Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jan 10, 2017 0:07:30 GMT -5
It's a masterpiece. Best comic adaptation of a movie bar none, as far I'm concerned. I think I'm conflating it in my memory with the adaptation of RotJ, which I'm currently reading. The ESB issues were pretty great. I think the ROTJ adaptation started off strong, but the wheels started to come off in the second half, as the comic's deadline loomed and Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon fell behind schedule. The array of other artists that were brought in to get it finished (many of whom aren't credited), gives the adaptation's second half a jarring, uneven feel. Williamson also squanders or underplays key moments in the adaptation, like the speeder bike chase, for instance. Archie Goodwin could've done with another couple of issues to tell the story too, since there are some fairly important scenes that either feel rushed or are left out all together. The Jedi adaptation isn't terrible by any means, but it's definitely a disappointment compared to The Empire Strikes Back.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jan 10, 2017 0:20:35 GMT -5
ASTONISHING TALES #11, featuring Ka-Zar This is one of my favourite classic comics. I think it's the first time we're told Ka-Zar's origin in detail, as written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia. It's dynamic, it's straightforward, it's engaging, and it brings in plenty of material begging to be developed in the future; it's a perfect origin issue. I'm just no exactly sure what Vibranium is supposed to be, though. A few issues ago it was said to be so unstable that it could explode if you just shook it a little hard; here it's an "anti-metal" that supposedly can destroy other metals, and in future comics it will become a near indestructible metal capable of absorbing sound. Here it's also described as a new element the existence of which only Ka-Zar's father had predicted, something that just couldn't happen in real life... but anyway. This is in the same league as Marvel Premiere #1, which coincidentally enough is also a Thomas/Kane production! It's actually a retelling of the origin sequence from Daredevil #13. Also, anti-metal is an isotope of vibranium with different physical properties.
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Post by berkley on Jan 10, 2017 2:33:23 GMT -5
Did the comics adaptations ever try to improve on the films in any way or did they pretty much stick to the script? I'm thinking of Return of the Jedi, where, like, I'm sure, many viewers, I wouldn't mind seeing the Ewoks downplayed - or even eliminated altogether!
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jan 10, 2017 10:12:15 GMT -5
Did the comics adaptations ever try to improve on the films in any way or did they pretty much stick to the script? I'm thinking of Return of the Jedi, where, like, I'm sure, many viewers, I wouldn't mind seeing the Ewoks downplayed - or even eliminated altogether! Actually, the Ewoks' presence in the story and involvement in overthrowing the Empire is downplayed in the ROTJ adaptation, at least in comparison to the film. I think this was mostly down to Archie Goodwin struggling to fit all the film's story into four issues, rather than a deliberate attempt to minimise the Ewoks appearances though. The Empire adaptation sticks very closely to the shooting script and, as a result, it includes some scenes or sub-plots that were left on the cutting room floor when the film was released.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 10, 2017 11:48:00 GMT -5
Last year, I picked comics from every decade from the 1930s to the present and wrote a few sentences about these comics from time to time on this thread. Well, I got a few comics in the mail recently and bought some digital comics and got a Steve Ditko book from the library that's all 1950s stuff, and I realized that just by adding a couple of things, I could review comics decade by decade again.
Here's what I'm reading for the current project:
1930s - The first few issues of Jumbo Comics - I thought about skipping the comics of the 1930s because they are kind of hard to get. But then I remembered that a lot of public domain comics are available for free online and I found the early issues of Fiction House's Jumbo Comics (from 1938) at COMIC BOOK PLUS. I read half the first issue of Jumbo Comics this morning, and it's so weird! It's got quite a variety of comics, humor, funny animal, a literary adaptation (The Count of Monte Christo), adventure on the high seas, jungle adventure (Sheena) and so on. And nothing is more than five pages. Also, it's in black and white. And the contributors are people like Will Eisner and Jack Kirby and Bob Kane! (Apparently, Will Eisner wrote the first Sheena comic.)
1940s - Batman #27 and #35 - I bought these digitally a couple of weeks ago and have only read a couple of the stories.
1950s - Steve Ditko stories for Charlton in the 1950s - I have two compilations that I got from the library and have only barely begun to look at them. They are great!
1960s - Strange Tales #147 to #150 - I got these digitally from Comixology and have already read #149 and #150.
1970s - Detective Comics #406
1980s - Legion of Super-Heroes #276 to #279, #281
1990s - The Doom Patrol #68 to #70
2000s - JLA Classified #22
2010s - Providence #8 (and whatever else I pick up at the comic-book shop over the next couple of weeks).
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 10, 2017 16:51:38 GMT -5
I'm still reading through Jumbo Comics #1. It's a lot of pages. And I just came across several pages of an adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame with art by Dick Briefer!
This is the year before the 1939 film version with Charles Laughton, so Quasimodo looks like Lon Chaney.
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Post by princesofpilbarra on Jan 11, 2017 5:10:20 GMT -5
Great. What a hero who need another hero to save him.
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 11, 2017 6:51:03 GMT -5
Atari Force #1-2.
Gorgeous Art by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (and I was surprised to read on the LOC page that it was his first monthly series). The man is brilliant when it comes to sci-fi designs, on top of ,astering the human anatomy and camera angles.
The script introduces several interesting characters, although some plot elements haven't aged well. Dialogs are filled with clichés, which is a bit distracting.
An amusing aspect is that whoever wrote up the material for the character files seems to have a problem with the metric system... Martin Champion is supposed to be 2,55 meters tall, which corresppnds to roughly eight feet four. Other characters are said to be equally giganic, including the diminutive Packrat who stands up at more than two meters. (I could buy that people in the far future of 2020 will be towering giants, but their weights is given as being normal...which means they really should loog like string beans).
I think I'll keep reading the following issues. This is one really nice old series.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 11, 2017 10:46:30 GMT -5
Atari Force #1-2.Gorgeous Art by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (and I was surprised to read on the LOC page that it was his first monthly series). The man is brilliant when it comes to sci-fi designs, on top of ,astering the human anatomy and camera angles. The script introduces several interesting characters, although some plot elements haven't aged well. Dialogs are filled with clichés, which is a bit distracting. An amusing aspect is that whoever wrote up the material for the character files seems to have a problem with the metric system... Martin Champion is supposed to be 2,55 meters tall, which corresppnds to roughly eight feet four. Other characters are said to be equally giganic, including the diminutive Packrat who stands up at more than two meters. (I could buy that people in the far future of 2020 will be towering giants, but their weights is given as being normal...which means they really should loog like string beans). I think I'll keep reading the following issues. This is one really nice old series. Garcia-Lopez is and was a very slow penciler and it's always been prohibitive for him to keep up with a monthly book. It's also one of the reasons, along with his classic style, that he did so much of DC's advertising work.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jan 11, 2017 12:56:40 GMT -5
Atari Force #1-2.Gorgeous Art by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (and I was surprised to read on the LOC page that it was his first monthly series). The man is brilliant when it comes to sci-fi designs, on top of ,astering the human anatomy and camera angles. The script introduces several interesting characters, although some plot elements haven't aged well. Dialogs are filled with clichés, which is a bit distracting. An amusing aspect is that whoever wrote up the material for the character files seems to have a problem with the metric system... Martin Champion is supposed to be 2,55 meters tall, which corresppnds to roughly eight feet four. Other characters are said to be equally giganic, including the diminutive Packrat who stands up at more than two meters. (I could buy that people in the far future of 2020 will be towering giants, but their weights is given as being normal...which means they really should loog like string beans). I think I'll keep reading the following issues. This is one really nice old series. I love me some Atari Force. I have the whole series and the Annual. It's just classic space opera and Garcia-Lopez's artwork is gorgeous (he only pencils the first half of the series though, right?). The characters are all really good, with Dart and Packrat being by far my two favourites. You know, you should do an Atari Force review thread, RR! I'd definitely read along and pick holes in you-- ...sorry, I mean, offer my own thoughtful comments as you go along. You know, there was also an Atari Force mini-series that came out before this in 1982, which was given away in Atari video games. It featured the earlier Atari Force team that are referenced throughout the main series. I've never read it, but it's been on my Wants List for a long time.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Jan 11, 2017 17:49:05 GMT -5
You know, there was also an Atari Force mini-series that came out before this in 1982, which was given away in Atari video games. It featured the earlier Atari Force team that are referenced throughout the main series. I've never read it, but it's been on my Wants List for a long time. It's not nearly as good, in my opinion, but it's still interesting as a prequel to the main series.
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 11, 2017 18:49:12 GMT -5
Atari Force #1-2.Gorgeous Art by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (and I was surprised to read on the LOC page that it was his first monthly series). The man is brilliant when it comes to sci-fi designs, on top of ,astering the human anatomy and camera angles. The script introduces several interesting characters, although some plot elements haven't aged well. Dialogs are filled with clichés, which is a bit distracting. An amusing aspect is that whoever wrote up the material for the character files seems to have a problem with the metric system... Martin Champion is supposed to be 2,55 meters tall, which corresppnds to roughly eight feet four. Other characters are said to be equally giganic, including the diminutive Packrat who stands up at more than two meters. (I could buy that people in the far future of 2020 will be towering giants, but their weights is given as being normal...which means they really should loog like string beans). I think I'll keep reading the following issues. This is one really nice old series. I love me some Atari Force. I have the whole series and the Annual. It's just classic space opera and Garcia-Lopez's artwork is gorgeous (he only pencils the first half of the series though, right?). The characters are all really good, with Dart and Packrat being by far my two favourites. You know, you should do an Atari Force review thread, RR! I'd definitely read along and pick holes in you-- ...sorry, I mean, offer my own thoughtful comments as you go along. You know, there was also an Atari Force mini-series that came out before this in 1982, which was given away in Atari video games. It featured the earlier Atari Force team that are referenced throughout the main series. I've never read it, but it's been on my Wants List for a long time. There was an Atari Force insert in some DC comics around that time, with art by Russ Andru. I'd have to look it up.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2017 23:35:56 GMT -5
I love me some Atari Force. I have the whole series and the Annual. It's just classic space opera and Garcia-Lopez's artwork is gorgeous (he only pencils the first half of the series though, right?). The characters are all really good, with Dart and Packrat being by far my two favourites. You know, you should do an Atari Force review thread, RR! I'd definitely read along and pick holes in you-- ...sorry, I mean, offer my own thoughtful comments as you go along. You know, there was also an Atari Force mini-series that came out before this in 1982, which was given away in Atari video games. It featured the earlier Atari Force team that are referenced throughout the main series. I've never read it, but it's been on my Wants List for a long time. There was an Atari Force insert in some DC comics around that time, with art by Russ Andru. I'd have to look it up. DC Graphic Novel #1 Star Raiders by Elliot S! Maggin and Jose Garcia-Lopez is also set inthe Atari Force universe and is a offshoot of the Atari Force. -M
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Post by berkley on Jan 11, 2017 23:42:55 GMT -5
Did the comics adaptations ever try to improve on the films in any way or did they pretty much stick to the script? I'm thinking of Return of the Jedi, where, like, I'm sure, many viewers, I wouldn't mind seeing the Ewoks downplayed - or even eliminated altogether! Actually, the Ewoks' presence in the story and involvement in overthrowing the Empire is downplayed in the ROTJ adaptation, at least in comparison to the film. I think this was mostly down to Archie Goodwin struggling to fit all the film's story into four issues, rather than a deliberate attempt to minimise the Ewoks appearances though. The Empire adaptation sticks very closely to the shooting script and, as a result, it includes some scenes or sub-plots that were left on the cutting room floor when the film was released. Hmm, I'm almost tempted to look for this, even though I'm not usually one for adaptations.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jan 12, 2017 8:37:57 GMT -5
Atari Force #1-2.Gorgeous Art by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (and I was surprised to read on the LOC page that it was his first monthly series). The man is brilliant when it comes to sci-fi designs, on top of ,astering the human anatomy and camera angles. The script introduces several interesting characters, although some plot elements haven't aged well. Dialogs are filled with clichés, which is a bit distracting. An amusing aspect is that whoever wrote up the material for the character files seems to have a problem with the metric system... Martin Champion is supposed to be 2,55 meters tall, which corresppnds to roughly eight feet four. Other characters are said to be equally giganic, including the diminutive Packrat who stands up at more than two meters. (I could buy that people in the far future of 2020 will be towering giants, but their weights is given as being normal...which means they really should loog like string beans). I think I'll keep reading the following issues. This is one really nice old series. I love me some Atari Force. I have the whole series and the Annual. It's just classic space opera and Garcia-Lopez's artwork is gorgeous (he only pencils the first half of the series though, right?). The characters are all really good, with Dart and Packrat being by far my two favourites. You know, you should do an Atari Force review thread, RR! I'd definitely read along and pick holes in you-- ...sorry, I mean, offer my own thoughtful comments as you go along. You know, there was also an Atari Force mini-series that came out before this in 1982, which was given away in Atari video games. It featured the earlier Atari Force team that are referenced throughout the main series. I've never read it, but it's been on my Wants List for a long time. Atari Force is next on my to-read list, as soon as I wrap up Micronauts #1-12. I would love to follow a review thread!
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