I confess that I really wanted to like the comic book adaptation of I Am Legend better than I did. I have such enormous affection (weirdly) for the novel that I figured that would translate to this adaptation originally from Eclipse Comics in 1991.
While his name is not on the cover Steve Niles was responsible for adapting the novel. Much of the original material by Richard Matheson is still present (hence his name on the original editions of the comics) but breaking down the story for an artist was Niles job.
The artist is Elman Brown, not a talent I have any experience with. It is Brown's art which holds me back on this project. He's a talented artist, but his exceedingly scratchy style is not to my liking. His version of Neville seems too broad, too much of the comic world for me too. This project calls out for a different aesthetic. I don't want to be harsh, but I would have like to see art with more depth and more atmosphere.
I read the story in its collected edition from IDW which was released in anticipation of the movie I Am Legend starring Will Smith. I'll have more on that film and other film versions of the novel tomorrow.
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"but his exceedingly scratchy style is not to my liking."
ReplyDeleteOMG! I hated that style so much in the late 80's-90's. Sure its neat as examples of expressionistic art in story telling, but you could barely figure out what was going on in the pages.
I thought the storytelling worked overall, but the lack of depth in the line made it look dull overall.
DeleteI remember Jeff Rovin saying that he proposed I Am Legend/Omega Man as a comic when Atlas/Seaboard was being formed. But Goodman didn't want to pay for the rights, so they did a ripoff variation with Planet of Vampires, which I recall having some pretty intense moments, particularly the Russ Heath issue.
ReplyDeleteRemember Planet of Vampires well. It was Planet of the Apes meets I Am Legend. Atlas/Seaboard comics seemed to be inspired by more than a few films.
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