Saturday 9 May 2020

When in Doubt - Sharks!

I couldn't decide on a subject for this post so I just gathered some random shark illustrations!

Ranger was a short-lived boys' magazine that featured a mix of comic strips, text stories and educational features. It was the original home of the popular science-fiction strip The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire. Ranger ran for 40 issues before merging with Look and Learn. This early cover is by James E. McConnell.





This is the first issue of Gold Key's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea comic based on Irwin Allen's TV series. The cover might be by prolific Gold Key artist George Wilson but I'm not 100% sure about that.





This Men in Action dates from 1955. I'm still trying to work out which of those titles the cover illustration applies to!





This Man's Conquest is also from 1955. I think that fella's going to need a bigger knife!





I don't know who painted this Frogmen cover but I like the light effect on the shark.





Now, I know this next cover doesn't feature a shark - although I think the lady with the spear-gun looks meaner than any of the sharks on the other covers here! - but bear with me.




Twist of the Knife was the US title of Victor canning's His Bones Are Coral. The cover above is by Charles Copeland. The book was given yet another title when it was re-issued in the UK in  1968.




In 1967 it was turned into a film starring Burt Reynolds, which appeared in cinemas in 1969. Originally to be called Twist of the Knife, director Samuel Fuller rewrote the script and changed the title to Caine after Reynolds' character. The film caused controversy when one of the stuntmen, Jose Marco, was attacked and killed by a shark. A photo spread appeared in Life magazine and the producers changed the title to Shark to cash in on the publicity. They also re-edited the film without Fuller's involvement and refused his demand that they remove his name.




The film was re-released in 1975 as Man-Eater following the success of Jaws. Sadly the advertising once again concentrated on Jose Marco's death.



No comments:

Post a Comment

If you've come here to post spam then don't waste your time. It will never be seen.