Originally Published: D’Artagnan Todo Color #1 as “Moonraker Misión Espacial”
Story Type: Film Adaptation
Writer: Alfredo Grassi (under the pseudonym Martin Ablescayne)
Artist: Enrique Villagrán (under the pseudonym Gómez Sierra)
Cover Artist: Alfredo de la María
Translator: Clinton Rawls
Notes: I once joked at an academic conference that film adaptation comics often manage to be both overwritten and too short, and this book exemplifies just that.
What follows is a rote, by the numbers adaptation of the film with no major changes to the plot. One of my joys in adapting these books is seeing what creators pull from the films and novels, and what comes from their own imaginations, but this is a watered down version of the film through and through. The writing at times can be incredibly redundant, leading to repeated phrases and statements as if no one expects the reader to follow a fifteen page story. I removed some of this to make the text fit better inside caption boxes, but much of it still remains so that I can honor the original text as best I can.
I suspect this book was written and drawn hastily, and perhaps that explains why the creators chose to go by pseudonyms, though I can’t say for certain. The art itself leaves much to be desired, and Villagrán seems to lean heavily on photo references, displaying little of the talent he would bring to his later work for Eclipse, Marvel, and DC, among others. All of the major and even some minor characters resemble their cinematic counterparts, but for some reason Q looks nothing like himself! Perhaps the artist did not have a good reference for Desmond Llewellyn. Speaking of references, in one panel, Villagrán uses an image of Roger Moore chomping on a cigar from The Wild Geese!
As an aside, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed researching Villagrán’s art and I urge you to do so as well. These comics may have been churned out quickly and occasionally fall short, but the people who made them were talented and deserve our respect.
Artistic Licence: When Bond lands at Drax’s base surrounded by beautiful, armed guards, he exclaims, “…no he caído muy bien parado…” Thanks to insight from my friend Eva Dalila Rojano and with some additional research, I have learned that this is a common phrase in Latin countries and is often simplified to “no caer bien parado,” which literally translates in English to, “not falling on a standing position.” The expression means simply that a situation did not turn out as one had wished. Since translating this literally would rob the comic of an intentionally humorous moment, I elected substitute a joke which works better in English and fits the spirit of the original. Let me know what you think!
