I'm favorably inclined toward novel adaptation comics. Novels generally offer deeper characterization and more complex plots than typical comics. Of course their complexity is also a drawback, because much of the original must be cut to fit into a comic.
I'd like to know the story behind Nesbit Publishers. One title, four issues. It suggests either a fly-by-night operation or a badly under-funded company. Their choice of "superior" stories is unusual. The Invisible Man is well-enough known. Classics Illustrated did their own version. But J. H. Ingraham, author of issue#2, The Pirate of the Gulf, hardly ranks up there with Sheakespeare, Melville, and Hemingway. I also wonder what prompted Nesbit to turn Superior Stories into an advertisement for the Kiwanis for its last two issues.
Anyway, the adaptation is good. It covers the story and moves quickly (perhaps a bit too quickly). It avoids the common adaptation problem of too much dialogue. Very readable.
I like Pete Morisi's art in general, and he does a respectable job here. However his stiff action poses and flat-perspective backgrounds sometimes leave me wishing he'd give us a bit more flash. I like his treatment of the invisible man. Morisi makes the visible figures seem as if they really are in contact with a solid invisible body. One thing puzzles me. I swear panels 4 and 5 on page 8 aren't pencilled by Morisi. Panel 5 doesn't even looked like Morisi inked it. Both posing and the drawing of the face just aren't PAM's style. If anything they look like Ross Andru (of all people). Ditto the pose in panel 6, though Morisi definitely inked that one.
As a kid I watched and enjoyed the Invisible Man TV series. I laughed out loud when the IM's visible friend tossed him some "invisible clothes" to put on. Supposedly the clothes were added after a viewer complained that a naked man was running around on the TV. Still it points up a problem with the invisible man concept.
In Wells' low-tech era it would indeed have been possible for an invisible person to create havoc, terrorize the locals, and frighten the authorities into declaring martial law. But the need to be naked would severely limit an invisible person's effectiveness. Of course inclement weather would be a huge problem. But even in great weather, the simplest activities would be difficult. For example he'd have to walk everywhere barefoot. Rocks, underbrush, the odd nail...his feet would soon be torn to shreds. An invisible man would do better not to make himself known. He could steal stuff in one place, then move on to another before people figured out an invisible thief was at large. It might not be a "reign of terror," but the IM could fund a lavish lifestyle for his bandaged alter ego. But then Wells indicates that the invisibility serum drives Griffin nuts, so he might not reason clearly.
Overall this comic was a pleasant read. Plus we get one-page adaptations of two much longer books!
Author
Topic: Week 148 - Superior Stories 1 - The Invisible Man (Read 3862 times)
