Better Monsters, Weaker Ending

 

Last week, we looked at the 1963 fantasy film Captain Sindbad. This raises the question that all intelligent men and women must then ask: How did the Gold Key comic book adaptation differ from the movie?

The comic book, cover dated September 1963, was written by Eric Freiwald and Robert Schaefer, with magnificent art by Russ Manning.  It's a perfect example of how comics were once the best visual medium for both fantasy and science fiction films, before modern special effects opened up more possibilities for film.

The story is condenses somewhat--which is to be expected with the need to fit it into 32 pages. This is done intelligently and its still a good fairy tale-esque yarn. But its the visuals that really give the comic book a chance to shine. Whereas the movie--though entertaining--suffered somewhat in its special effects, the comic book had no budgetary or technical limitations. Russ Manning was allowed to make everything look awesome.

For instance, the scene in which the rocs bomb Sindbad's ship now looks great:

Later, Sindbad had to battle an invisible monster in a gladiatorial arena. In the movie, he escapes almost by happanstance when the monster rampages into the audience. In the comic, Sindbad is more proactive and pulls off an escape that would almost certainly been outside the scope of  the movie's budget:

There's a pitched battle added to the comic book--once again, something I would guess the movie could not afford to film:

Finally, there's an upgrade in the number and nature of the monsters guarding the tower in which the villain keeps his heart:

The one part of the comic book that is noticeably weaker than the movie is the climax. There's no unique monster for Sindbad to face when he gets to the top of the tower, nor does the villain put in a personal appearance and duel with Sindbad, Instead, Sindbad simply smashes the heart and the bad guy--still back in the city--falls dead.

Still, it's a great adaptation, taking advantage of the medium to upgrade the cool parts of the film. The more anti-climactic ending was probably due to the length of the comic book, forcing Manning and the writers to rush the ending. But  I wonder if Manning and the writers were given free reign in making the other changes. Or were the different monsters in the original script and cut out for budgetary reasons?

Well, in either case, Russ Manning definitely gives the story a visual upgrade. 

Next week, its back the FF as they continue to deal with interdimensional war.