Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 5, 2017 9:53:46 GMT -5
 I've always had a bit of a soft spot for comic book adaptations of feature films. As most of you will know, I'm a huge fan of Marvel's old Bronze Age Star Wars comic, which itself spun out of an adaptation of the original 1977 movie. Of course, like all sensible folk, I consider Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson's version of The Empire Strikes Back to be just about the pinnacle of comic book adaptations, but there are plenty of others that I enjoy too. As a kid, I didn't really get to go to the cinema all that often, so I inevitably ended up missing some of the films that I would have liked to have seen. Comic adaptations were a great substitute for actually seeing those films and, back in the days when films would often take years to eventually come out on home video, the comics were a way to relive your favourite movies again and again, whenever you wanted to. Among my favourite adaptations as a kid were the Star Wars trilogy (of course), Superman III, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Time Bandits, Krull, Star Trek III and, of course, Blade Runner. In the case of Blade Runner, I was much too young to get in and see the AA-rated film in 1982, so the comic book adaptation (which Marvel UK serialised in the back of Return of the Jedi Weekly in 1983) was a Godsend. I loved Goodwin and Williamson's masterful re-creation of that film and, for many years, it was the only way that I experienced Blade Runner. For me, between the ages of 10 and 14, that comic adaptation was the film. It wasn't until the movie appeared on VHS video in 1986 that I finally got to see it. Today, Blade Runner is easily one of my Top 10 favourite films ever, but the Marvel comic adaptation holds a special place in my heart as being the first version of Ridley Scott's masterpiece that I encountered. Another really cool thing about comic adaptations is that, very often, they were based on a film's shooting script, and written and drawn months before a film's final edit was completed. This often resulted in scenes that ended up being deleted from the film being present in the comic version, which was fascinating. It was sort of like getting a "director's cut" long before such things really existed in the marketplace. So, who else loves comic adaptations of films? Are there any that you especially love? Any you thought really, really sucked? Feel free to talk about the ensuing series that these adaptations spawned too. And what about modern film adaptations? Do today's movie comic adaptations compare to the classics? |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 5, 2017 10:35:35 GMT -5
Archie & Walt's Alien is fantastic and really gives you a feel for the film, while successfully translating it to a comic. I remember thumbing through it in a bookstore, when the movie came out. Blade Runner is another favorite, due to Archie and Al Williamson; but, also for the Steranko cover. Steranko's Outland, in the pages of Heavy Metal, is a thing of beauty and an interesting visual experiment to adapt the film. It's a weird mix of book illustration, comic book art, movie poster illustration and storyboard. I have a soft spot for the old Dell/Gold Key Disney adaptations, many done by Dan Spiegle. The layouts were usually standard fare; but, they were pretty good at portraying the fun of the movies. The comic adaptation of Lt Robin Crusoe, and the novelization, convinced me it was a far funnier film than it actually was (once it finally appeared on the Wonderful World of Disney). I had the Whitman bagged set of Condorman, with the first two issues adapting the film and the third having a new story. Pretty good stuff and made me want to see the film, which took quite a while. The film was cheesier than the comic; but, it has a certain charm to it. Raiders of the Lost Ark was a good one, as was Chaykin's For Your Eyes Only, which also succeeds as a James Bond comic. It's hard to say about modern adaptations, as publishers don't do many, anymore. Now it is all prequels to the film story, or just a collection of the stories that were filtered into the script. Home video did much to kill the market for media adaptations of films and tv. What was often disappointing was when the artist didn't have much photo reference. Western's adaptation of Buck Rogers suffers from this and the Draconian Marauder ships are drawn like old Werner Von Braun designs, with exposed rocket tanks and such. Also, their uniforms are way of and Ardala is toned way down. The Flash Gordon one they did was excellent, with Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon doing the art. The Battlestar Galactica one was also a disappointment, as a kid, as the Galactica, in the interior pages, didn't even look close (in the Super Special, I can't recall if they touched up the art for the debut of the series or not). A cousin had the World's Unknown issue, with the adaptation of Killdozer.  |
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Post by urrutiap on Jul 5, 2017 10:39:16 GMT -5
I love comic book adaptations of movies.
I used to have the Terminator 2 comic adaptation trade collection years ago but I dunno what happened to it.
Plus I used to have the Willow comic book adaptation issues of the movie.
The only ones I still have are Ninja Turtles 2 and Ninja Turtles 3 comic book adaptations of the movies.
Good stuff too
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 5, 2017 10:54:10 GMT -5
Movie adaptations were some of the first comics I ever read/owned. Some of my first comics were the adaptations of Return of the Jedi and The Last Starfighter. Definitely a product of a bygone era. Nowadays if you want to re-experience a beloved movie, it's not hard to do so -- get the DVD, stream it, watch an airing on TV. Back then, video tapes were expensive to purchase, and didn't release as quickly as they do now. And unless you had access to a video rental store, you didn't have many options. Comic adaptations (along with novelizations) of movies were some of my favorite forms of entertainment back then.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
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Post by shaxper on Jul 5, 2017 11:21:04 GMT -5
I love the Power Records adaptations of the Planet of the Apes films. As the films get more mature in theme and subject matter, the adaptations have to find increasingly creative ways to remain family friendly. Their adaptation of Battle for the Planet of the Apes is particularly creative.  |
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Post by urrutiap on Jul 5, 2017 11:46:18 GMT -5
The new recent Star Wars Force Awakens and Rogue One comic book adapations they're ok I guess but if you've already seen the new movies then its a waste of time and money to read the comic book adaptations of Rogue One or even Force Awakens..
I also remember the 4 issue limited series of Return of the Jedi which is collected in the Dark Horse Long Time Ago omnibuses.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and 3 movie comic book adapations they had some odd artwork but I think they had some extra scenes or whatever that arent in the movie pretty much.
The comic book adaptation issues for Willow were pretty good since they had the weird lake mermaid creature moment and some other stuff that got cut out of the movie.
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 5, 2017 11:48:33 GMT -5
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Post by MDG on Jul 5, 2017 12:10:57 GMT -5
I think my favorite movie adaptation is Bissette and veitch's version of 1941--full color art with collage and MAD-type gags took things to the next level more than traditional adaptations.   But I looked at most of the 70s/80s adaptations were more like souvenirs/licensed products than a satisfying read in and of itself. I heard Walt Simonson talk about when he did the Close Encounters adaptation, the studio wouldn't show him the movie, let him take any stills, or draw from stills while at their office. Also, they didn't have the rights to Richard Dreyfuss' likeness, so the characters chubbier in the book. |
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Post by MDG on Jul 5, 2017 12:14:44 GMT -5
I think my favorite movie adaptation is Bissette and veitch's version of 1941--full color art with collage and MAD-type gags took things to the next level more than traditional adaptations. I take it back. This is my favorite:  Comic movie adaptations actually go back almost as far as comic books. From '39:  |
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 5, 2017 12:16:24 GMT -5
I think my favorite movie adaptation is Bissette and veitch's version of 1941--full color art with collage and MAD-type gags took things to the next level more than traditional adaptations. I take it back. This is my favorite: THAT was cheesecake giving Sara Lee a run for her money. |
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Jul 5, 2017 12:37:00 GMT -5
The best I can say is some of them have nice covers. Apart from Goodwin and Williamson, every one of these Ive read has been awful.
As its mentioned further up I'd like to add that I thought the Alien adaptation to be particularly bad, absolutely no tension in a story that screams tension. Might be pretty, might be lovely words, but this is a horror film which relies heavily on the build up of fear and adrenaline. Sure thats hard to translate to a funny book, but IMHO there was nothing here. Actually, just thunk it now, but maybe they told it as straight SF and therefore didnt need to try and build any.
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 5, 2017 12:40:23 GMT -5
The best I can say is some of them have nice covers. Apart from Goodwin and Williamson, every one of these Ive read has been awful. As its mentioned further up I'd like to add that I thought the Alien adaptation to be particularly bad, absolutely no tension in a story that screams tension. Might be pretty, might be lovely words, but this is a horror film which relies heavily on the build up of fear and adrenaline. Sure thats hard to translate to a funny book, but IMHO there was nothing here. Actually, just thunk it now, but maybe they told it as straight SF and therefore didnt need to try and build any. completely agree on Alien. I loved that film, and I loved Simonson from his early days, but he was absolutely wrong for that adaptation. should've been Wrightson or Gray Morrow, or even a young Bolland. |
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Post by badwolf on Jul 5, 2017 12:54:45 GMT -5
I had a bunch of these as a kid: the second and third Star Wars (though I wasn't a regular reader of the series), Raiders (in both "Super Special" and serial comic form), BSG, Krull, The Dark Crystal... I had Dragonslayer in a mass-market paperback version.
I remember not knowing exactly what an "adaptation" was, so I was confused when the comics would deviate or leave out scenes and dialogue from the movies that I had already seen.
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 5, 2017 13:08:08 GMT -5
I had a bunch of these as a kid: the second and third Star Wars (though I wasn't a regular reader of the series), Raiders (in both "Super Special" and serial comic form), BSG, Krull, The Dark Crystal... I had Dragonslayer in a mass-market paperback version. I remember not knowing exactly what an "adaptation" was, so I was confused when the comics would deviate or leave out scenes and dialogue from the movies that I had already seen. comics code authority. |
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Confessor
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Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Jul 5, 2017 13:18:32 GMT -5
Archie & Walt's Alien is fantastic and really gives you a feel for the film, while successfully translating it to a comic. This adaptation has been on my "wants list" for a long while now. They recently reprinted it (think it may've been Dark Horse), but I want an original copy. The Battlestar Galactica one was also a disappointment, as a kid, as the Galactica, in the interior pages, didn't even look close (in the Super Special, I can't recall if they touched up the art for the debut of the series or not). I had the first few issues of Marvel's Battlestar Galactica, but I eventually got rid of them. I think they were really poor and Ernie Colon seemed to be really "dialling it in". |
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