Jules Verne, Part 34

(Continued from Jules Verne, Part 33)

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH   (Overview)

First published in 1864, this has been probably my FAVORITE Jules Verne story since I was a kid.

A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH
cover by ??   (Henry L. Shepard & Co. / Boston  /  1874)

The novel was serialized in several of the earliest issues
of AMAZING STORIES magazine!

AMAZING STORIES Vol.1, No3
cover by FRANK R. PAUL   (Experimenter Publishing Company  /  June 1926)

interior illustration by FRANK R. PAUL

If memory serves, I saw this particular edition in the "Captain Company" mail-order catalog in the various Warren Publishing horror comics magazines.  I used to wonder why music albums so often had different cover art on reissues, but the music biz has nothing on the book publishing biz on that score.  The "Headed For Alien Territory" website had an interesting comment about this particular cover...  "It’s a very nice cave with some bones and a boy scout in a baseball cap. Wait. What? This book is explicitly set in 1863, and plucky nephews weren’t wearing jeans and a baseball cap at that time. We are very amused. Otherwise…. it’s a fine cover."  Well, it does say "A new modern translation".  Is it possible the book has been "updated" to 1956? 

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH  /
cover by ??   (Ace Books  /  1956)

Gilberton's CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED series finally got around to tackling Verne's "JOURNEY" in 1957-- only 2 years before 20th Century-Fox did their big-budget feature film version (which no doubt was inspired by the tremendous success of the 1954 Disney version of "20,000 LEAGUES").  As with many of their comics, this one has been reprinted multiple times over the years since.

Sometime in the 70s (I think it was in high school), I read a comics version of "JOURNEY" was, to my amazement, was included in the contents of a thick, hardbound, English-class reading book.  I can't be sure... but I have a strong feeling it may well have been this one.

CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED 138  /
cover by ??   (Gilberton  /  May 1957)

Page 19  /  art by NORMAN NODEL

Read the Norman Nodel CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED adaptation
     at the Tom's Place site! 

In the wake of the 1954 Disney film of "20,000 LEAGUES", a whole slew of Jules Verne films were made.  One of the biggest was the 1959 adaptation of "Journey".  As with the 1954 film, severe liberties were taken with the original story for dramatic purposes.  While Axel had originally been the Professor's nephew, instead, Alex was engaged to the Professor's niece; Hans the guide had a companion in Gertude the duck (harkening back to Ismael the sea-lion); and the expedition of discovery became a race between Lindenrook, his rival Guterberg, and once he was killed, no less than Count Saknussem, evil descendant of Arne, in whose footsteps they all trod.  Perhaps completely out of place was the lost city of Atlantis, seen in the book "20,000 LEAGUES" but missing from that film.

From the IMDB site:  "Although the film substantially strayed from the novel, the latter plodded along, while the script was fast-paced and engaging. And where there was no villain except nature herself, the film had Thayer David as the self-serving-downright nasty - Count Saknussem. With James Mason heading the cast and-then-teen heartthrob Pat Boone drawing in as well a young female audience, the film and its special effects made for a rousing good time."

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
poster art by ??   (20th Century-Fox  /  1959)

Naturally, Dell Comics did the adaptation of the movie.
Adatption was by Robert Schaefer, art by John Ushler.

FOUR COLOR 1060
(Dell  /  1959)

MY introduction to "JOURNEY"-- and the beginning of my fascination with it-- came in-- of all things-- an amusement park ride in Dorney Park at Allentown, PA.  I only just learned that the ride had started life in 1927 under the name "The Old Mill", but in 1960 (no doubt inspired by the movie!) it was re-formatted as "Journey The The Center Of The Earth", with dinosaurs!  Click on this link to read about the history of the ride.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH  /  amusement park boat ride
Dorney Park  /  1960

Airmont Books' 1965 paperback edition was the one I had in my collection, and which I eventually got around to reading on the train to and from art school in the late 80s.   I must confess, the cover, which depicts a group of men wearing heavy, protective suits, and employing a piece of machinery that looks like some kind of underground vehicle, looks as if it was done for an entirely different book about underground caverns!

A JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
cover by ??   (Airmont Books  /  1965)

Here's a really nice cover to a 1966 edition I found online.
I spent most of a day cleaning up this image!

A JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH  /
cover by MORT KUNSTLER   (NY Scholastic  /  1966)

My 2nd exposure to "JOURNEY" was the 1967 Filmation Saturday morning cartoon series, which was based somewhat on the 1959 film.   The Professor's niece was changed from Jenny to Cindy, and she came along on the trip rather than the more mature Mrs. Guterberg.  Count Saknussem, from the film, was more evil than ever, and was forever accompanied by his "brute-like manservant", Torg.  Apart from the inferior writing & animation, the thing that really bugged me was there was no "pilot" (the start of the story was explained in the opening credits), and-- worse-- no ending.  On the other hand, it did have a terrific theme song!  I had to wait until I finally saw the '59 film before I found out how the story ended, although I've always imagined the Filmation version would have been quite diffferent, had they ever actually done it.

Professor Oliver Lindenbrook, Cindy, Alex, and Count Saknussem

Gertrude, Lars, the group

actual animation cel!

Click here to see the opening credits of the 1967 Filmation JOURNEY cartoon!
Watch the 1st episode of Filmation's JOURNEY cartoon!

In late 1967, Marvel published a one-shot anthology centered around ABC-TV's Saturday morning line-up... including Filmation's "JOURNEY" series.  It looks like artist Paul Reinman didn't even TRY to match the look of the characters from the TV cartoon.

AMERICA'S BEST TV COMICS  /
cover by various   (Marvel  /  1967)

"Journey To The Center Of The Earth"
story by ??  /  art by PAUL REINMAN 

Although there wasn't anything related to "JOURNEY" or Jules Verne inside, the cover of this Warren horror comic magazine paid tribute to the Frank R. Paul cover of AMAZING STORIES #3 (1926).

CREEPY 18
cover by VIC PREZIO   (Warren Publishing  /  January 1968)

Whitman Publishing did a "Big Little Book" based
     on the 1967 cartoon show.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
cover by ??   (Whitman Publishing  /  1968)

Whitman Publishing also did a jigsaw puzzle based
     on the 1967 cartoon show!

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
cover by ??   (Whitman Publishing  /  1969) 

Don't miss the 2nd half of this overview!

(Continued in Jules Verne, Part 35)

Copyright (C) the various artists & publishers

Scan of 1874 Henry L. Shepard & Co. edition from the Wikipedia site
Scan of 1926 Amazing Stories cover from the Heritage Auctions site
Scan of 1926 Amazing Stories interior page from the Archives.Org site
Scan of 1956 Ace Books edition from the Headed For Alien Territory site
Scan of 1957 Gilberton version cover from the Heritage Auctions site
Scan of 1957 Gilberton version interior from the Tom's Place site
Scan of 1959 20th Century-Fox feature film poster from the FlickFacts site
Scan of 1959 Dell version from the GCD site
Scan of Dorney Park ride from the Cardcow site
     Special thanks to the Laff In The Dark site
Scan of 1965 Airmont Books edition from my collection
Scan of 1966 NY Scholastic edition from the Ragged Claw site
Scans of 1967 Filmation cartoon from the SF Signal,
     Goodcomics and Aveleyman sites
Scan of 1967 America's Best Comics cover from Nick Caputo's blog
Scan of 1967 America's Best Comics interior from the Booksteve blog
Scan of 1968 Creepy cover from the GCD site
Scan of 1968 Whitman Big Little Book from the My Comics Shop site
Scan of 1969 Whitman jugsaw puzzle from the Bye My Life site

Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa

For more:
Read about the book at the Wikipedia site!
Visit the Jules Verne website
     to see various editions of the novel over the years!
Read about the history of Gilberton & Classics Illustrated at Wikipedia
Read about the 1959 20th Century Fox movie at Wikipedia!
Read about the music of the 1959 film at A Lost Film.com!
Read Perspective magazine's article on Dell Movie Classics.
Read about the "JOURNEY" theme park ride at Laff In The Dark.com
Read about the 1967 Filmation "JOURNEY" TV series at Wikipedia!

See Edouard Riou's illustrations for "JOURNEY" at the Tom's Place site!
Read the Norman Nodel JOURNEY adaptation at the Tom's Place site!
Watch the 1st episode of Filmation's JOURNEY cartoon!
Read the Ernie Colon JOURNEY adaptation!

See the 20,000 LEAGUES overview!
See the JOURNEY overview!
See the MYSTERIOUS ISLAND overview!