There were plenty of comic book adaptations of The Black Hole. Some I don’t have but here’s a few I do.
The Gold Key Walt Disney Showcase 54: This is dated January
1980, and is a complete adapted story.
In this Durant is killed by Hans Reinhardt with a laser, rather than
being violently impaled by Maximilian, and the hell scenes aren’t there.
The I.P.C. version
released in the U.K. The strip is black & white, but it came with pull-out
poster and features.
These split the movie adaptation into two parts, dated March
and May, 1980. The final page announces that the next issue is ‘Beyond the
Black Hole’.
The third comic ‘Beyond The Black Hole’ is dated July 1980,
and as the title suggests it opens with surviving crew of the Palomino, now
aboard the Cygnus Probe Ship find themselves in another universe. In this
Universe the Cygnus still exists, along with Hans Reinhardt and Maximilian.
These three comics came in a multi pack.
The fourth comic is apparently quite rare. This is simply
dated 1980 The film’s poor performance
at the box office meant the comic run was cancelled. Two more comics were
actually issued but only in Spanish for the Mexican market.
The ‘Beyond the Black Hole’ stories are reprinted in The
U.K. Black Hole annual 1981.
A page from the campaign pamphlet.
When it comes to Black Hole comic strips I should mention
Walt Disney’s Treasury of Classic Tales.
Walt Disney’s Treasury of Classic Tales was a weekly Sunday
newspaper strip that ran from July 1952 until February 1987 which featured
adaptations of classic Disney films.
Between 2nd September 1979 and 24th
February 1980 legendary comic artist Jack ‘King’ Kirby drew a 26 part adaptation
of the film, The Black Hole, written
by Carl Fallberg, and inked by Mike Royer.
Here’s an example, and the full set has been uploaded at
this website here: https://taint-the-meat.com/2018/09/03/black-hole-jack-kirby/
An impressive collection of comics and annuals, I certainly had no idea there was so much material for The Black Hole.
ReplyDeleteYes, there's a few things out there, Paul.
DeleteWhat an amazing post! I never realised there was so much material out there.
ReplyDeleteJack Kirby!! I've come to appreciate his 2001 adaptation, but as a kid I thought his art was too lumpy, i always preferred Russ Manning's style.
The Black Hole has always been a guilty pleasure for me. Inside the awfulness is a decent story trying to get out!
My wife and I first saw it at a drive-in near Blacktown NSW. She fell asleep and later asked me how the film ended. When I told her, she thought I was making it up!
The ending does take a bit of explaining, Lewis, and all of it open to various interpretations. I don't think I'd have come up with something that made sense straight after watching it for the first time.;D
DeleteIt's interesting to see that as late as 1980, writers and artists were still mixing spacemen and dinosaurs!
ReplyDeleteWhen the chips are down you can't go wrong with a dinosaur, Ed, or so I'm led to believe.;)
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