[Review by Doug Glassman.]

Movie adaptations are a tricky business. You have to stay as close as you can to the original material while adapting it from one medium to another. Often, the script is an earlier version, containing scenes or characters cut from the final film. That’s without factoring in the artwork and maintaining likenesses. One of the best film-to-comic adaptations is of Ridley Scott's original Alien. It was published in Heavy Metal back in 1979, and Titan Books put out a gorgeous rendition, Alien: The Illustrated Story just in time for the release of Prometheus.

The book’s cover tells you exactly what you’re in for. Walt Simonson’s rendition of the xenomorph is utterly terrifying. You can’t tell from the image above, but this is an oversized paperback; Heavy Metal is a full-sized magazine, giving the artists more room to work. As a result, the xenomorph on the cover is gigantic, taking up 2/3 of it while lunging diagonally at the viewer. The xenomorph’s most inhuman feature is its head, and Simonson takes advantage of the angle to show off the elongated, eyeless cranium. The reverse has the image of when the crew finds the Engineer’s ship, which makes up a massive two-page spread on the inside. It’s as breath-taking in the comic as it is in the film.

Archie Goodwin sticks very closely to the plot and script. Most of the dialogue is intact, including the cursing, which sort of surprised me, though Heavy Metal has always been raunchier than normal comic books. The character voices are all solid, but some of the characters run together, especially Kane (John Hurt) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton). It helps that Dan O’Bannon’s original screenplay is excellent, with a crew of competent people and one sinister android. I do like that Ash’s bizarre “running in place” spasm was cut; I never quite got why he did that.

Goodwin and Simonson first collaborated on Manhunter, and Simonson’s sense of storytelling is top-notch. He’s not afraid to come up with different panel layouts, such as having smaller panels on top of what would otherwise be a full-page spread, which is one of my favorite illustrative techniques. One great example of their combined storytelling skills comes at the very beginning, with the classic scene of the crew awakening from hypersleep. The lights come up over the controls and Dallas’ eyes slowly open over a series of four panels. I do need to mention the ingenious title illustration, which looks like it was drawn by H.R. Giger himself. Goodwin pairs it with a quote from Joseph Conrad, whose books provide the names of the Nostromo and the Narcissus. Simonson also keeps the characters looking like their respective actors.

The film’s centerpiece -- from the discovery of the ship to the chestburster -- actually plays out better in the adaptation. In this version, the ship is discovered in daylight, so you can see even more of the details. This might simply be a function of changing mediums, since the stormy night of LV-426 never lets up in Alien or Aliens. At first, the discovery of the Engineer’s body seems a little less grand, but if you look closely, it’s another case of layering panels on top of a splash page. All of the grandeur is still there beneath the storytelling. A row of panels conveying the opening of the egg is still suspenseful, even though you know what’s about to happen.

In the dinner table scene, Kane looks even worse than he does in the film, and the ensuing chestburster scene has one major advantage over the film. This time, we don’t see it scurrying away in a silly manner. I think Spaceballs had it right when they redid this part of Alien and redubbed it with “Hello My Baby.” In this case, we don’t see the chestburster’s legs -- instead, its lower body is blocked by a stream of blood, and there’s only a bloody trail showing where it went. The chestburster is also much, much larger in this adaptation, and it’s not just a matter of it being drawn so that it’s lunging at the reader. Goodwin and Simonson actually kept the adaptation as scary as the film, which is impressive.

There’s actually a third component to this creative team: John Workman, the best letterer in comics. He’s known for the dramatic sound effects in Simonson’s The Mighty Thor, but here, he creates the sense of the Engineers’ message with a stream of broken-up red letters. When one engine on the Nostromo lights up, he draws a massive “BRAMM” over it. Brett’s message to Kane after he’s been attacked by the facehugger has blood dripped on it, almost as if blood has been sloshed on the “camera.” Even the computer language, when Brett and Ripley communicate with Mother, has an interesting red and orange tone to it. The colors have been completely redone for this edition and look spectacular.

Walt Simonson’s artwork and the Aliens franchise are two of my favorite things in comics, and it’s pleasing to know that the two have come together. For a long time, Alien: The Illustrated Story was a lost gem. Along with this edition, there’s an even larger “Artist’s Edition” which features Simonson’s original pencils and various stages of creation. It’s a tempting buy, but for now, if you’re a sci-fi or horror fan, make sure to pick up Alien: The Illustrated Story.
Today is Halloween, and my one bag of jelly beans is ready to parcel out to the trick or treaters, one jelly bean at a time. I found the jelly beans in a drawer in the basement, so they are several years old. When I poured them into a bowl I noticed some of them were moldy. Nice guy that I am I picked out the worst of them. But my eyes, fried from sitting in front of a computer monitor all day, probably didn't detect them all. So, kids, c'mon over to Pappy's...and take your chances. Oh, yeah...I will put in one jelly bean per trick or treat bag. It's my way of fighting the childhood obesity epidemic. Gad — speaking of vision problems — I'm blinded by the glow from my own altruism and public spirit!

Here are two stories that are oldies, but unlike the jelly beans, not moldies. They’re original art from Vault of Horror. They show the artists, Ghastly Graham Ingels and Jack Davis, at the very top of their profession. I've complained about text-heavy comic books before, and that's true of these stories. They're very wordy. But the artwork...gasp! Choke! Good Lord!

“We Ain't Got No Body!” is from Vault of Horror #28, and “Tombs-Day” appeared in Vault of Horror #35. The scans were made by Heritage Auctions, and it was from their website that I shamelessly lifted them. I give all the credit to them for the sharp scans.















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This would be a good time to echo what my friend Chuck Wells at Comic Book Catacombs has recommended, the first issue of Craig Yoe's and Steve “Karswell” Banes' Haunted Horror. I'm doing this sight unseen, because I respect both those guys, and know first hand the quality they are known for.

Buy it!
Scott Lobdell has been one of the DC Comics New 52's most controversial writers, whether for minor infractions (continuity revisions within the New 52's own Teen Titans) or major (Red Hood and the Outlaws's Starfire kerfuffle). Less has been said about about Lobdell's Superboy (collected in Superboy: Incubation), perhaps because it's just plain good -- a story, as Superboy ought be, of misguided teenagers flailing about, trying to do the right thing, not always succeeding but giving it their best effort. Fans of the Young Justice cartoon, especially, ought be satisfied with this one.

[Review contains spoilers]

The reader might feel an amount of fully-justified whiplash following Superboy around the events of Incubation. He is a prisoner of the mad-science organization NOWHERE, he's their weapon, he's abandoned them, he's rejoined them, he's attacking them. Such is the struggle for identity that Lobdell presents through Superboy -- cloned and born fully-grown, Superboy rebels against the only parents he's ever known, even as he continues to return to them for direction and validation. Along the way, Superboy also struggles with the heroic ideal -- he does not save every endangered person he encounters, refusing to blindly accept the "Super" in his makeup.

Superboy is a narration-heavy book, likely to a fault -- a comic that's all action is equally bad, but at one point, when Superboy considers his life while floating before the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, Lobdell packs twenty thought boxes into two pages. All of this thinking, however, serves well the Stranger in a Strange Land aesthetic of the book -- Superboy analyzes everything, ad nauseum, in part because he's truly conflicted about what he believes and who he wants to be. Lobdell takes the time in Incubation to truly get into Superboy's head, and it's appreciated.

There's nary an appearance by Superman in this book, but the new Supergirl stops by to knock Superboy around a bit. Incubation's release is poorly-timed (it takes place after events in both the first Supergirl and Superman collections, despite that they won't be released for a few months), but Lobdell deals with the new continuity well and succeeds in making Supergirl likable despite that she's generally angry and arrogant. Neither the new Superboy nor the new Supergirl fit in -- she knows too much, aware of what destroyed Krypton and frustrated no one on Earth will take her seriously; and he knows too little, pushed around by NOWHERE and now determined to resist all authority. They are, the reader must admit, a pleasant change from the clean cut, super-mentored, toe-the-line Super-family of the old DC Universe, and it'll be thrilling when they finally do interact with the Man of Steel himself.

Those who followed the "old" cloned Superboy from the beginning can't feel that they're missing much. Sure there's no Tana Moon or Newsboy Legion, and Superboy's not off to Hawaii with Dubblex, but Lobdell's still got the tactile telekinesis, and even finds a creative way to give Superboy his Kryptonian name Kon-El. (An especially nice touch is that Superboy has to be concentrating to use his telekinesis, such that a sneak attack can still harm him.) There's also varied items that evoke the Jack Kirby influences from Karl Kesel's Superboy series -- Superboy fights some beasts reminiscent of Kamandi's sentient animals and also a fiery woman resembling the animated DC Universe's Volcana, herself based on Kirby's Victor Volcanum (who also fought Kesel's Superboy); NOWHERE's Centerhall's relationship with the new Superboy echoes that of the old Superboy's relationship with Project Cadmus's Guardian. Certainly on purpose, Superboy's origins and demeanor mimic the same on the Young Justice cartoon.

But even more compelling than Superboy in this volume is Lodbell's use of Caitlyn Fairchild and Rose Wilson. The surprise of former-Wildstorm character Fairchild's appearance her is long since spoiled, but it makes hints at thirteen super-powered characters no less fun. DC hasn't pulled the trigger on a Gen13 book yet, and perhaps with the spin-off series The Ravagers they don't have to; Fairchild's integration into Superboy and the DC Universe here is seamless, preserving old, likable elements of the character while giving her new purpose. The new Rose Wilson also combines the best of old and new; Lobdell makes her both tough and sympathetic -- at times more sympathetic than Superboy, especially in her concern for Fairchild -- such that the audience again feels they've gained more than they've lost.

R. B. Silva's pencils mesh perfectly with the story Lobdell tells; Silva's sparse lines are cartoony while still realistic -- maybe the only problem are instances where Superboy, shown in head and shoulders, resembles Klarion the Witch Boy. Shane Davis's covers are a coup for the series (even though it's a Super-title, Superboy isn't that high-profile), kind of like Resurrection Man getting Ivan Reis covers.

Writer Jeff Lemire is certainly no slouch, but his last pre-Flashpoint Superboy series saw Kon-El chasing undead farmers with his high school friends. The whiz-bang sci-fi of Superboy: Incubation, in contrast, does feel fresh and new -- and especially the idea that the new Superboy doesn't automatically have Superman and the entire Justice League always ready to get him out of trouble. Scott Lodbell's more controversial works are still to come, but to read Superboy on its own, there's no cause for concern so far.

[Includes original covers, brief sketchbook by R. B. Silva]

Wednesday (also known as Halloween), go out and get your copy of Superman: Earth One, Volume 2. Read it. Then come back here Thursday, because we're going to have a lot to talk about. See you then!
As I mentioned yesterday, Wednesday is Halloween, and despite being the Ebeneezer Scrooge of Halloween, I feel obligated to show some Halloween stories. But obligated is the wrong word. I love horror stories, I'm just not thrilled about Halloween. It's the kids you know...the kids who come to the door and yell “Trick or Treat!” and make Ebeneezer Pappy get off the comfy couch, from which I’ll be watching some old horror movie on TV, no doubt.

I also told you yesterday I found a long-forgotten bag of jelly beans in a drawer. I will give them out to the kids. I opened the bag and poured them into a bowl to keep by the front door. I sampled one of the j.b.'s and it was a bit hard. I nearly broke a tooth. I'll have to issue a disclaimer when I put them in the kids' trick or treat bags. “Make sure you suck on these jelly beans for a half hour or so before biting into them, kiddies! Heh-heh. And don't send me a dentist's bill!”

So what have we for our fear-fare today? We have two stories I've showed before, way back when in the early days of this blog. They're both from the Canadian publisher, Superior Comics, which got their pre-packaged material from the Jerry Iger Studios. Iger had some demented people writing and drawing terror tales in those days. 

Hey, you know what's funny? Halloween candy may rot your teeth, but horror stories like these will definitely rot your brain!

From  Journey Into Fear #19 (1954):
















Halloween is Wednesday...and that means the little neighborhood beggers will be coming to the door for their tricks and their treats. I found a bag of forgotten jelly beans placed in a drawer a few years ago. The kids will have to settle for fifteen-year-old candy from Pappy!

I have two Fawcett horror stories to celebrate Halloween. First up, “The Thing From the Lake,” from Strange Stories from Another World #3 (1952). It's a tale of a castle, greed, and a slippery, slimy corpse using psychological torture as revenge. The sharp black-line artwork is from a downloaded version of the story done up as an online collection called Fawcett Classic Horror #2. Some good person (and thanks to him!) probably got the stories from UK or Australian comics, which printed them sans color.

Next up, from Beware! Terror Tales #5 (1953), a tale of a cursed clock, “Horrors of the 13th Stroke.” The Grand Comics Database lists ? as the artist on this tale. Karswell of The Horrors of It All showed his scans of the story almost four years ago, in January 2009, so I feel it's time (get it? Clock? Time?) to see it again. As a bonus, the nifty cover from the issue is drawn by Bernard Baily, who did some great horror covers of the pre-Code era.