Marvel Comics is best known now as the source material for the MCU, but during the blockbuster movie boom of the 1970s and 1980s, it was the home of the era’s most memorable comic adaptations.. Marvel recognized the future of franchise storytelling early on; these are some pivotal examples of Marvel Comics as a trendsetter, along with some forgotten gems.

In 1977, Star Wars literally saved Marvel Comics. Though this wasn’t the publisher’s first film adaptation, the massive success of the new space opera franchise inspired Marvel to invest in more film adaptations over the next decade.

Today, Marvel’s IP is among the most lucrative in history. Forty years ago, though, the company was eager to get in on Hollywood’s IP revolution.

Planet Of The Apes

Planet of the Apes #1, Adapted By Writer Doug Moench And Artist Mike Ploog

Planet of the Apes is one of those adaptations that predates Marvel’s Star Wars. It merits inclusion, though, because it effectively wrote the blueprint for what Marvel would later do with George Lucas’ film franchise, which proved to be the beginning of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. In turn, this was arguably the genesis point of modern multimedia storytelling.

So, Planet of the Apes plays an underrated role in pop culture history. The Marvel series debuted in 1974 and ran for 29 issues over the next three years. Notably, in addition to adapting the five original Apes films, it fleshed out the world of the franchise further with original stories.

With Apes, Marvel recognized that the movie had only scratched the surface of its fictional world. It was a tipping point in pop culture, one in which Marvel Comics acknowledged their product’s role in a larger ecosystem. That role? To give fans of movies like Planet of the Apes more of what they wanted when there were no more movies.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Marvel Super Special #3, Adapted By Writer Archie Goodwin And Artist Walt Simonson

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg’s follow-up to Jaws, came out at the end of 1977. It hit theaters in a cinematic landscape that had unexpectedly been changed by the massive success of Star Wars, a film by Spielberg’s friend George Lucas. The Marvel adaptation followed a few months later in 1978.

Like the film, it didn’t live up to its sci-fi competition, Marvel’s Star Wars. In retrospect, Spielberg’s movie is a masterpiece. The comic, not so much. It was a relatively faithful, if compressed, version of the film’s events, but the comic was hampered by rights issues. Marvel wasn’t legally able to make the characters look like their movie counterparts.

The other thing that strikes modern readers, though, is the fact that there is something about the feeling of Spielberg’s Close Encounters that the comic couldn’t capture. By contrast, the Star Wars comic adaptation embodied that film’s essence, and in some ways even elevated it. Arguably, this is the difference between success and failure for an adaptation.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Marvel Super Special #18, Adapted By Writer Walt Simonson And Artist John Buschema

Of all the franchises on this list, Raiders of the Lost Ark seems the most primed for comic book expansion. The legendary ’80s movie series was based on the film serials of the early 20th century, and comics are peak serial storytelling. Marvel did, in fact, publish The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones from 1983 to 1986.

As was standard practice at the time, though, the company started with adaptations. Marvel’s Raiders was actually released a month before the film. It is a perfect primer for the movie, and in this case, captures the likenesses of the film’s memorable characters alongside the general vibe of the genre-defining action adventure.

Blade Runner

Marvel Super Special #22, Adapted By Writer Archie Goodwin And Artist Al Williamson

Another Harrison Ford cinematic masterpiece which was preempted by its comic version. As was common at the time, Marvel’s Blade Runner comic adaptation hit shelves exactly one month before the Ridley Scott film was released in theaters. Contemporary movie adaptations are generally seen as complimentary; in the ’80s, they were used to build hype for a film.

Looking back, the adaptations published in Marvel Super Special were remarkable for what they were, but they do have understandable flaws. Like Close Encounters, or Raiders, Blade Runner would have been better served as a longer adaptation, but its limited run necessitated changes. Yet the issue isn’t without its appeal.

The 64-page issue does its job in terms of opening the door to the evocative world of Scott’s movie. Blade Runner was an ambitious fusion of sci-fi and noir, and the first successful adaptation of Phillip K. Dick’s work. Marvel’s Blade Runner at least strives to pack as much of that onto the page as it can.

The Last Starfighter

Marvel Super Special #31, Adapted By Writer Bill Mantlo And Artist Bret Blevins

The Last Starfighter is one of the great “What Ifs?” of ’80s pop culture. It could have been a huge franchise, but its modest return at the box office scuttled plans for a sequel. To this day, it hasn’t even been remade. What is even stranger, though, is that it has languished in IP limbo for over forty years.

The Marvel Comics Last Starfighter adaptation is a hint that the franchise could have continued in the comic medium, if not on film. It adds flourishes to the film, and more clearly suggests the wider world beyond the story. Yet more Last Starfighter comics never materialized, at Marvel or any publisher.

Dune

Marvel Super Special #36, Adapted By Writer Ralph Maccio And Artist Bill Sienkiewicz

Marvel’s Dune comic has the same problem as the 1984 David Lynch film it adapts, which is that their shared source material, Frank Herbert’s Dune novel, is simply too sprawling and packed with detail to be contained. The contemporary Dune adaptation compensated for this by splitting into two films, but even that had to leave out so much from the book.

An ongoing Dune comic version might have done it justice, but by ’84 Marvel’s adaptation machine was in full swing. The Dune comic is a memorable artifact for fans of the franchise, and in some cases it is even wilder than Lynch’s film. Still, the commercial failure of both meant Dune had to wait decades before becoming a popular phenomenon.

Labyrinth

Marvel Super Special #40, Adapted By Writer Sid Jacobson And Artist John Buschema

Labryinth is one of the strangest films of the 1980s. At its core, the fantasy story is perfect for the comic medium. Except comics can’t replicate the musical dimension of the movie, which is part of what makes it so memorable. Still, Marvel’s Labryinth comic adaptation is a fun extension of the cinematic spectacle.

For fans of a franchise, there is something inherently exciting about experiencing the story in different forms, and to catalog the similarities and differences between them. The Labyrinth comic is a chance to encounter the story for the first time all over again, even for people who have watched the movie over and over again.

2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey #1, Adapted By Writer/Artist Jack Kirby

We’ll end by going back to where we began, pre-Star Wars Marvel, to examine one of the greatest forgotten artifacts of pop culture history: Jack Kirby’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The book, released in 1976, is the confluence of three 20th-century creative masterminds, with the legendary comic creator riffing on Stanley Kubrick’s visionary 1968 adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel.

Yes, it is an adaptation of an adaptation, much like Marvel’s Dune a decade later. Except Kirby was given the opportunity to go beyond the film, turning it into a sequel, and so much more. In it, readers can find Jack Kirby pushing the bounds of his cosmic storytelling that made New Gods a foundational work at DC early in the ’70s.

It is far from a perfect version of Kubrick’s film, but at the same time, it goes beyond the filmmaker’s scope in some exciting ways. For admirers of Jack Kirby’s art, it is an underrated, but essential point his career. It is also a fascinating look at Marvel’s early relationship to Hollywood before the MCU.

Cast

Harrison Ford, Denholm Elliott, John Rhys-Davies, Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Sean Connery, Julian Glover, Alison Doody, Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen

Video Game(s)

Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures, LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

Movie(s)

Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Character(s)

Indiana Jones, Marcus Brody, Sallah, Marion Ravenwood, Wilhelmina Scott, Wan Li, Mola Ram, Henry Jones, Sr., Walter Donovan, Elsa Schneider, Henry Jones III, Irina Spalko, George Michale, Harold Oxley, Helena Shaw, Jürgen Voller