Much like the Western in the 1940s and 1950s, the “comic book movie” as a genre has absolutely exploded over the last two decades. What once felt like an impenetrable oddity has now become one of the most assured commercial successes, as major studios have pushed to churn out as many comic book movie adaptations as possible with no end in sight. But of course the “comic book movie” isn’t necessarily a genre. A History of Violence and Guardians of the Galaxy are both “comic book movies” but could not be more different in tone, execution, and theme. As …