I Am Legend (7/54) - Rainbow collection of screenplay drafts for the 2007 film (2006)

If memory serves, it all started with an I Am Legend crew hat. I saw an auction listing on eBay, and decided I needed it for the Archive. Fortunately, I wasn't outbid at the last second (in the days before I had adopted using a last-minute sniping tool).

After I received it, I wrote to the seller to thank them, and inquire if they had anything else from the film. The seller told me what her role was on the crew, and said she thought she still had her original script. I asked if she'd be interested in selling that, and a short time later I had it in my possession. 

Now, don't get me started on Akiva Goldsman, but it I was happy to have a production copy of the screenplay in my collection, and it was interesting to see that his first draft referenced not only the novel, but screenplays by Mark Protosevich, who was the writer when Ridley Scott and Arnold Schwarzenegger were attached. 

Not too long after receiving it, I received a message from the seller telling me that she found some additional scripts, if I was interested. Needless to say, when she made me an offer I couldn't refuse, I took them all. 

Less than a month after the first draft, a full Blue revision updated the screenplay credits to not only list Protosevich first, but highlights that his draft was based on the Matheson novel and the screenplay to The Omega Man by John William Corrington & Joyce H. Corrington — an important distinction to anyone who believes the filmmakers returned to the novel as the primary source — remaking The Omega Man was always front and center (hence the final screen credit as well). It also references previous revisions by John Logan, and Neal Jimenez (and twice more Mark Protosevich), before crediting the current revisions to Goldsman. I have a John Logan screenplay, but I've not had any luck tracking down any drafts credited to Jimenez. The Archive is also missing Tracy Torme's draft, which, while not referenced on this script, his involvement is certainly suggested by the presence of his co-producer credit on the finished film. I did have an opportunity to discuss it with him briefly, and he mentioned that he was the one to bring the dog back from the novel. Something that had been absent since The Last Man on Earth. 

I also received a copy of the full Pink script that followed less than a week later. 

Starting with this script, revised pages were collated with the current full version (so my complete Yellow script has the Green revised pages inserted within it). 

I never thought about just how many revisions would require different colored sheets for revisions. Goldenrod, sure. But Buff?

Salmon, Cherry and Tan?

Is Orchard even a color?

Bellini (peach), Blue Marlin, Greyhound, Pumpkin Martini, Absolut Amore, MIdori Sour, and Rose Bambi. At this point, it's easy to imagine what inspired the alcoholic beverage variations...

Lava Flow and Bailey's Irish Cream led us to Purple Chicken(?) and Pink Panther pages.

And it still continued. I have a few Grasshopper pages and even Smurf revisions, though all of those (and the Pink Panther pages) are all printed on white paper. It was a wonder that there was any colored paper left in the world at all by the time they got to these revisions. 

The crew member also included a crew list, with everyone's contact info (I promised not to share any such info, and for that reason I've blurred out even the outdated information in the image below).

Of even greater interest was a preliminary schedule corresponding to the 8/8/2006 Blue Script. 

Now, if you've read this far, you're probably curious about the changes to the screenplay as it evolved through so many revisions. I am working on an article for bare•bones that will document that, though one thing I will share right now — Neville is alive at the end in every one of them.

I'm very thankful that this particular crew member hooked me up with so many important documents for the Archive!

Check back next week, as I reveal even more treasures from the I Am Legend Archive!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (7/54) - 6" Glow-in-the-Dark Marx Universal Monsters (1990)

In 1963, Marx released a series of six static posed Universal Monsters figures. Though Dracula was noticeably absent, the line-up consisted of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the fan-favorite Creature from the Black Lagoon. (Apparently Dracula needed the Hunchback's agent.) As for the Creature, the presence of leg chains identify him as being from Revenge of the Creature (1955).

This Glow-in-the-Dark release is from 1990, and a great example of a piece of merchandise that continued to appeal to collectors decades after the original issue (though you can tell that the molds had seen better days by the times these were cast!). 

Of the glowing Creatures in my collection, I have to say that this is hands down the one that looks his best when he's in full glow mode. 

 Be sure to check back next Friday for another item from the Creature collection!

Godzilla (6/54) - The Art of Japanese Monsters 100-copy signed limited leatherbound hardcover (2014)

Having been a small press publisher myself, I know you don't hesitate when you have a chance to pick up a reasonably priced, extremely limited edition of a book you're interested in. 

So when I heard about Sean Linkenback's The Art of Japanese Monsters in 2014, I splurged and ordered one of the 100-copies bound in leather, signed and numbered by the author, and including a Bob Eggleton art print featuring Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima and actor Akira Takarada, and signed by all three.

The book collects hundreds of images of promotional artwork from Japanese fantasy films. It's a fantastic collection, including the Showa and Heisei eras of Godzilla (including several of my favorite painted posters by artist Noriyoshi Ohrai). It's a treasured Godzilla related title in my library. 

 Check back next Wednesday for another item from my Godzilla collection!

I Am Legend (6/54) - Signed Walker Hardcover (1970)

This is it. The 1970 Walker hardcover was the first edition of I Am Legend that I read (in a single sitting, on a Saturday afternoon when I was around 12 years old).

This was the first English-language hardcover edition of Matheson's novel, published 16 years after the Gold Medal paperback original. Walker's books were in large part targeted to libraries, which is why most copies you'll find for sale (and every one of the six copies in the Archive) is an ex-library edition. 

The cover art is by celebrated artist Jack Gaughan — perhaps depicting our protagonist Robert Neville haunted by artistic representations of the evils tormenting him (by no means the traditional vampires that appear in the book). Gaughan did a number of covers for Walker in a similar style for classic science-fiction novels, so a case could be made that he had created a bunch of artwork, and someone in Walker's art department decided which piece fit best with each book. We'll probably never know.

As the artwork is definitely not a literal representation of anything in the book, it wasn't my favorite cover at the time (back when I only knew of two versions) — whereas Tony Gleeson's artwork, while not depicting a specific scene, at least provided a clearer representation of a stake-wielding Neville and his vampiric foes. I've come to appreciate Gaughan's cover more over the years, and always keep one eye open, in case the original illustration turns up.

My copy is one of a small handful of editions in the Archive that are personally inscribed to me. I have a number that are just signed, but the most important editions were signed to me in person.

At the time I was working in a bookstore, I was frankly disappointed that the book had been out of print for a number of years (the intermittently available Science Fiction Book Club edition notwithstanding). I reached out to Walker to see if they still held the hardcover reprint rights to the novel, and much to my surprise, they replied. 

Even today, I'm surprised that Walker was still around as late as 1989. I've held onto that letter for all these years (in my signed Walker hardcover). Even though we had started down the path of publishing books at Deadline Press by then, I didn't think we were in any position to approach Matheson about reprinting his novel (and it was only a few years before Gauntlet would publish a 40th anniversary signed/limited hardcover edition). 

But it confirmed that Don Congdon Associates was still representing Matheson, and so as questions came to me in subsequent years, I was able to direct them accordingly. 

Be sure to come back next Monday, when I'll share yet another item from my I Am Legend collection.

Creature from the Black Lagoon (6/54) - Moebius Monsters of the Movies Model Kit (2010)

I was too young to build the first wave of Aurora Monster model kits, though I was exposed to them as my brother Joe built a number of the early '70s glow-in-the-dark kits (King Kong, Frankenstein and The Phantom of the Opera stand out in my memory) which populated our shared bedroom. 

As a kid, I remember always checking the model kit aisle in our Kiddie World toy store in the hopes of one day finding monster model kits that I could finally build. Much to my delight, they did return in the mid-70s, this time out in a smaller scale, snap-together (a good thing, as I didn't have the patience to wait for glue to dry), and lightly posable 'Monsters of the Movies' line. I think I bought the first Monsters of the Movies kit I ever saw on the shelf (the least-exciting — and therefore shelf-warming — Dr. Jekyll), and later finding the Creature was a dream come true. I loved the swimming pose — the one instance where I felt the Monsters of the Movies kit surpassed the original Aurora releases.

Unlike a great many of the items in my collection that have stayed with me through the years, model kits never faired well. I have an extensive collection of Aurora monster model kit reissues, and long wondered why we never got a reissue of this particular kit. So when Moebius models announced it for a reissue in 2010, I knew I'd have to pick up a couple, so I could display one as a built-up kit. It remains a personal favorite, and while I do have plans someday to paint him, for now, just having him on display is extremely satisfying.

 Swim back next week for another classic Creature collectible!

Godzilla (5/54) - Concept artist Shinji Nishikawa original Godzilla vs Biollante illustration (2014)

I've already made it clear that I'm a big fan of the Heisei Godzilla films (1984-1995), so it's no surprise that I am a huge fan of concept artist Shinji Nishikawa. He got his start on Godzilla vs Biollante, designing Godzilla's new foe.

I had the chance to not only meet Nishikawa at the Son of Monsterpalooza con in Burbank in 2014, but to commission an original illustration from him as well. Biollante seemed to be the obvious choice, and he certainly did not disappoint!

 And a happy Godzilla Valentine to Vonna!

Come back next week for more Godzilla goodness from the collection!

Happy 70th Birthday Creature from the Black Lagoon (5/54) - Veny's Aquarium Ornament (2013)

Our good friend the Internet informs us that it was 70 years ago today that Creature from the Black Lagoon premiered in Detroit (and Colorado?) before embarking upon a regional release in March. So here is your bonus post that will get us to 54 this year alongside our weekly entries!

In the early '70s, a company named Penn Plax seemingly cornered the market on Action-Aerating Aquarium ornaments — you've surely seen treasure chests or giant clamshells in a fish tank that open and close as air pumps through them, or a pirate skeleton run through with a sword, and quite possibly a familiar looking (if unlicensed) sea Creature (clearly inspired by Aurora's classic model kit). I seem to recall having one, though I also recall always wanting one whenever I encountered one in a pet shop — even when we didn't have an operating fish tank in the house. 

While Penn Plax is still around, they know longer offer their 'Action-Aerating Monster,' but over the years other companies have done their part to keep these bootleg Aquarium Creatures on the market.

The current example I have is from Veny's (called a Sea Treasure; perhaps a typo for Sea Creature?), and I won't lie, it's a rather cheaply made reporduction, but it ticks the appropriate nostalgia box. I don't know if I'd put it in a tank with any fish I had a particular fondness for, but as a display item it suits me fine!

Come back Friday for our regularly scheduled weekly Creature collectible!

 

I Am Legend (5/54) - Tihomir Tikulin signed/remarqued Ja Sam Legenda trade and newsstand editions (2008)

In 2007, a Croatian artist named Tihomir Tikulin stumbled across the I Am Legend Archive website. He had been hired to paint the cover for a domestic edition of Ja Sam Legenda, and was researching other covers that had been used.

'Tico' reached out to me to thank me for making the information on the website available, and shared his cover art, which I was very fond of. Fast forward nearly 15 years, and I spotted an alternate version of the book featuring his cover art online, so I reached out to ask for more details. When he heard the copy he had sent back in 2008 never arrived, he more than made up for that, not only gifting me copies of the trade and even more elusive (and new to me) newsstand edition, but also by filling another hole in the archive — a Yugoslavian edition from 1979!

The personalized remarques make these two pieces in the archive very special pieces in the archive. 

 Be sure to check back next week for another item from the I Am Legend Archive!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (4/54) - Remco 9" Creature from the Black Lagoon (1981)

In 1980, Remco Toys released a series of licensed 9" Universal Monsters figures, featuring 'Monster Crush Grabbing Action' — or as I prefer to think of it, 'Monster Hugs.' 

I'm not the original owner of this particular Creature, as I never saw one on the shelves. Of the six characters produced (Frankenstein, Count Dracula, The Wolf Man and The Mummy in 1980, The Creature and The Phantom of the Opera joining the lineup in 1981), I only recall ever seeing three in stores (Frankenstein, Dracula and the Phantom of the Opera). The Wolf Man and The Mummy were similarly AWOL, as far as I was concerned. 

His scaly jumpsuit would benefit from some tailoring (it would be some years before we'd see a fully-sculpted articulated figure at this size or larger), and his legs could stand to be re-strung (or, better put, he could stand better if I had his legs re-strung!), but he still holds a special place in my heart, flaws and all. I wouldn't mind having a set of all six monsters in this series, but they have gotten to be quite pricey (Creech in particular — the sole loose example to turn up on eBay in the last several months went for $625!).

Right hand notwithstanding, he still produces an impressive glow when exposed to light. As you'll learn in the months ahead, The Creature was a common victim, er, candidate, for manufacturers to exploit when it came to glow-in-the-dark offerings.

Check back next week for another cool example from my Creature collection!