Look-In Film Special: Clash of the Titans


By Mary Carey & Dan Spiegle (ITV Books)
ISBN: 0-900727-87-X

Comic adaptations of major motion pictures aren’t nearly as common these days as they were in the days before video, DVDs, Bluray and movies-on-demand or downloadable entertainment and I, for one, regret the loss. Today the traffic more often goes the other way as comics of all sorts and quality become grist for Hollywood’s insatiable mill…

Once funnybook versions were there to keep the film in the public’s attention before and after the fact; providing publicity pre-release and acting as mementos once the blockbuster had come and gone.

Often the printed article lacked plot accuracy as most adaptations were produced from an original shooting script and directors always change stuff about and edit in post-production (just compare Marvel’s first Star Wars adaptation to the final cinematic version), most of the gorier moments were excised or compressed and of course the whole process required the audience to participate by learning to read…

What they did often offer, however, was a chance for an artist to escape the narrow confines of comicbook genres and really flex their imaginative muscles such as in this extremely impressive – and mostly spot-on – interpretation of the 1981 Ray Harryhausen fantasy classic.

This tie-in interpretation of Clash of the Titans (the film was actually directed by Desmond Davis by the way) is a singular epic experience which displays the masterful artistry of the hugely undervalued Dan Spiegle, released in America by the monolithic Whitman Publishing under their Golden Press imprint. The script was adroitly adapted in America by Mary Carey for an over-sized edition with plenty of spectacular full-page sequences which illustrator Spiegle utilised to superb effect as he detailed the story of the demigod boy-hero Perseus.

The lad was sired by the god Zeus on mortal princess Danaё of Argos, for which her father King Acrisius tried to kill both mother and child by sealing them in a crate and throwing them into the sea. Rescued by Poseidon, they washed up on the shores of Seriphos where the baby grew to be a simple fisherman, unaware of his celestial antecedents. To punish Acrisius Zeus unleashed the Kraken, last of the terrible Titans, to destroy the entire island kingdom of Argos…

The gods are acrimonious and seldom kind. When the son of divine Thetis hunted the winged horses, Zeus transformed him into a monster. Originally promised to beautiful Andromeda, this Calibos was forever after shunned and his mother decreed that if he could not marry the princess of Joppa no man would…

As a result of the gods’ eternal squabbling, young Perseus was unwillingly dispatched to Joppa where he fell for Andromeda, battled Calibos and was manipulated into undertaking a fantastic quest to destroy the Kraken before Thetis could use it to destroy Andromeda and her people forever…

All the incredible characters and creatures are included here: vain gods and marauding monsters, bold heroes, dastardly villains, winged Pegasus, the ghastly Gorgon, the ferryman of Hell; magic weapons, three-headed dogs and annoying mechanical owls all dazzle and delight in this breathtaking magical interpretation which is still readily available – at least in its British edition.

Whilst there might be no commercial necessity for adapted comics anymore, spectacular books like this prove that there should always be a place to see our greatest artists and our favourite filmic fables working in perfect harmony.
© 1981 Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Film Co. All rights reserved.