DUNE: The Official Movie Graphic Novel (2022)

DUNE: The Official Movie Graphic Novel (2022)

Author: Lilah Sturges | Artist: Drew Johnson | Colourist: Zid | Page Count: 120

If you look through the contents page of both this blog and my main one, The 7th and Last, you'll notice that I really like Frank Herbert's DUNE. Over the years I've read all six of the original novels multiple times.

Beyond the printed page, I've watched the David Lynch film so much that I could probably replay the entire movie in my head with a fair level of accuracy. And I've even watched the TV Miniseries about half a dozen times. Then there's the many video games, soundtracks, and previous comic book adaptations, all of which vary greatly in their relatedness and believability.

What I've not watched is the film version made by Legendary Pictures in 2021, for various reasons, none of which will add much to this review. The reason I mention it at all is because the comic book in question is an adaptation of it, not of Frank Herbert's original novel.

The film's fans claim it's very faithful to the source, so I figured I'd be in familiar territory, at least. Nevertheless, it means I'm writing about an adaptation of a film that I've not seen, which is a rarity for me. But I'll give it a try.

LINK - The DCAMU Movies

The DC Animated Movie Universe posts that were here in December 2022 didn't fit with what I want the blog to be about, so they've been moved elsewhere: Click the image above to go there.

Voivod Comics (Mockups)

Voivod Comics - FAKE

I'd a lot of fun creating the Manowar Comics (Mockups), so started thinking about what other bands from my record collection would fit the format just as well.

Voivod wasn't my first choice (they were the second), but they were certainly the best one. Quite often the songs are stories in themselves, or part of a larger concept/mythology that's expansive and intriguing. The bands iconography, 'out-there' lyrics and concepts could make for an excellent and unique comic book read.

Covers would, of course, be by Voivod's drummer Away, but if he's too busy with making music to devote to interior art, then perhaps someone like Ian Miller or Dean Ormston would work, both of whom I feel could bring something unique but complementary to the table. 

The images that I found on the internet weren't as high res as the Manowar ones were. Some were full of awful JPEG artifacts, so I went for an 'independent comic, fanzine' approach, leaving some errors and 'jaggies' in place. The result was only partially successful, but it could've been worse. There's a few more below the cut.

ABANDONED POST: The Sandman (2022)

The Sandman (2022)

Dirs. Various | 10 episodes, approx 45 mins each + 01 'bonus' episode [1]

I've often thought that if Sandman were to be adapted for the screen, then it'd work best as animation; having now watched the live action version, my feelings on that haven't changed.

All responses to the series that I've read thus far have been positive and complimentary. That isn't surprising, in today's world, but I felt it was almost as shit as every other Netflix Original Series that I've tried to watch over the years.

I've covered the original TPBs briefly on The 7th and Last. A number of significant changes and additions were made in the live action series, but generally it adapts the first two TPBs, namely Volume I: Preludes and Nocturnes (1991) and Volume II: The Doll's House (1991).

Of course, if reading doesn't appeal to you and you enjoy (or can tolerate) modern filmmaking techniques, then maybe you'll feel differently. I certainly seem to be in the minority this time.

2000 AD: A Personal Retrospective

2000 AD: A Personal Retrospective

(aka An Authentic Cover Story)

Like everyone around my age, the ratio of what I've forgotten in relation to what I can remember about my life has a much higher numerical value on the forgotten side of the equation. That's just the nature of aging (and cognitive processes). But I can remember with some clarity the day I first bought an issue of the weekly anthology comic 2000 AD.

It was on a cold October morning, as I walked to school with my cousin and a mutual friend. The journey, somewhere between two-and-a-half and three miles, took me through a part of town that was mostly shops, pubs, hairdressers, and banks.

The town's biggest (and perhaps only) toy shop was also a newsagent, a two-storey building whose first floor stocked, among other things, stationery, candles, shiny glass trinkets, greetings cards, tobacco, and all manner of magazines.

Dune: The Waters of Kanly (2022)

Dune: The Waters of Kanly (2022)

Authors: Brian Herbert + Kevin J. Anderson | Illustrator: Francesco Mortarino | Page Count: 24 x 4 issues (inc covers, etc; it's only about 82 of actual story content)

'There was a traitor among the Atreides... a traitor.'

The Herbert + Anderson machine just keep shitting them out. And while it's well-known that you can't polish a turd, it seems you can stretch it out into four parts.

Set after the Battle of Arrakeen, as it happened in Frank Herbert's first DUNE novel (1965), it follows Gurney Halleck, the weapons master of House Atreides. In order to properly comment on the story I'll need to refer to the outcome of that battle, so there will be MAJOR SPOILERS for the first novel in what follows.

Folks who've read the novel will know that from Gurney's perspective his beloved Duke is dead, as is the noble's son and the Lady Jessica, all because someone inside of House Atreides lowered the shield walls, giving the Harkonnens a strategic advantage. Gurney and about six dozen other survivors lick their wounds and take shelter with smugglers. The Waters of Kanly invents a story of what he did while he was there, before his return in the original text.