Western Publishing loved movie adaptations. Over the years they did many dozens, employing some the greatest comic book artists and writers who ever worked in the beloved medium. Before we get to the story, let’s enjoy this unusual painted cover (photo-covers were the norm for the movie tie-ins). The artist is, sadly, unknown.
During the silver age, John Buscema did several movie adaptations for Western Publishing. “Hercules” - from Four Color No. 1006, July 1959 – is one of my favorite Buscema adaptations as it showcases the artist’s ability to render mortals of amazing density, weight, power, and (most importantly) action – a rare skill put to good use during his Conan years at Marvel. Paul S. Newman provides the concise, poetic script.Also on grand display in this issue is the superb coloring for which Four Color was so famous.
