by Matt Brady, Newsarama.com
Sometimes, comics can spark a brief flirtation, something that is embraced for a few years, and then let go as the years pass and more “mature” concerns take the stage. For Ray Bradbury however, comics sparked a 74-year (and counting) love affair with metaphors and the fantastic. Newsarama spoke briefly with the legendary author.
The latest expression of Bradbury’s relationship with comics is the recently released The Best of Ray Bradbury: The Graphic Novel, published by Byron Pries’ iBooks. The book collects adaptations of Bradbury’s stories that were originally printed by Topps in the early ’90s, and feature work by the likes of Richard Corben, Mike Mignola, P. Craig Russell, John Van Fleet, Mark Chiarello, Dave Gibbons, Michael Lark, Matt Wagner, Harvey Kurtzman, and more. The stories cover many of Bradbury’s affections, from dinosaurs to space travel and Pablo Picasso and the fantastic all around us, but just out of sight.
For the author, seeing his work in a collected edition such as this is only appropriate – after all, it all began with comics back in 1929, when a nine year old named Ray met an adventurer named Buck.
“It was October, 1929,” Bradbury told Newsarama. “The Depression was just starting. I was growing up in a small, rather poor family, and when I opened the new paper that afternoon, I saw Buck Rogers for the first time.
Get the rest of the article at Newsarama.com.
Published: Sep 24, 2003 02:19 am