I Am Legend (15/54) - Original Eclipse comic adaptation art by Elman Brown (1991)

If memory serves, one day many years ago, I stumbled across an original page of the I Am Legend comic adaptation for sale on eBay. Before jumping on it, I wrote to the seller and asked if they had other pieces available, and it turned out it was Steve Niles, the author of the adaptation selling pages, and he had most of them.

I poured through each issue of the comic to see which pieces resonated with me the most, and I identified four. One of which had the art that had originally attracted me to the adaptation, two made up a two-page spread of Neville bringing the dead vampires to the pit, and the fourth was the final page of the adaptation.

While all four pages were available, the first page didn't actually contain the original portrait of Neville that I was so fond of — it just contained a photostat of the image. As a result, I passed on that one (in retrospect I should have just bought it as well), but I did pick up the other three.

I liked the 'pit' scenes as they showcased Brown's cross-hatching work to great effect, and the dimensionality of the clouds of smoke rising up. The two pages are additionally signed by Brown, and dated '91.

I selected the final page for the obvious reason that it includes the book's title. Spoiler alert.

Check back next week for another item from the I Am Legend archive.

Creature from the Black Lagoon (15/54) - Super7 Super Cyborg Gill-Man (2023)

Turns out that Super7 is getting a lot of coverage on this blog. If only they had some licensed I Am Legend product to complete the trifecta. (I'll have to bug my pal Ashly to get on that!)

So what do we have here, you ask? I like to think of it as an 11" tall representation of what the Gill-Man would see when visiting his primary care physician in the Black Lagoon.

This Japanese-styled toy is pretty darn cool, even inside the confines of his box. 

But he really shines and can only be fully appreciated once freed of the shackles of his packaging. 

That skull! Those teeth! Those eyes!

The coolest Easter Egg is his tummy full of fishbones. No threat to human society here, folks!

And Super7 is kind enough to provide the necessary pieces from keeping him indecently disposed while on display. 

And while his overall articulation is limited, he can definitely strike the official Creature pose!

Be sure to check back next week for something else from my Creature collection!

Godzilla (14/54) - Bootleg color-changing Godzilla bust night light (2021)

When I saw this Heisei-era-styled Godzilla bust night light on Amazon, I immediately added it to my wish list, and my sister was kind enough to get it for me for my birthday this year. 

If you want to track down one of these affordable beasties, you won't find it listed as Godzilla. What we have here is a "Dinosaur Night Light, Color Changing Silicone Night Lights with Touch Sensor, Portable Rechargeable LED Children Adults Lamp for Bedroom, Gaming Room Decor, Monster Gifts for Boys Man." I take offense at the suggestion that this is a gift only for Boys Man. I'll have you know that Vonna is just as big a fan of this as I am. 

Why? Because you can tap on his head to change his color. And if you're really adventurous, he has a color-changing mode, demonstrated in the video below (music courtesy Akira Ifukube).

Come back next week for another item from the Godzilla collection!

I Am Legend (14/54) - Eclipse Comic Adaptation, signed by Richard Matheson and Steve Niles (1991)

In 1989, while flipping through a magazine, I came across this image (which I immediately clipped to save) with an announcement that a comic adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend was forthcoming from Arcane Comix. I was familiar with the company, as they had done work with others I admired, including Clive Barker. While one approaches any potential adaptation with a certain level of trepidation (particularly a comic adaptation, whose success depends greatly on the quality of the art), I was sold based on this rough sketch of Robert Neville by artist Elman Brown, and couldn't wait to see how it turned out.

But wait I did, as it wouldn't appear until 1991, released through Eclipse Comics. 

When I interviewed adapter Steve Niles many years later, I credited him on his decision to faithfully adapt the book almost as an illustrated novel. Nearly all of Matheson's original text is present.

I had Niles sign my copies when he came through San Jose for a comic show. Knowing of his shared fondness for Matheson's novel, I had previously enlisted him to write an afterword for the Gauntlet Publications collection Richard Matheson's Bloodlines (more on that in the future), which included all of Matheson's vampire fiction and screenplays, edited by Mark Dawidziak. 

And years earlier, I had gotten Matheson to sign the first issue during one of his appearances at Tom Lesser's annual paperback show in Mission Hills, California.

At the time of the book's release, I was struck pretty quickly that Elman Brown's portrait of Neville from the announcement wasn't truly representative of the style used in the comic. I assume it was done as a study for the character. That said, his cross-hatch style worked really well on some aspects of the book, including these pages of Neville taking the dead vampires to the pit.

The adaptation was four issues in all, at an (expensive for the time) $5.95 price point for a perfect-bound book (as opposed to a saddle-stitched, stapled comic). 

Many years ago, I came across a proof copy of the cover to Book 2. I would love to find examples of the other three. 

I also liked the overall design of the back covers of each issue, although the color palate used was somewhat random. The green "Come Out, Neville" doesn't pop on the first issue as it does the latter installments. But all in all, I credit Eclipse for doing the book, which was not inexpensive, nor was it a sure thing, even at a time when independent comics were thriving. 

Oh, and about that original image that had caught my eye? It does appear in the book, incongruous as it is with the rest of the art. To this reader, it serves as a reminder of what might have been. 

Be sure to return next week, for more items from my I Am Legend Archive!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (14/54) - Universal Horror Library Novelization by Carl Dreadstone (1977)

Long before I was aware of the Vargo Statten novelization, I knew about this 1977 paperback, which was part of a series showcasing Universal horror films: The Mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Werewolf of London, Dracula's Daughter and The Wolfman. It always seemed odd to me that they didn't include Frankenstein or Dracula in the line-up. I assume that was because the Shelley and Stoker novels already existed, but considering that the films are so different from the original novels, they easily could have been given the illustrated novelization treatment as well.

Carl Dreadstone was the house name used for the series, with two (including Creature and Werewolf of London) written by Walter Harris, three by horror writer Ramsey Campbell (The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula's Daughter and The Wolfman), and one (The Mummy) whose authorship is unknown. Campbell also provided introductions to all six titles.

As if the books weren't cool enough by their exterior design, they are all also profusely illustrated with photos from the films. 

I haven't read the book, but one of these days would certainly like to. As I begin to thin the paperback collection, this will be one of those that I hang on to.

The Universal Horror Library line is highly sought-after, and often expensive on the secondary market, particularly the box set of the entire series. I only have half of the books myself, and recently upgraded to this nicer copy of The Creature from the Black Lagoon. 

 Be sure to return next week to check out another Creature item from my collection!

Godzilla (13/54) - Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla Previews Exclusive Lunchbox With Thermos (2022)

As a child of the 70s, I grew up in the final era of metal lunchboxes. I still have fond memories of my King Kong lunchbox that I carted around throughout 1977, and of course by the 1978 school year, I too had upgraded to the black metal Star Wars lunchbox.

While I don't have a utilitarian need for a metal lunchbox, I do have a few in the collection: a Night of the Living Dead tin tote and this Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II lunchbox and thermos set. I was sold as soon as I saw this one, as I'm a fan of the Noriyoshi Ohrai advance poster art for the 1993 film (which itself is based on the original Shinji Nishikawa concept art for Mechagodzilla), which is even cooler embossed in metal!). 

The thermos is an added bonus. (For the record, Thermos is a trademarked term — which explains why 'lunchboxes' without a Thermos are often marketed as a 'tin tote.'

The Heisei era Mechagodzilla is rounder and less angular than the original Showa and later Millennium era Mechagodzillas. In fact, the Millennium era Mechagodzilla looks a lot more like the Shinji Nishikawa concept art that I love so much. Growing up, Mechagodzilla was never one of my favorite kaiju, but through the years he has grown on me. 

The side panels feature Rodan and chunky Mechagodzilla from the film.

Be sure to check back week for another item from my Godzilla collection!