Triple Treasure Island Treat

There are a couple of books that I can go back to and re-read again and again. Of these very few, there is one which I can truly claim as my favourite book. You may have guessed from the title which book that is, but just in case you haven't worked it out, that book is Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

But, as this is a comic blog I won’t be discussing the novel per se. What I will be commenting on are three comic book adaptations of the great work. I don’t intend to go into a whole lot of detail, but rather a quick review of  the three most accessible and easy to acquire comics that are available. The reason that I chose these three versions is that each is done in it’s own particular style, and, hopefully, at least one of them will appeal to the readers of this blog. None of them are perfect, but as ever, I guarantee that you’ve read worse comics than these and enjoyed them.

So, with no further delay and in no particular order, here we go.

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First up is a modern reprint of the Classics Illustrated Treasure Island. I don’t know who wrote the adaptation, but art is by Alex Blum. Originally published as Classics Illustrated 64 in October 1959, my copy is a reprint published by Classic Comic Store in June 2010, numbered as 21. (ISBN for my copy is 1906814472, and is available from Amazon with a cover price of £3.50)

For anyone already familiar with Classics Illustrated, I’m sure you’ll know what to expect, but if you’ve not seen one before I’ll let you know how it is. In a word, Truncated. Classics Illustrated: Treasure Island provides the reader with a sure footed and accomplished adaptation from start to finish, with accurate depictions of both characters and hardware, albeit filtered through contemporary TV & Film versions, but being limited to 52 pages means that any scenes and dialogue that don’t drive the narrative forward are, understandably, cut. Having said that, for anyone familiar with the story prior to reading this version, it does move along at a cracking pace, and everything that needed to be included in order for the story to make sense is there.

In short, if you are a fan of old school, super-condensed story telling in the Golden Age & early Silver Age style, this is the one for you. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

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Number two is Marvel Classics: Treasure Island, written by Roy Thomas with pencils by Mario Gully. Originally published as a limited series in six parts, I read it as a collected edition paperback. (ISBN: 0785125957, 160 pages, published February 2009)

Of the three mentioned in this post, this adaptation has, by far, the most satisfying ending. Thomas really takes his time winding this tale down, allowing us to see how the violence and betrayal has taken it’s toll on the characters, the young Jim Hawkins in particular. It is a reasonably text heavy work, with a lot of narrative boxes and speech balloons in every panel. Thomas has a great sense of pacing and a firm hold of the characters throughout. Even though this is the only adaptation mentioned in this post that was serialised, there were no obvious panel to panel, or page to page cliff-hangers that can often feel forced in a collected edition, so it feels like Thomas has approached this project as a single, unbroken piece.

Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? Unfortunately it isn’t all roses. The art, my god the art. Mario Gully seems to have done no research whatsoever. Eighteenth Century galleons look like Roman Man ‘o Wars, obese pirates perform flying kicks to the face of enemies and apparently, Jim Hawkins father was Adolf Hitler (see interior art above). Shall I go on? The hamlet near Hawkins’ inn looks like a London thoroughfare, aging seamen must be using illegal horse steroids. And the list goes on.

So an otherwise great adaptation, that is definitely worth reading is knocked down a few pegs by dismal art. Damn you Mario. Straight to Davy Jones you go.

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The final book of this post is Treasure Island adapted by Tim Hamilton. (Published by Puffin in September 2005, 176 pages, ISBN: 0142404706.)

As far as I’m aware, this is the first work by Hamilton that I’ve read, but I don’t think it’ll be the last. Atmospheric, bleak and emotive art that is perfectly matched to the characters really raises the bar for any future adaptations that I read. The research, to my eye at least, seems impeccable and the Island itself, which is a major character, is rendered perfectly. Dense, dark jungle and a real sense of fear is created with heavy shadow and a style that changes from silhouettes to stark detail as and when required. For those unfamiliar with Hamilton I would compare his style to Kevin O’Neill, but with less of the grotesque. Each character is recognisable at a glance, not only from the face, but also from the posture.

Whilst the writing is solid, it isn’t quite up to the standard of Roy Thomas, it’s a difficult call to make, me being so familiar with the source material, but I wonder if someone who had no experience with Treasure Island would be a little unsure of some of the characters motivations in this version. The story itself however is executed brilliantly in Hamilton’s eerie manner. It looks almost like a horror comic, which I believe works beautifully.

My only complaint (which is in no way Hamilton’s doing) is the published format. It’s printed at a little over half the size of a standard comic, Hamilton has clearly compensated for this with foresight by reducing the number of panels per page, rather than forcing the reader to squint at reduced art. But four panels a page is not enough to tell this story.

But, if I had to call a winner, Hamilton’s adaptation would creep to the top of this pile of booty by a single Spanish doubloon.

Mad Thinker Reads…………

Comics Featuring Parrots.