Earl Norem 1924 - 2015

Marvel Super Special #17: Xanadu

One of more improbable movie-to-comic adaptations imaginable, Xanadu was a notorious big budget flop when it was released in 1980. Of course, Marvel had no way of knowing that when it started work on this: Olivia Newton John was a big star, paired with the legendary Gene Kelly, what could go wrong? Still, you'd think of all movie genres, the Musical would be considered the most problematic when translated to a silent medium.

But Marvel gave it the old college try, putting an all-star team on it consisting of J.M. DeMatteis, Rich Buckler, Mike Nasser, Brent Anderson, Bill Sienkiewicz, and more. Here's a few sample pages:

I've never seen the movie, so I really can't speak to how well this works or doesn't. If there's anyone that could do a halfway decent job translating the ethereal, almost spiritual appeal of a musical to the comics page, it would be J.M. DeMatteis. And the book's pretty to look at!

The adaptation only fills up half the book, with the back half consisting of half a dozen behind-the-scenes features, like articles on the cast and crew, the special effects, the music, and the costumes:

I can only guess that this was one of Marvel Super Special's worst-selling issues, considering that it was promoting a movie no one saw. But who knows? This was still a time when comics were sold outside specialty stores, so maybe this hit its intended audience. As wrongheaded as the whole idea might seem, I still find it quite charming that comics companies tried stuff like this.

Marvel Super Special #39: Santa Claus The Movie

1985--The secret origin of Santa Claus!

I'm running a sort of blog team-up with myself today: over on my writing blog, I'm taking a look at 1985's Santa Claus: The Movie for my weekly Movie Monday column. I had never seen the movie, always wanted to, so when I saw it was available on Netflix WI I figured this Christmas was the perfect time.

Not too long after that, it also occurred to me that I could also take a look at Marvel's improbable comic book adaptation for All in Black and White For 75 Cents, which has been dormant for too long (more on that in a moment). You can take a look at my MM column to get a recap of the movie's plot and my general thoughts on it, so here I'm going to concentrate more on the comic book aspect of it. I mean, what an odd movie to try and adapt into comic book form!

Behind a handsome painted cover by Tom Palmer (which works better as a movie poster than any of the actual ones used to sell the movie), the Marvel adaptation is written by Sid Jacobsen, drawn by Frank Springer, and colored by Petra Scotese: 

The thing that occurred to me as I read this was, wow, this is better than the movie--and it is! Tonally, this Marvel version is a lot more even, whereas the movie is all over the place. Also, Frank Springer does a superb job, giving the story just enough of a realistic look that it really fits the story (whatever Marvel editor chose him for the assignment really earned their keep that day). And Petra Scotese's colors are warm and mellow, thankfully not replicating the garish, almost ugly palate seen in the film.

I can't imagine this was a big seller--Marvel Super Special, as a magazine, was only two issues away from being cancelled at this point--after all, the movie was a giant flop, and it's hard for me to picture comics fans, enthralled as they were with the X-Men and The Punisher, buying a comic book about Santa Claus.

Nevertheless, this adaptation is one of the examples of Marvel actually exceeding the source material, and making the movie work on it's own as a comic book. Don't get me wrong--this is still a pretty wonky story, there's was only so much Marvel and Sid Jacobsen could do with what they were handed--but this issue does show that Santa Claus: The Movie wasn't entirely a lost cause. Ho ho ho!


As I mentioned above, it's been ages since I updated this blog--almost a year, in fact. I have no idea how that happened, exactly, since my intention was to put up more content, a lot more. But before I knew it, dust started to gather on the Red Sonja post, and I never came back to clear it off. Google Analytics tells me that the last post before this one has had way more hits than almost any other in the last few years--which, I assume, means that people kept checking back every so often, to see if I had put up anything new. 

So while I'm not going to promise that I'm going to pick back up regularly--my other projects, like Ace Kilroy, The Aquaman Shrine, and The Fire and Water Podcast, not to mention my illustration and writing work, eat up almost all of my time--I am going to make an effort to put something new up every so often. I still love doing this blog, talking about obscure old magazines, and I hope you come back soon!

Marvel Super Special #38: Red Sonja

1985--The She-Devil with a Sword!

I actually feel sorry for some comic book companies--specifically ones like DC and Marvel, where the properties are not creator-owned--when they find themselves stuck with doing an adaptation of a movie made from one of their characters.

Since they get to see some version of the movie--either the original shooting script, a rough cut, or perhaps even the finished film--the publisher in question knows well in advance if they have a good movie (the first two Supermans, Ironman, etc.) or a complete turkey on their hands (too many examples to mention).

And that brings us to Red Sonja. Always one of my favorite characters (generally when done by either Thomas/Buscema or Frank Thorne), the movie version was a complete dud when it hit theaters, stank up the joint during its brief run, and disappeared into obscurity. But Marvel, still licensing Sonja for its comics, was compelled to adapt the movie, so:

Wow! Only two pages in and we're already getting our main character raped. What a cheery fun romp this is!

Actually, if the right creators had been on this book, he darker aspects of the Robert E. Howard world could have been handled just fine, the way they were with Conan. But for whatever reason co-scripter and penciler Mary Wilshire--a fine artist--was saddled with Vince Colletta as inker, who makes the whole proceedings look like a coloring book.

Even when there are some scenes featuring giant icky monsters, there's not a drop of atmos to be found:

It also doesn't help that the book was colored (credited to the infamous "Manny Handz", a tip-off this project was thrown around the Marvel Bullpen like a cheap bottle of wine) with incredibly bland, flat, day-glo colors, robbing the book even further of any sense of grit or excitement. I mean, this is The She Devil with A Sword we're talking about here! A character who, when drawn by Frank Thorne, helped usher me into puberty!

The only decent material to be found here is in the all-too-brief pin-up gallery, which features some really nice shots of Sonja, like this one by book editor Larry Hama:

There's a couple others, some credited, some not. This one is in the latter category--too bad, since it's quite nice:

The book ends with an ad for the new Red Sonja comic, re-using the cover to #1 by Walt Simonson. Who would have been a great choice for this book, come to think of it (maybe scripter Louise Simsonson could have asked him?)!

I guess, in the end, Marvel knew that the Red Sonja movie was going to be a flop, and wasn't going to "waste" any of their top talent on the movie adaptation. Maybe things will be better for the next movie based on a Marvel character: Howard the Duck.

Marvel Super Special #30: Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom

Summer 1984--Indiana Jones is back!

In between Raiders of the Lost Ark and this prequel, Marvel launched The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, which kicked off its first two issues with a story by John Byrne, who seemed almost instinctively what made the character work, yet simultaneously was able to deliver a comic book-style adventure. Sadly, Byrne only spent two issues on the book, and (IMO) the title never quite regained the snap of those inaugural issues.

I mention this because it seems that Indiana Jones, as a character and a concept, seems deceptively hard to get right. Case in point, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, a film eagerly (to say the least!) awaited, only to leave many fans a bit confused, tired, and even a little grossed out. But of course Marvel didn't know about any of this beforehand, and plowed straight ahead with the adaptation, by David Michelinie, Butch Guice, and the inking team of Akin and Garvey:

All the movie's main beats are here, and in some ways (again, IMO) I feel this comic book version works a little better, since by its format it had to tamp down the overloaded shrillness that marred chunks of the movie--also, its great not hearing Kate Capshaw screaming at the top of her lungs every third scene.

One noticeable edit comes in the infamous "Monkey Brains" scene, which here is edited down to just a few panels:

Like the adaptation of Raiders, there's a lot of story to get in here, and that doesn't leave much room for big showy panels. Like that book, there is all of one full-page shot, taking place in the titular Temple of Doom:

Because space is at such a premium, the big set-pieces--the train car chase and the awesome rope bridge fight--go by very quickly, and they don't have the same impact that they did in the movie. The adaptation ends with one last contribution from Short Round:

..the end, for now!


As I said above, the writing aspect to this book works fairly well, and Butch Guice could have been a great choice as penciller. I say "could have been", because his work is smothered under the heavy inks of Akin and Garvey, a team known for delivering very clean, smooth lines--which, to me, seem at odds with the kind of grit that you'd expect in an Indiana Jones adventure.

Thanks to the inking (and the generally indifferent coloring), most of the figures in this book look stiff and lumpy, when of course Indy's world is all about Danger! Excitement! Speed! Too bad; I really would have loved to see a more compatible inker paired with Guice.

Also like the Raiders adaptation, there is no bonus material in this book; nothing about the movie, or Indy, or even how to serve monkey brains!*



*Slightly chilled

Marvel Super Special #18: Raiders of the Lost Ark

Sept. 1981--It ain't the years, it's the mileage!

I remember excitedly buying Marvel's adaptation of Raiders of the Lost Ark off the stands in 1981, though I found it in single-issue form, where it was released as a three-issue mini-series. At the time, I didn't care how or if the comic was different than the movie (with one small exception, which we'll get to), I was just so excited to be able "carry around" one of my favorite movies wherever I went. I guess that's what iPhones are for now.

Anyway, this adaptation is by Walt Simonson (writing, not drawing, oddly enough), John Buscema, and Klaus Janson. They make a fine enough team, and the likenesses are pretty good. It's interesting seeing Indy's thoughts, which of course don't exist in the movie, but are a necessity at some points in this version.

I imagine condensing such a jam-packed movie like Raiders into comics form (and not have it be a 200-page book) was no easy task, and occasionally the art does get overwhelmed by all the dialogue needed:

The action scenes are, of course, executed well, though the small differences here and there made me chuckle, like with the scene where Marion tells Indy he has a partner in his quest for the ark:

...I guess "I'm your God damn partner!" just wasn't going to fly in a Comics Code-approved comic (although, as a magazine, Marvel Super Special wasn't submitted to the Code). Too bad, since that's probably my favorite scene, and Karen Allen's final line is so perfect: "And I'll tell you exactly what. I'm your partner!" just doesn't have the same oomph.

There's only one full-page shot in the book (again, I'm betting because space was so limited), but it's a perfect moment, when Belloch decides to throw Marion over--literally:

The one scene that really stuck out at me when I was a kid was when Indy climbs onto the Nazi sub. The movie simply cuts to the sub making its way to the Nazi base, with no mention of exactly how Indy made it, too. Thanks to Marvel, we know: he lashed himself to the periscope:

(This scene was, in fact, filmed, and you can learn more about it here)

Unfortunately, there's no "bonus material" in this book, like interviews or photo features on the movie. There is a nice enough pin-up on the inside cover, from what looks like Belloch's POV:

Indiana Jones ended up becoming a star of his own Marvel comic, so this adaptation (and the one for Temple of Doom, which we'll get to) must have shown Powers That Were that Indy worked as a comic book star. While this particular adaptation is nothing all that amazing, it is a nice keepsake of the movie, and that's good enough!

Marvel Super Special #23: Annie

Summer 1982--It's a hard-knock life for us!

Marvel Super Special featured almost exclusively movie adaptations, and one of the most unexpected was the House of Ideas' take on Annie, the big-budget film version of the classic comic strip, starring Albert Finney and directed by John Huston, no less!:

The adaptation is written by Tom DeFalco, with art by Win Mortimer and Vince Colletta, which suggests to me that Marvel wasn't all that interested in bringing its "A" game to the proceedings.

That said, adapting a musical into a straightforward comic book story had to be no easy task, and Marvel deserves points for trying to attract a different audience with this; an audience that had almost given up mainstream comic books at this point.

The issue also features bios of the cast and crew, and a piece on Leonard Starr and the original Little Orphan Annie strip:

Marvel got a lot of use out this thing--they reprinted the whole thing as a treasury edition, as well, one of the last treasuries they ever published.

Little Orphan Annie lasted all the way until 2010, where it had spent the last few years of its life limping along in just a handful of newspapers. The Annie movie was a mixed success--not a bomb by any means, but not the mega-blockbuster expected in situations like this. I've never actually seen it; looking back over this adaptation makes me want to check it out. Maybe tomorrow, when the sun comes out...

The Spectacular Spider-Man #1 - Marvel

July 1968 - "Lo, This Monster!"

The House of Ideas' first foray into the black and white comic magazine market was with, appropriately enough, Spider-Man! Behind a nifty cover painting by Harry Rosenbaum comes an extra-long Spidery story by the classic team of Stan Lee and John Romita:

Romita is in fine form here, but of course this was pretty much when he was at his prime. The inks are by Jim Mooney, and the wash effects are nice (if maybe a tad overdone). And am I crazy, or did Jazzy John make Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy just a tad extra sexy for this occasion:

Clocking in at about fifty pages, its a much longer Spider-Man story than usual, but its still a well-paced, exciting, classic Spidey adventure.

There's also a back-up feature, a re-telling of Spidey's origin by Lee and his brother Larry Lieber:

Rounding out this inaugural issue is an ad for the next installment, which looks a tad thrown together:

The Spectacular Spider-Man was a rarity: a financially unsuccessful Spider-Man project. The second issue wouldn't come out for four more months, and when it did, it was in full-color, making it even more like a traditional Spider-Man comic.

Basically, The Spectacular Spider-Man didn't offer readers anything substantially new or different than what they could get in the regular book for 12 cents--but of course it was almost an impossibility that Stan Lee was going to produce some sort of "adult" version of his greatest creation, for a variety of reasons. Marvel would re-think this approach in just a few years when it came to a certain barbarian, leaving The Spectacular Spider-Man to be a footnote in the history of Marvel Comics.