 million budget. The reason? While hardcore comic fans, hipsters and indie trendmakers queued up around the block for 'Scott Pilgrim,' the general public stayed away in droves, their absence asking a simple question: Scott who?

It's a reasonable question. And with 'Scott Pilgrim's' failure, it's becoming increasingly hard to escape the fact that when it comes to Hollywood's obsession with comic books, A-list properties are an endangered species, with nary a Batman, Superman or Spider-man anywhere in sight this summer. Oh, sure, we got 'Iron Man 2,' but that was a sequel and let's face it: Before 2008, nobody knew who Iron Man was either.

Of course, that's the hope for studios, who continue to put out movies based on more obscure titles and characters like 'The Losers,' 'Kick-Ass,' 'Jonah Hex' and 'Scott Pilgrim' in the hopes that one of them will catch fire and become the next 'Iron Man.' And despite those disappointments, with only a handful of household names left for studios to adapt -- Wonder Woman and her super friends Flash and Aquaman are the only real powerhouses left, and all of them have projects already in development at Warner Bros. -- it's a trend that's only going to accelerate in the future.

So that begs the question: What lesser-known comics should Hollywood adapt next if it wants to avoid the 'Scott Pilgrim' trap? Luckily for the studios, we've come up with a list that's sure to save them a lot of time. Without further ado, then, here are our top choices for the lesser known comics that deserve to become the next big thing in movies.
• 'RASL' Cartoonist extraordinaire Jeff Smith vaulted to fame with his epic fantasy 'Bone,' but we think his current sci-fi series 'RASL' would be the better adaptation; it's tale of a rogue scientist who is pursued through a series of alternate universes by a shadowy government organization would make the perfect high-action and high-concept film to capture crowds primed by 'Inception.'
• 'Fables' One of the most critically acclaimed comics of the past decade, 'Fables' tells the story of a group of legendary characters -- including such luminaries as Snow White, Old King Cole, Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs -- who are forced to flee their fairy tale world and take refuge on Earth when an evil being called The Adversary overruns their idyllic fantasy world. Movie and television adaptations have been rumored for years -- a 'Fables' script bible was circulating as far back as 2003 -- but so far, nobody has managed to make it work. It's well past time.
• 'Invincible' Mark Grayson, better known as the teenage superhero Invincible, has a lot to live up to; his dad, after all, is Omni-Man, the world's greatest hero. But when Mark discovers Omni-Man's terrible secret and learns that his father is, in fact, a mole sent by aliens to prepare Earth for conquest, he faces a much bigger problem than just living up to his dad's expectations. Now, he has to somehow defeat his dad as well or else the entire world will become enslaved. And you thought you had family issues.
• 'Elfquest' Since 'Elfquest' first exploded onto the comics scene back in 1977 with its groundbreaking mix of epic fantasy and manga-influenced artwork, the series, about a group of elves on a journey to discover their origin, has captured thousands of fans -- and defied nearly as many attempts to adapt it for the movies. But with animation and fantasy both more popular than ever before, now seems like the perfect time to finally give this classic the lavish treatment it deserves.

• 'Deathlok' Before 'Robocop' and before 'Terminator' there was Deathlok the Demolisher, a time-traveling cyborg killing machine created from the remnants of murdered soldier Luther Manning. When Manning's consciousness re-awakens, however, he embarks on a deadly quest to overthrow the military/industrial complex that has taken over and ravaged his near-future America. While 'Deathlok' has never been more than a cult favorite among comic book fans, we think the reason is clear: because he was meant to star in the movies, not in the funny pages. We hope Hollywood feels the same way.