Showing posts with label Sam Glanzman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sam Glanzman. Show all posts

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Captain's Library: VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Conclusion

The Earth is doomed!
The Van Allen Radiation Belt has ignited and is rapidly raising the temperature of the planet's atmosphere.
Within a couple of days, all life will perish!
Our world's only hope for survival is a wild plan by Admiral Nelson to launch a nuclear missile to extinguish the global firestorm.
As the Seaview races to the optimal launching point in the Pacific, a saboteur attempts to disable the submarine, managing to cut the ship's power as it passes thru a WWII minefield...
Considering they were probably working from an early draft of the shooting script (Admiral "Farragut" Nelson instead of "Harriman" Nelson, the two sea monsters fighting over the Seaview, etc.) it's a pretty good adaptation.
In 1961, when this comic was published, Dell Comics was the biggest publisher of licensed entertainment property (movies/tv/radio show) comics in the world.
But Dell Comics was actually two companies, Dell Publishing, which handled financing and distributing and Western Publishing, which did all the editorial (writing/art/production/printing) and made the licensing deals with entertainment companies.
In 1962, Western decided to do their own distributing, didn't renew the partnership contract, and created Gold Key Comics. taking almost all the licensed properties with them!
By the time the Voyage tv series went into production in 1964,  Gold Key did the tie-in comics, which were new stories, not episode adaptations.
Dell did a knock-off of VttBotS called Voyage to the Deep with a similar submarine called the Proteus.
The same cover artist and interior artist Sam Glanzman handled the art chores, and even the logo was similar to the VttBotS. movie logo!
It ran four issues, never to reappear...except next week at Atomic Kommie Comics™.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Captain's Library: VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Part 1

Beginning today, the comics adaptation of the feature film that led to the TV series!
(Bet you didn't know the tv show was a movie spin-off!)
 From bad to worse!
Will the Seaview manage to get to Guam in one piece?
Will Admiral Nelson save the world from global warming?

The movie is basically considered an "alternate universe" version of the TV series.
Generic Seaview footage from the movie was used throughout the TV series' run, even after the sub's nose was redesigned from a two-level eight-window concept to a single level with four windows after the intro of the Flying Sub and it's "hanger bay" under the Observation Room in the second season.
Specific footage from the minefield and Arctic sequences was reused in several episodes including the pilot "Eleven Days to Zero" and "The Sky is On Fire".
Though the writer of this adaptation from Dell's Four Color #1230 is unknown, the art is by noted war comics artist Sam Glanzman.
This comic is not included in the recent trade paperback reprint series of the 1960s Voyage comic book series from Gold Key.
...or these Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea goodies from Amazon...