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Post by Farrar on Dec 26, 2018 15:52:55 GMT -5
1. Not Brand Echh # 6Publisher - MarvelYear - 1968Writer- Gary FriedrichArtists- Tom Sutton This comic has 3 separate stories in with the theme of Love and kisses My pick is the story named “ Best Side Story.” Best Side Story is an adaptation of the classic Oscar winning movie West Side Story in which it chronicles 2 people from different cultures falling in love amidst a gang rivalry set in the late 50’s early 60’s. West Side story is the very first DVD i bought to own and I absolutely love the music and dancing. This parody has lyrics “ sung to the tune of” , in the manner of the famous Mad magazine parodies of musicals. Hey, I will admit to singing the songs from this story. The clever twist is that the two rival gangs are Marvel heroes and DC heroes. Instead of Tony and Maria , it’s Dr. Strange and Wonder Woman and it puts a smile on my face even after all these years. I know this pick as my number one has the potential to break the internet for today but this is my choice.  {One more scan}  Love this selection--this was my first issue of NBE; I bought it because of Johnny and Crystal and the Inhumans on the cover. But as it turned out, the feature that had the most fascination and wonder in this issue for me was Best Side Story. I may have mentioned this before but my family was not exactly well off financially and we didn't go to plays or even movies. The majority of my early knowledge about movies/plays came through television, comics like NBE, MAD magazine parodies, and the generosity of friends' families. This wonderful comic was my "introduction" to West Side Story  |
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Post by Farrar on Dec 26, 2018 16:42:07 GMT -5
#1 Frontline Combat #8 - Caesar! Sept.-Oct. 1952, EC The minute the topic was announced I knew this would be my #1. I'd read a friend's copy a few years ago and this sobering story, by Harvey Kurtzman and with never-less-than-amazing Wally Wood art, really shook me up. It's timeless. Lettered by Ben Oda and colored by Marie Severin (thanks gcd). And thanks to the internet, here are some scans:  And of course the assassination...  ...and the EC coda. {Spoiler: Click to show} 
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Post by Jeddak on Dec 26, 2018 17:36:33 GMT -5
Day 12 Dr. Who and the Daleks Dell, 1966  I had never heard of the classic British series when I found this comic. But I really enjoyed this book, the adventures of a kindly old Earth inventor named Doctor Who and his friends as they encounter some robotic bad guys. I found out it was based on a movie, itself based on a TV show, but I figured I'd never have a chance to see the original. Skip a few years, and the local PBS station starts running the series. I am thrilled; I cannot wait to find out what those characters had been up to. So I parked myself in front of the set, jiggled the damned UHF antenna, and sat back to enjoy episode one of 'The Revenge of the Cybermen'. Wow, is that Doctor Who's granddaughter, Susan? No, they call her Sarah Jane. Huh. And that's not Ian, his name's Harry something. Where's Doctor Who? And what's up with that weird guy with the hair and the scarf? Why do they keep calling him Doctor?
I caught on eventually, of course. And a couple of articles in Starlog magazine helped me figure out that maybe that movie hadn't been strictly faithful to the original. Didn't matter; I was hooked. I've been a Who fan ever since. Even got the wife into it. (Tho she stopped watching when Peter Capaldi took the role. Don't see it myself; 12 was my Doctor.) Even have a tattoo of the Seal of Rassillon. But I'll never forget the bewildering fun of trying to reconcile that comic with the show. And I still love the comic. Doctor Who inventing a time machine in his back yard and all. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 28, 2018 19:44:30 GMT -5
1. Starstruck published by Marvel Comics, 1985-1986 (Graphic Novel plus 6-issue series) based on the play written by Elaine Lee, adapted by Elaine Lee and Mike Kaluta  Just plain one of the richest comic book reads I've ever had. When this was running at Marvel's Epic Comics line, I would read the new issue, then re-read all of the issues up to that point, including the newest. It was the only way I could make good sense of it all, but it made everything so much clearer, and proved that although it could be a little hard to follow, there was more meat in this story than almost anything being published at the time. These characters really felt alive and human, the stories were exciting, humorous, and engaging, the world was conceived in impressive depth, the art was gorgeous, and I have rarely been more disappointed to see a series end. Revived at Dark Horse, I was happy to see Lee and Kaluta add even more, making the series more than a simple reprint, and when the crew initiated a Kickstarter campaign to produce a new work (although expanding on some previously-published material) I was immediately ponying up my contribution to see this happen. It's one of my all-time favorite comics, not just adaptations. (And by the way, if you can come by a copy of the script to the original play, that adds even more to the understanding of what's going on!)
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Post by MDG on Dec 29, 2018 16:39:09 GMT -5
1. 1941: The illustrated StoryHeavy Metal, 1979 I mentioned this in an earlier thread on adaptations. Maybe it's because it adapts a visually rich, but ultimately unsuccessful movie, it (for me) rises above something like Simonson's Alien, which adapts a movie that does work (spectacularly, IIRC). The artwork by Bissette and Veitch doesn't really try to recreate the visuals on the screen, but to convey the frenetic, Kurtzmanian pace and style it aspired to. Pages are designed as spreads rather than sequential panels, and use background gags, eyeball kicks, and "chicken fat," both drawn and with collaged art. 
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Dec 30, 2018 10:51:17 GMT -5
"Superman," Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Look magazine, Feb. 27, 1940 This is the single best adaptation of real-world figures in a superhero story. Fed up with war-mongering fascists, Superman collects Hitler and Stalin by the scruff of their necks and hauls them to Geneva to stand trial at the League of Nations. In just two pages this story distills everything that made the original incarnation of Superman the greatest superhero of all time. Siegel and Shuster's Superman was a champion of the weak and the marginalized, a true defender of truth and justice. While Captain America socking Hitler on the jaw on the cover of Captain America #1 could certainly offer a cathartic thrill, Superman taking fascists leaders to face an international court for their crimes upholds the central tenets of modern civilization. This isn't national jingoism, its an affirmation of the best of universal human values. And that's what Superman, as originally conceived by two Jewish teenagers in Cleveland, embodied.   |
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