In the earlier '90s, Dark Horse Comics acquired a license to the classic Universal Monsters. Comic adaptations of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, and our pal, the Creature were offered — each in nice, single-volume, perfect-bound editions.
Art Adams was responsible for the Creature adaptation, and all things considered, was a good choice for the material. According to Wikipedia, he originally wanted to do a sequel to the film, but Dark Horse (for whom he had previously worked on a Godzilla title) wanted to start with an adaptation. His Creature is spot-on, and though his Kay Lawrence doesn't look exactly like Julia Adams, he does manage to capture her essence.
As in the film, the Creature is off screen (or the page) for a decent chunk of the story, but when he does appear, Adams always seems to make the most of it.
He also takes some nice artistic license, adding interesting hieroglyphics to the Creature's underground lair, where the takes Kay to.
Unfortunately, low sales prevented Dark Horse from following this up with Adams' sequel idea.
Image Comics has since acquired the comics license to the Universal Monsters, and I wish they had opted to bring in Adams to do his original Creature sequel idea. I'll withhold judgement until the full series has been completed, but based on the first issue, things aren't looking good.
Be sure to check back next week for another item from my Creature collection!
