This past Thursday (December 18) was Steven Spielberg's birthday. What better way to celebrate that dy-no-mite director's debut-day here on Diversions than to present the Marvel Comics Super Special adaptation of Spielberg's wonderful Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Ol' Groove can't think of a single one, so here it goes! Written by Archie Goodwin, with art by Walt Simonson and Klaus Janson, CE3K appeared in Marvel Comics Super Special #3 (Spring, 1978). I've even included Archie Goodwin's text piece on how the mag came together, so you won't have to read my long-winded ramblings. Enjoy the show, Groove-ophile!
Wow. I had no idea this existed. I kinda like the art, but it's nowhere near the Walt Simonson style that he later adopted. Klaus Janson's work is easily recognisable, though. This is a remarkably abridged version of the story, and the likenesses aren't even close (though they rarely are in these types of adaptations). The aliens seem to be depicted as featureless, luminous beings (which they nearly were), but reading these scenes in comic form really saps them of all the power they were presented with in the film. The music and sound was such a large part of the impact of that film that without them, it's very flat.
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