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Stephen King

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topic icon Author Topic: Stephen King  (Read 304 times)

Andrew999

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Stephen King
« on: February 17, 2021, 07:20:05 AM »

Hand on heart, I can't say I'm a big Stephen King fan.

IMO he writes engagingly but sometimes stretches a plot to breaking point and the endings can be tepid. Having said that, I really enjoyed his two pulp outings - The Colorado Kid and Joyland - crisp and penetrating - so it's good to see a third production due in March - Later

I'm also a big, big fan of the Hard Case Crime format - with their mix of classic pulp and modern neo-noir. I've read many of them:

http://www.hardcasecrime.com

Hard Case Crime also work with Titan to produce Graphic Novels:

https://titan-comics.com/?tag__series=normandy-gold

I strongly recommend Normandy Gold - or any of Megan Abbot's early pulp novels - Die A Little is one of my all-time favourite books.

But coming back to Stephen - what would be your favourite King adaptations in comic book or movie form? I remember being scared out of my wits when I saw the original Salem's Lot - although it probably feels dated now - and there was a little known adaptation - Sleepwalkers - that also left me chilled.

As to comic books, I would have to go with Berni Wrightson's Creepshow based on the King movie.

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The Australian Panther

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Re: Stephen King
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2021, 07:46:54 AM »

Not a huge King fan, have not gone out of my way to read any of his books. But without a doubt my answer to your question,
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what would be your favourite King adaptations in comic book or movie form?

Would have to be 'Stand by me' which was also one of his favourite adaptations, for personal reasons.
Good article about it here.
https://filmschoolrejects.com/stand-by-me-stephen-king/ 

Simple, Powerful, great coming of age movie.
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Captain Audio

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Re: Stephen King
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2021, 11:39:28 AM »

A couple of years ago I found a fairly recent collection of Stephen King short stories. Three or four of these stories involved a woman driver drinking too much and driving on foggy back roads at night. There were of course unintended bad outcomes.
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misappear

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Re: Stephen King
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2021, 01:37:12 PM »

I do like stephen King as a narrator.  His prose engages me, but I agree his resolutions can be lacking, even in subplots.

I?m currently re-reading the Dark Tower series.  The resolution to the first subplot in Wizard and Glass is lukewarm at best, but I?ll keep plugging on because I?ve bought into the characters.

I can?t imagine reading the graphic novels of the same material. The whole purpose of reading King is narration.  A graphic interpretation would, by definition, take away King?s appeal to me?his words?and replace them with somebody else?s ?graphic narration?.  Hence, it?s no longer King?s work to my way of thinking.

Analogies never work perfectly because noting is exactly like something else.  But I would put forth the idea that reading a prose version of Foster?s Prince Valiant would be insufficient at capturing the grandeur of Foster?s work. Although such a work might be great on its own, it is surely a separate work entirely

I infer a sort of ?catch-22? scenario to ever judging someone?s printed work adapted to graphic format. 

Just thinking ?out loud? here
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The Australian Panther

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Re: Stephen King
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2021, 12:29:59 AM »

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I can?t imagine reading the graphic novels of the same material. The whole purpose of reading King is narration. 

I absolutely agree. I have been thinking the same thing in regards to reading Poe. When you see a visualization of a written story that you have previously read, you will almost always be disappointed because the artist or Directors interpretation will be different to the one you have in your minds eye. Particularly when the writers method is Narration.   

But, more, writers like Poe or Lovecraft are masters of words used to create suspense and stimulate your thinking. The monsters are much more effective in anticipation than in depicting them vividly. Hitchcock understood this and was the master of using the principle.  In Psycho the movie, apart from the Shower Scene, the movie is all suggestion. Nothing is depicted on the screen. And the shower scene itself is really just suggestion. 

I don't think Poe or even Lovecraft, or Bram Stoker for another, ever imagined that their writing would be visually interpreted.   
I can enjoy a visual interpretation of Poe and appreciate the artist's skill and craft, but it adds nothing to my original delight when I first read the stories.
Not so with Lovecraft. I have never yet seen a visual interpretation of Lovecraft that did not disappoint me.       
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