Recommended music: James Horner – Willow’s Journey Begins
From the archives today, we’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow with this Willow Graphic Novel!
In 1982, Marvel Comics began publishing a line of graphic novel trade paperbacks. These were labeled “Marvel Graphic Novel” and printed in a larger format, 8.5″ x 11″. This style was similar to European albums, which had been popular for decades.
The Willow comic book adaptation was published from August to October 1988. Soon after that, all three single issues were collected into this graphic novel. While this adaptation, written by Jo Duffy, features a number of scenes that were deleted from the film (some of these were also in the novelization), the artwork really stands out to me here.
Co-creator of Marvel Comics’ West Coast Avengers, Bob Hall, was the penciller for the story panels while Romeo Tanghal was the inker. Joe Jusko is credited with the amazing cover art, only found in the graphic novel version. Yesterday’s General Kael art is the back cover. I also like the slick paper and print quality of this version compared to the single floppy issues.
The Willow film turns 37 years old this week! I figure there’ll be a new Willow item from my collection to share here for the rest of the month. Happy 37 years to the Magic of Willow!
Dale's Toys 