|
Post by Raz Greenberg on Jun 19, 2005 15:05:59 GMT -5
Ok, I came across this one by complete chance, but thought this might interest you... While surfing on the official website of Dark Horse Comics, I noticed that they reprint collected edition of a 1960s series called "Magnus Robot Fighter". This was drawn and (partially) written by an artist called Russ Manning. Prior to this work, Manning worked on some of the classic Tarzan comics. It turns that "Magnus Robot Fighter" is often treated as "Tarzan in Space" (not unlike the John Carter of Mars stories - and, of course, Star Wars). From the preview pages Dark Horse put up on their website, the futuristic environment has a slight Star-Wars feeling to it (no doubt inspired by Alex Raymond), and the names - "Magnus" and "Leeja" (the hero's girlfriend, who's the daughter of a senator...) certainly have a Lucas ring to them. The robots design also seems to be a big influence on the Droids design on Star Wars. The real interesting tidbit here, however: a few years before his death, one of Manning's final works was drawing newspaper Star Wars comic strips! These strips, also written by him, featured the debut apperance of Boba Fett (before his screen debut on "Empire"). Anyways, here's a link to all of Manning's works, available through Dark Horse: www.darkhorse.com/search/search.php?sstring=Russ+Manning&match=all&scope=productsAnd a really nice article about him: www.erbzine.com/mag8/0830.html
|
|
STAR WARS visual Influences
Guest
|
Post by STAR WARS visual Influences on Jun 29, 2005 10:16:52 GMT -5
Hi. One influence on the visual look of STAR WARS I've heard about is the Federico Fellini film FELLINI SATYRICON. Apparently, when George Lucas originally tried to obtain the rights to remake FLASH GORDON, he was unable to do so as they had been sold to Fellini, who was a huge comics fan. Fellini never made a film version of FG but Alex Raymond's artwork was a major influence on FELLINI SATYRICON's look. When Lucas began making STAR WARS several Production Design crew claimed that Lucas screened FELLINI SATYRICON to them. FELLINI SATYRICON is set in a squalid, decadent and crumbling Imaginary Rome and is very similar to the 'Used/Organic Galaxy' design style of STAR WARS where the enviroment has a rusty, dirty and weathered look to it, adding a sense of plausability to the environment. Several sequences bare an uncanny similarity to the Jabba the Hutt sequences in RETURN OF THE JEDI in particular. I have another theory that another influence was the French comic artist Jean "Mobius" Giraud who drew comics for the avant-garde comic METAL HURLANT (HEAVY METAL). I don't have much evidence to back it up yet, but Lucas did buy shares in a San Francisco comic shop called SUPERSNIPE after the success of AMERICAN GRAFFITI, and was probably very informed about the comics scene. N.B.: I think I read in one of the Lucas biographies that the Stormtroopers' helmets might have been influenced by the helmets that the German invaders wear in Sergei Eisenstein's film ALEXANDER NEVSKY.
|
|
|
Post by Kristen Brennan on Jun 30, 2005 16:13:20 GMT -5
Bruno is one of my favorite writers on fairytales! Thanks, Kristen B.
|
|
|
Post by delboy on Jul 1, 2005 20:01:01 GMT -5
plagiasirm and lucas go hand in hand, you dont have to be an avid scifi reader to know from where and when he had his inspiration.... dont get me wrong the star war films are good viewing, lucas is a good director... even better business man. but the star wars "universe" is based directly on frank herberts "Dune", there is much comment about this and that. example:
The Lensmen have been acknowledged as a strong inspiration for the Jedi, the Green Lantern Corps (from DC's Green Lantern comics), the Bene Gesserit (from Frank Herbert's Dune novels) and the psi-corps (from J. Michael Straczynski's television series Babylon 5).
what absolute nonsense, the above bilge appears on this site and proves only one thing the author has only a shallow understanding of the litary origins of modern scifi. An example is the new film "Revenge of the sith" one scene was lifted from lord of the rings.... the funeral...good lord even the camara angle and pan was the same....
please.. this is not like "In depth stuff" here.
Delboy
|
|