Thanks for bringing back the love to this movie and comic. They were a huge influence on me in high school. I remember being deeply affected by the experience of reading the comic, to the point of feeling physically ill. It tries so hard to create despair and rage, and at the time I was completely taken with it. I wish the movie had been able to capture that more, but I agree that a straight adaptation wouldn't have worked.
Douchey-nerd footnote: The electrical tape on his arms came from the comic. In that version, he had to stay focused on his rage or he would lose his power and become vulnerable or "die" again. So there's a scene in the comic in which he's reminiscing about his girlfriend/fiancee/wife while he's slicing his arms with a straight razor to amplify and focus the pain. Those wounds wouldn't heal though, because they were self-inflicted. Hence the tape. (It's been a while, but I don't think I made all that up...)