Classics & Marvel Ilustrated
I never read the original run of Classics Illustrated. I have a couple of the First Comics revival ones. I mostly remember this because we were studying "Hamlet" in English Composition and I showed my instructor that version. As with all adaptations, there were a few wonky changes. I've forgotten them now, but they were enough to make me go "What?"
I think I'm having the same reaction with the Marvel Illustrated. Comic Book Resources has a five page preview for the Marvel Illustrated take on Homer's "The Iliad", plus the "Picture of Dorian Gray" preview. On the plus side, they appear to have changed the cover from the awful one we saw solicited. The artwork isn't horrible. Roy Thomas is back writing for the Big Two and he's just as wordy as usual. I'd hate to contemplate a collaboration between him and Claremont. As much as I loved his Earth-2 stories, in retrospect, I wonder I saw the artwork for the captions! He's a bit of contrast to the sparsely worded style of the current crop of writers. The five pages we're presented with are basically the setup for the war with all the players. The part that's actually not in "Iliad" ironically. The "Iliad" only covers near the end of the war. The thing I'm having the hardest time with is the opening. Zeus and Themis conspiring to use Zeus' daughter Helen to throw the world into chaos? Really? Am I misreading something or does it feel like a modern spin on things?
"Age of Bronze" it most certainly is not. Whether it's entertaining enough to read all eight issues is also debatable. Depends on how you like your classics.
I think I'm having the same reaction with the Marvel Illustrated. Comic Book Resources has a five page preview for the Marvel Illustrated take on Homer's "The Iliad", plus the "Picture of Dorian Gray" preview. On the plus side, they appear to have changed the cover from the awful one we saw solicited. The artwork isn't horrible. Roy Thomas is back writing for the Big Two and he's just as wordy as usual. I'd hate to contemplate a collaboration between him and Claremont. As much as I loved his Earth-2 stories, in retrospect, I wonder I saw the artwork for the captions! He's a bit of contrast to the sparsely worded style of the current crop of writers. The five pages we're presented with are basically the setup for the war with all the players. The part that's actually not in "Iliad" ironically. The "Iliad" only covers near the end of the war. The thing I'm having the hardest time with is the opening. Zeus and Themis conspiring to use Zeus' daughter Helen to throw the world into chaos? Really? Am I misreading something or does it feel like a modern spin on things?
"Age of Bronze" it most certainly is not. Whether it's entertaining enough to read all eight issues is also debatable. Depends on how you like your classics.