Captain's Library SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Mythological Hero...

To return the minaturized Princess Parisa to her normal size, Sinbad and Sokurah the scheming magician return to Colossa where they overcome the Cyclops and Roc, but is it at the cost of Sinbad's life?

Trying to fit an almost two-hour movie into only 18 pages forces the creatives (writer John Warner and illustrator Sonny Trinidad to use those text pages to condense the action.

(Note: Marvel's adaptation of Star Wars two years later took 6 whole issues!)

The lovely Gil Kane/Joe Sinnott cover also condenses two of the battles into one and adds an extra skeleton into the mix.

The cover for the British reprint edition, which combined both this tale and the earlier two-issue Golden Voyage of Sinbad adaptation pits the creatures for both films against the bearded Sinbad (played by John Phillip Law) from Golden Voyage!

Plus, this comic placed 7th Voyage after Golden Voyage, making 7th Voyage a sequel, despite being made almost 20 years earlier!

Next week, our final adaptation, a never-reprinted British-only tale!

Plus a special Captain's Theatre post with trailers, behind the scenes stuff and a couple of surprises!

Captain's Library SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD Part 1

Despite the title on this page, this is, in fact, another adaptation of the movie 7th Voyage of Sinbad!

And yes, it came out almost 20 years after the movie was released.

But keep reading, True Believer, and all will be explained!

Yep, we're leaving Sinbad in a real cliffhanger!

We'll rejoin him tomorrow before he hits bottom...hopefully!

Adapted by John Warner and illustrated by Sonny Trinidad, this tale from Marvel Spotlight #25 (1975) was done a year after Marvel had published a two-issue adaptation in Worlds Unknown of the (then) brand-new Ray Harryhausen film The Golden Voyage of Sinbad!

So why do a comic based on an almost 20 year-old movie?

Back in the pre-Internet/Blu-Ray days, older movies were re-released to theatres for second runs, matinees and double-features, especially if a new, related film had just come out.

(For example, older James Bond films would be re-released as double features a couple of weeks before the latest one hit the movie screens!)

Because of the success of Golden Voyage in '74, it was re-released in '75 with 7th Voyage as a summer matinee double feature throughout the USA.

(I saw it on 42nd Street when it was still a wonderland of sleazy grindhouses and porno palaces.)

You'll note that, unlike the earlier John Buscema-rendered adaptation (seen HERE), the monsters match the superb Harryhausen creatures from the movie, but the humans (especially Sokurah) are wayyyy off!

Many of Marvel's movie adaptations from this period didn't allow the use of actor/actress likenesses!

In fact, George Tuska's accurate Charlton Heston (Taylor) in the Planet of the Apes magazine strip had to be redrawn to look less like Heston!

You'll also note the use of "text pages".

Unlike the earlier 36-page version, this one had only 18 pages to work with, so the writer had to condense sections to get the major "set pieces" like the skeleton sword fight in!

Captain's Library: 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Ancient Adventurers...

The group reaches Colossa and manages to defeat the Cyclops.

They proceed north, where they find the nest of the Roc...

There are several major elements from the last half of the film missing...

The Roc's second head!

The battle between the Cyclops and the Dragon (who, like the other Harryhausen creatures is wayyy off-model)!

And, most importantly, the swordfight between Sinbad and the Skeleton!

Adaptor Leo Dorfman and illustrator John Buscema did what they could, but with an early version of the script and little visual reference material, they still did the best with what they had!

If you've never seen the movie, it's a pretty rocking adventure tale.

But without those missing highlights, a movie-goer wishing to relive the big-screen experience is left going -- "Where the heck is the rest of the film?"

Did one of the two other comic adaptations do a better job?

Find out next week!

Captain's Library: 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD Part 2

We Have Already Seen...

To return the minaturized Princess Parisa to her normal size, Sinbad and Sokurah the scheming magician must return to Colossa...

Sinbad and company have found the Roc's egg!

But what about the Roc?

Be here

TOMORROW

for the Thrilling Conclusion!

Captain's Library: 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD Part 1

For sci-fi/horror/fantasy nerds like me...

...summertime is "go to the air-conditioned movies and watch kool flicks" time!

One of my childhood favorites was this Ray Harryhausen spectacular that was re-released to theatres every few years!

We'll discover how the Cyclops feels about returning visitors...

TOMORROW!

Adapted by Gaylord DuBois and illustrated by John Buscema, this never-reprinted story from Dell's Four Color Comics #944 is an absolute delight....but with a couple of major codicils!

Because the comic was produced while the movie was in production, it's based on an early version of the script.

Plus, Columbia Pictures apparently provided very little photo reference to Dell for either actors or Harryhausen's monsters.

(This was a major problem with special-effects-laden films.

If you look at the comic adaptation of George Pal's 1960 The Time Machine, the vehicle itself looks nothing like what appeared in the movie, though the close-ups of the machine's control panel, shot by a second unit, are dead-on!)

So the Cyclops as seen here is not the cloven-hoved, beastial creature of the movie (a kool one-eyed demon/satyr)...

..., but more along the lines of the traditional mythic giant humanoid with one eye (though he does have a horn on his forehead, like the stop-motion creature).
And the characters are somewhat stereotyped "squared-jawed handsome hero", "snake-like bald villain", and "generic beautiful princess".

(Not that I'm complaining!

Buscema does his usual dynamic job with them!)

Be here tomorrow as we continue the re-telling of the tale!