Thursday, April 16, 2009

Memoirs of a Bronze Age Baby: Marvel Movie Spotlight Featuring Raiders of the Lost Ark

Remember the good old days, when movies were in theatres for a long, long time? I'm not sure when this book hit the spinner racks, but I read it (not the 3 individual issues) prior to my parents taking me and my sister to see Indy's first adventure. I would have been 8 turning 9 that summer, and I've got to admit that this comic really freaked me out. I was one of those kids who liked scary movies, but always watched them with one foot pointing towards the door. Seeing some of the more gruesome scenes (like Satipo's skewering and the melting heads in the final act) prior to the movie really increased my anxiety to the point where I was pretty damned freaked out heading off to the theatre. I survived and the movie became one of my all-time faves. I'm not sure whatever happened to my copy of the comic (probably lent it to someone), but it certainly played a big part of my childhood.

4 comments:

Thelonious_Nick said...

I remember watching Return of the Jedi at the beginning of the summer, reading the 3-part (4-part?) Marvel adaptation with my step-brother many times that summer, then seeing the movie again at the end of the summer. Nowadays a lot of movies show up on DVD before I even knew they were in theatres in the first place.

Brian Doan said...

Wow, good flashback! I read some of the Raiders adaptation (I'm a year younger than you), and also remember the Byrne-drawn (and maybe scripted,
too?) FURTHER ADVENTURES OF INDY title that quickly followed it. Good stuff.

Speaking of good stuff, I really like the blog! I discovered it through a link on the "Comics Should Be Good!" page, and even when I disagree with your take on a certain issue, I'm always entertained by your great posts.

MDG14450 said...

I think there was some studio problems around this time because Marvel's adaptations would hit the stands before the movies opened and spoil all the main plot points. (mainly the magazines, which would be cut into two or more 4-color books later on, I think).

Sometimes there were other problems--Walt Simonson talked at a convention how they didn't have the rights to use Richard Dreyfuss' likeness for the Close Encounters adaptation, and they wouldn't let him take any photo references of the mother ship.

Scott M said...

Thanks for the kind words, Brian. Always happy to here that someone is enjoying this stuff.

MDG - That explains a lot re. the strange publishing schedules. Also, I've always wondered about what Dreyfuss looked so funny in that Marvel Comics Super Special mag. If I wasn't a lawyer - I'd likely say something nasty about lawyere right here.