Despite starting on a high in 1978, by 1997 there could be no doubt that the superhero genre was all but dead. So, whatever happened to the heroes? Join John Rain as he walks through every film of note from 1978 to 1997, from Flash Gordon to Spider Man and examines just what went wrong, and how.

THIS IS THE GUIDE TO CLASSIC SUPERHERO MOVIES YOU NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED.

If you mention the word 'superhero' these days, the mind is immediately bombarded by visions from the MCU, DCU and all the numerous phases, extended TV series and animated side-specials that combine to make our eyes bleed with a barrage of different characters fighting each other.

But before 1997 people would generally only think of a few things: Christopher Reeve smiling as his Superman kept a watchful eye over Earth's atmosphere, Michael Keaton's Batman running around Gotham dressed in moulded rubber, Nicholas Hammond's Spider-Man being hauled up a wall on a rope, Bill Bixby trying not to unleash his inner Hulk and Flash Gordon camply swashbuckling his way around another galaxy.

It's time to don your cowl, cape, shredded jeans and Vultan leatherwear and join John Rain as he wades his way through twenty classic superhero films that stunned, amazed and baffled the world from 1978 to 1997.

IS IT A BIRD? IS IT A PLANE? NO, IT'S SUPERBOOK!

'The perfect way to enjoy the best and worst films of your childhood' - Ed Byrne