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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 13, 2018 9:48:51 GMT -5
Here we go! You younger folks out there may have trouble relating to this, but there was a time when you didn’t have 24/7 access to old movies. Unless you were majoring (or minoring, in my case) in Film Studies, you either waited for one of your local stations to air an old, beat-up, badly edited print crammed to the ceiling with commercials or you went without. There was one, glorious exception, a classic from 1939 that CBS aired faithfully every year, sometimes at Easter, sometimes at Thanksgiving. Watching this movie quickly became a family ritual. This accounts, at least in part, for my affection for 12. MGM's Marvelous Wizard of Oz
The first joint publication of Marvel and DC, this 1975-dated treasury-sized adaptation has one of the more improbable behind-the-scenes stories in comics history. Edited and scripted by Roy Thomas, inked by Tony DeZuñiga and The Tribe, lettered by Gaspar Saladino, and colored by Glynis Wein, every one tops in their field, the real star of the show is the late, great John Buscema. According to both Thomas and Big John himself, the artist was so enthused about the prohject that he didn’t even wait for a script.plot outline. Instead, using only a handful of stills provided by MGM, Buscema recreated the entire movie from memory, getting every plot point and scene in the right order and with the appropriate emphases (by contrast, Roy’s job of filling in the dialogue using a shooting script forwarded by the studio, was a cake walk)! Even without the personal nostalgia angle, this astonishing feat is more than enough justification for the book’s inclusion on my list. Cei-U! I summon the ruby slippers! |
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Post by Phil Maurice on Dec 13, 2018 10:26:40 GMT -5
12. Captain Video
When I was a child growing up in the 70s, the 1950s were being mythologized on stage, screen, and in song (American Graffiti, Happy Days, Grease, etc.). I was born in 1967, but my parents had come of age in the 50s and it was through their reminiscences that my fascination with the era took hold. One of my mother's favorite programs to recall was Captain Video and his Video Rangers, a science-fiction television show that aired from 1949-1955, aimed at kids but which soon built up a respectable following among adults as well. Like many offerings from the mostly-forgotten Dumont network, it was the first of its genre on television and would spawn scores of imitators. So whether you prefer Star Trek to Lost in Space, or The Outer Limits to Doctor Who, all TV depictions of sci-fi begin here. Today, fewer than 30 episodes are believed to survive. The 1951 Captain Video comic book from Fawcett had a few advantages over its micro-budgeted inspiration. First, it was in color! Additionally, it was able to take its characters to wild, interstellar destinations, portray powerful space-craft, and weird, unearthly creatures that would be impossible for the show to present credibly. Working from scripts by a sadly unidentified writer, EC legend George Evans handles the bulk of the art chores throughout the series' imaginative, six issue run. His likenesses to the show's cast are faithful and the action proceeds at a vigorous pace. Evans' style really makes the fantastic sci-fi elements stand out against his more realistic depictions of the human characters. Photo covers adorn most issues. |
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Post by brutalis on Dec 13, 2018 10:45:18 GMT -5
12. Blade Runner
!982 Marvel Super Special #22. Writer Archie Goodwin. Artists Al Williamson, Carlos Garzon and Dan Green. Adapting the 1982 movie by Ridley Scott which in turn is based upon the novel from Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
As I am of the age to have seen the movie and bought the comic straight off the shelf to relive the magic of the movie anytime I wished when there were no DVD/VHS copies available and you only saw the movie on the big screen, i can truthfully say this comic is SPECTACULAR! Exquisite artwork that fully captures the darkly elegant mood and atmosphere of the, movie combined with a writer who understands what works and doesn't work in translation from a movie to comic adaption. This is a classic in every way which hits the mark in many ways. If you saw the movie you enjoy having the comic to relive it. If you haven't seen the movie this comic will help make you WANT to see it. And the comic even has the added benefit for making you want to read the book as well (which I went and searched for) to derive further entertainment.
Goodwin and Williamson and Garzon worked together adapting Star Wars to comics before joining to do up Blade Runner and to me this comic is better suited and stronger comic adaption. This is one I read and read so many times in the day and it still is just as strong and brilliant a read today as it was then.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Dec 13, 2018 11:14:40 GMT -5
The Three MusketeersAdapted by Naunerle Farr Artwork by Alex Niño  I encountered this particular adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers in the early '80s. Of course, I already knew of d'Artagnan and the Musketeers from the Richard Lester movies of the early '70s, which were regularly shown on British TV when I was a kid, but this was as close as I'd gotten to actually reading the source material up to that point. Initially published in the U.S. in 1974 as part of the Pendulum Illustrated Classics series, this adaptation was later reprinted in colour in Marvel Classics Comics #12 in 1976. But it didn't appear in the UK until 1981, along with a number of other volumes from the Pendulum Illustrated Classics series (re-titled for the British market as "Classics Illustrated"). Overall, it's a pretty faithful adaption of the novel, although it does kinda skip over some of the book's more superfluous scenes. That isn't necessarily a bad thing though, because it allows the comic to focus in on the core of the storyline instead: a perfect decision by Naunerle Farr, given that the book was squarely aimed at school-aged children. Alex Niño's artwork is very nice, with plenty of detail, and some exciting depictions of the novel's swashbuckling action sequences. Niño also gives the central cast very distinctive faces, with his Constance Bonacieux and the story's femme fatale, Milady de Winter, being very beautiful looking creatures indeed. Re-reading this today, it hasn't aged terribly well, to be honest: much of the dialogue is quite clunky, while the use of a typeface style font and sharp, square speech balloons is like a blight on Niño's artwork. But in spite of that, the artwork still shines and Dumas's adventure really does come to life on the page. I read this adaptation so much as a kid that, to this day, whenever anyone mentions the Three Musketeers, panels from the comic leap into my mind. For that reason alone, I knew it had to be on my list.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 13, 2018 11:26:08 GMT -5
12. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola, with inks by P. Craig Russell (DC, 1989) You've got Russell inking Mignola drawing a Victorian era Batman, you've got a 19th century amalgam of Frank Miller's Year One and Mike W. Barr's Year Two, and (most importantly to this event), you have an utterly unique depiction of Jack the Ripper that is both grounded in historical fact and also wildly creative in filling in the blanks beyond that. Sure, Augustyn writes a good story in which Jack's arrival in Gotham parallels Bruce's and becomes incredibly meaningful to Batman's early career. Augustyn even backtracks to make Jack an instrumental component in Batman's origin story. It's all clever enough and works, but where this story really takes the cake is in the fictional life Augustyn infuses into a real life character we know next to nothing about. His internal narration, complemented by Mignola and Russell's breath-taking imagery, is truly haunting and compelling.   It's a tremendous adaptation of real life horror to the fictional comic book page.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 13, 2018 11:28:52 GMT -5
The 1951 Captain Video comic book from Fawcett had a few advantages over its micro-budgeted inspiration. First, it was in color! Additionally, it was able to take its characters to wild, interstellar destinations, portray powerful space-craft, and weird, unearthly creatures that would be impossible for the show to present credibly.
I expect this will be a recurring theme in this year's selections. It is certainly my rationalization for at least one pick. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 11:33:32 GMT -5
12. Rainbow
Rainbow was a children's TV series which ran from 1972 to 1997. Presented by David Cook and then Geoffrey Hayes, the show was there to educate and entertain kids. Cook/Hayes shared a house with Bungle, a bear, George, a hippo, and Zippy, a, erm, not sure. Each episode would feature educational aspects, songs and some sort of adventure. From 1988 until the early 90s, Egmont UK published a comic based on the series:  The TV series was an important part of my childhood. It was very pleasant and did indeed entertain and educate me. Bungle, Zippy and George had a good rapport. Geoffrey was a very affable presenter. When not educating its audience, the show usually featured something fun such as the characters arguing or learning a vital life lesson. The comic was very vibrant, both from a storytelling perspective and an art perspective. It featured stories and activities. In a world before numerous entertainment options (so long before Netflix and the like), the comic was perfect for entertaining me when the show wasn't on the air or on the days it didn't air. We live in a world where people can watch or rewatch their favourite shows on YouTube or Netflix. And where franchises have numerous spin-offs from mobile phone games to graphic novels. Those spin-offs didn't exist, at least not ubiquitously, back then, so the Rainbow comic was a joyful ancillary form of entertainment which was very true to the spirit of the TV series.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,860
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Post by shaxper on Dec 13, 2018 11:36:04 GMT -5
We live in a world where people can watch or rewatch their favourite shows on YouTube or Netflix. And where franchises have numerous spin-offs from mobile phone games to graphic novels. Those spin-offs didn't exist, at least not ubiquitously, back then, so the Rainbow comic was a joyful ancillary form of entertainment which was very true to the spirit of the TV series.This is the kind of selection that rocks my world. Well done. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 11:42:46 GMT -5
Thank you, shaxper. Such a mindset has formed part of my selections.
It was tough, at times, waiting for something to come back on the air - or waiting months for a VHS release. So those ancillary forms of entertainment kept one going!
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 13, 2018 11:57:47 GMT -5
Here we go! You younger folks out there may have trouble relating to this, but there was time when you didn’t have 24/7 access to old movies. Unless you were majoring (or minoring, in my case) in Film Studies, you either waited for one of your local stations to air an old, beat-up, badly edited print crammed to the ceiling with commercials or you went without. There was one, glorious exception, a classic from 1939 that CBS aired faithfully every year, sometimes at Easter, sometimes at Thanksgiving. Watching this movie quickly became a family ritual. This accounts, at least in part, for my affection for 12. MGM's Marvelous Wizard of Oz
The first joint publication of Marvel and DC, this 1975-dated treasury-sized adaptation has one of the more improbable behind-the-scenes stories in comics history. Edited and scripted by Roy Thomas, inked by Tony DeZuñiga and The Tribe, lettered by Gaspar Saladino, and colored by Glynis Wein, every one tops in their field, the real star of the show is the late, great John Buscema. According to both Thomas and Big John himself, the artist was so enthused about the prohject that he didn’t even wait for a script.plot outline. Instead, using only a handful of stills provided by MGM, Buscema recreated the entire movie from memory, getting every plot point and scene in the right order and with the appropriate emphases (by contrast, Roy’s job of filling in the dialogue using a shooting script forwarded by the studio, was a cake walk)! Even without the personal nostalgia angle, this astonishing feat is more than enough justification for the book’s inclusion on my list. Cei-U! I summon the ruby slippers! This shows up much higher on my list. |
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Crimebuster
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Making comics!
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Post by Crimebuster on Dec 13, 2018 11:59:35 GMT -5
12. Glenn Scarpelli in Hollywood12. Unexpected #217 - "Dear Senator"
(DC 1981)  Written and drawn by the great Sheldon Mayer, this story is a doozy. Lincoln is whisked to the future just before his assassination - replaced by a doomed clone - where he is asked to run for Galactic President in order to help defeat an invading alien armada. In a major plot twist, though, it turns out the people who "rescued him" are actually alien agents in disguise, using him in order to secretly take political control of the galaxy. Then, they plan to replace him again with a pliant clone double. However, Lincoln uncovers this plot and, using his genius mathematical skills, quickly reprograms some robots to help him trick the aliens into revealing themselves to the police. In the end, Lincoln remains in the future to help defeat the sinister aliens from Galaxy #6. The END!!! Worth it for the cover alone. |
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Post by DubipR on Dec 13, 2018 12:04:35 GMT -5
And here we go! #12: The Infinite HorizonWriter: Gerry Duggan Drawn: Phil Noto (2007-2011)  An adaptation of Homer's Odyssey, Duggan creates a gorgeous tale of a soldier's long journey home after years of war in the Middle East. In the not-too-distant future a small group of abandoned soldiers are lead home by one man, known as The Captain. Bleak in nature, The Captain faces modern day tests in which his counterpart Odysseus faced, sirens and a cyclops. Traversing halfway around the world to get back to his family, he had to survive the final hours of war. Gerry Duggan, if you haven't read his work, did an exemplary run on Deadpool, great runs on Nova, and Guardians of The Galaxy. This book from Image, Duggan gets a little more intimate and serious with Homer and grounds the timeless story in real world settings. Phil Noto, whose artwork I adore, drew and painted 6 issues of amazingness. Stoic soldiers, shifty characters and doe-eyed innocent faces. It's very moody and moving..  |
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Post by brutalis on Dec 13, 2018 12:27:27 GMT -5
12. MGM's Marvelous Wizard of Oz
Cei-U! I summon the ruby slippers! This shows up much higher on my list. And that is one of the best ways to watch the Wizard of Oz or Willy Wonka!   |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 13, 2018 12:28:43 GMT -5
12. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola, with inks by P. Craig Russell (DC, 1989) It's a tremendous adaptation of real life horror to the fictional comic book page. I can't believe I didn't think of this as an adaptation! Great choice. And here we go! #12: The Infinite HorizonWriter: Gerry Duggan Drawn: Phil Noto (2007-2011) This is why I love this event, I've never heard of this book but it sounds absolutely amazing and I can't wait to track it down. |
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Post by Phil Maurice on Dec 13, 2018 12:33:27 GMT -5
The Three Musketeers. . .this adaptation was later reprinted in colour in Marvel Classics Comics #12 in 1976. Your post reminded me that I read the Marvel version way back in the day, but I haven't thought about it in decades. Thanks for the memory.  |
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