Because I now have tenure, I have decided to teach works only if they have been adapted into comics form. Getting tenure was hard, and now I need a break from reading difficult literary works, especially poetry. I feel this is a nice compromise: it's still reading, after all, and I could be just watching movie adaptations if I were really lazy.
Luckily, I normally begin the Brit Lit survey with the Old English heroic poem, Beowulf, a work that is not lacking in comic adaptations. Gareth Hinds has done a nicely illustrated version that uses a limited amount of prose to tell the story. Speakeasy published a Beowulf series by Brian Augustyn and Dub, but that one imagines the hero in a contemporary setting, so I can't really substitute it for the original. And Jerry Bingham did a great, straight-up adaptation for First Comics back in 1984, but I don't have access to that book.
What I do have access to, however, is the 1970s DC series by Michael Uslan and Ricardo Villamonte, so this will have to do.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDiP_WEjhqvs20FfvuHf3lk7sEnWZVfh_PV75W2Wi0ZXpeZwI67M6i8MzCazUF3-5880rvUe0eC1vM8asEqegV4TCYXdkEHXNdtIhiNdF2_zzarrlgTeUvj-0my-rcjL0rfuI0bhZPyxSq/s320/beowulf1.jpg)
Okay, that looks like Beowulf is fighting the monster Grendel, so this looks like it will be a good, faithful adaptation. However, I don't remember there being a blonde in a bikini in the version of Beowulf I read, but maybe that was just a flaw in the translation.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2xo3Pc0CFsh78Ge5X2Il4bat58ZK2oOZRXG_D6dbI_LregEEr0Xtviknu9jsvckhxkV5EFDKRydRiIBiHvpO4wthqweAxk30I4ZmhbbnI467RtnLyKpd489eU9eCT5p0ykbhRKEhyuhqS/s320/beowulf2.jpg)
Again, "The Slave Maid of Satan" does not appear in the translation I read, but I like how the phrase captures the alliterative qualities of the Old English verse. And it looks like Beowulf is fighting a dragon here, so that goes along with my memory of the poem.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBIFH7H6el5DAh-hacgDYa4ofaecN-1tFJx564_cZltBLhuV0H1ooFtTkaSbXYaCITD9mfz7AtW7alWhTpCrBjnZvzpMV_wl18wOXvBJ1SVTwY2mwrIfBkjPYpjdhzew8w7wxMZo1HHhgd/s320/beowulf3.jpg)
So, the blonde woman's name is "Nan-Zee"? And she carries a sword? Man, I really must have stopped paying attention at some point when I read the original.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd4zCBNXCkjrGfrwHm32LyFcWxt6TZxmY9JmqAWePz7_BDdDdoUErRBDgwoit8bl7393ba_pUha_f-pEBfhJBAHu_YnMp8-3s4dIFcqTP2FmquwJxeUEuyx6xLqob_tAUxod3bqUIq99c/s320/beowulf4.jpg)
Wait a minute! Dracula?! Now I'm starting to suspect that this isn't just me, that this comic adaptation may not be very faithful to the original. I know I would remember if Beowulf fought Dracula, because that would be awesome.
Crap! Now I'm going to have to go back and read the poem after all. I hate it when comics let me down.
8 comments:
It's too bad that Godzilla was a Marvel property in the 70s. Because "Godzilla vs. Beowulf" would be something to see...
I can't wait til you do Canterbury Tales. What you don't know about Middle English CAN hurt you.
The Wife of Bath in a chainmail bikini...
The Pardoner punching at reality's walls...
The Knight is really a Skrull...
Mike--I think if you mix and match Godzilla or Beowulf with anything, it comes out awesome. Consider these random examples taken from the 1970s:
Beowulf vs. Bruce Lee--check!
Godzilla vs. Smokey and the Bandit--check!
Beowulf vs. Reggie Jackson--check!
Siskoid--Oh, how I wish there were a comic adaptation of the Canterbury Tales--especially the Miller's Tale.
Godzilla vs. Smokey AND the Bandit?
That hardly seems like a fair fight.
Unless Smokey IS the Bandit...
Yeah, but Big G don't play fair.
It seems a bit odd to name a comic "Beowulf - Dragon Slayer", given that he died right after killing the dragon.
Ginger Yellow--Plus, he had help from Wiglaf while taking the dragon down. Clearly, this should be "Beowulf: Dragon Slayer*"
Hello nice post
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