I was looking through some 1961-1962 issues of
FOUR COLOR COMICS in my collection, that adapt several movies. Some of which you might have heard of are VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (issue 1230).
And KING OF KINGS (issue 1236) starring a pre-Star Trek Jeffrey Hunter (a k a, Captain Pike in "The Menagerie").
I'm a particular fan of artist Gerald McCann who did most of the issues I'm talking about. VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA was adapted by Sam Glanzman who later did war comics for DC in the 1960's-1980's.
When you loved a movie, these were a big deal in an earlier era, before VHS and DVD. Even into the 1980's there were a lot of movie adaptations. In some cases arguably better than the movie! Either for nice art, or for a version that is more expanded than the movie itself, or just interestingly different, like any other adaptation from the original.
The last I recall reading was a
FROM DUSK TILL DAWN comics adaptation that was pretty good, from the short-lived Teknocomics (1994-1997). I actually worked for this publisher briefly.
But I think because of the easy availability in the modern era in DVD, Netflix or Hulu, or other downloadable forms, there is less demand for adaptations, and most readers prefer the movies and shows themselves to adaptations.
But back in the day, licensed comics were the bread and butter of publishers like Dell, Harvey and Gold Key.
