From: jittlov@gumby.cs.caltech.edu (Mike Jittlov)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics,rec.arts.comics.marketplace
Subject: Re: the russian comics_Ilya Muromets_
Date: 27 Sep 1992 06:56:17 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
NNTP-Posting-Host: gumby.cs.caltech.edu

root@alba.e-burg.su (Volkov Alexander Nikolaevich) writes:

>Hi to all my email friends!  Also, hi to all Netters from rec.
>arts.comics and r.a.c.marketplace!
>
>We are currently in negotiation with Diamond Distributors, for
>the US distribution of Russian comic books.  I have decided to
>offer, through the Net, a comic book that we are very excited
>about - "ILYA MUROMETS".
>
>This edition is bilingual, in both Russian and English, and
>its style imitates traditional Russian printings.
>
>--Alexander Wolkow


Privyet, G. Volkov!  I DA!  I'd very much like to see this
comic book!  How may I get a copy?

You've mentioned that "its style imitates...printings".  Do you
mean that the book follows the original folklore texts - or
that its artwork echoes the paintings of Muromets on display
(I think) in the Hermitage?

For the record, there actually was a comic of the ILYA MUROMETS
saga, distributed in the United States by Dell Publishing Co of
New York:  "THE SWORD AND THE DRAGON", Dell Movie Classic #1118
(c) 1960 by Vitalite Film Corporation.  Nice production photos,
but the panel art looked like a rush-job (no pun intended).

                            -*@*-

More info: "THE SWORD AND THE DRAGON" was produced and directed
by Alexander Ptushko, and its own creation was undoubtedly no
less heroic than its subject.  Four years in production, the
movie featured an incredibly huge cast of 106,000 actors and
extras, 11,000 horses (jeeze - that's over 9 on a horse!), full
size special effects monsters, and beautiful flights of fantasy
and imagination.  Many characters, costumes and locations look
like they were inspired by comics legend JACK KIRBY (or vice
versa!).  Though sometimes operatic and innocently hokey, it was
still very faithful to its long-cherished origins.  And knowing
a little of Russian's film industry, available equipment, film
processing, and the bureaucracy of the 1950's, it's a major
miracle that this epic even got made, let alone made this well.

Joseph Harris and Sig Shore acquired it for the US and UK, and
then gave it an interesting dubbing job (the villain's voice is
Paul Frees, doing his "Boris Badenov" from "ROCKY & BULLWINKLE").
Unfortunately, it was released in the US just prior to some heavy
anti-Russian sentiment.  Los Angeles TV stations wouldn't even
admit they had it in their film libraries.  It is currently in
video distribution, but with an awful "intro" and "outro" (where
a midwest All-American kid is encouraged to visit a library and
look at a book - INSERT MOVIE - and he later gets a pony for his
effort).  The new footage (about 4 hours in the making) cut off
all the movie's titles and credits (and replaced them with the
intro producer's 11 fade-ins of personal credits).

BY THE WAY, ANYBODY:  I would also love to get a clean VHS copy
(in NTSC) of this movie - uncut, and with the _original_ Russian
music and dialog (with or without English subtitles)!  I will
trade for a VHS of _my_ feature, "THE WIZARD OF SPEED AND TIME"
(4.5-years in production, 4,200,000,000 gray cells sacrificed),
plus additional footage and filmshorts! 

                            -*@*-

Footnote of Interest:  the Russian legends changed, as they
crossed the boundaries of time, culture, and geography.  But
they embodied some very powerful archetypes, which were tightly
woven into the patterns of emotional history.  When the Slavic
settlers moved into North America and Canada, they changed the
story a little.  Ilya Muromets' great battle-sword became a
giant double-bladed ax, and the built-like-an-oak wandering
warrior became...PAUL BUNYAN.

(No kidding - learned that in my UCLA folklore class, in 1969.
No idea where Bunyan's giant blue ox came from... Probably
embodied the settlers' wish for a decent meal.)


________________________________________ ___._`.*.'_._ ________
 Mike Jittlov - Wizard, etc       .   . +  * .o   o.* `.`. +.  
  Hollywood, CA 90026-2714       '   *  . ' ' |\^/|  `. * .  *
jittlov@gumby.cs.caltech.edu  (: May All Your  \V/  Good Dreams
  <& alt.fan.mike-jittlov>    and Fine Wishes  /_\  Come True:)
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