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MikeMahle β War of the Worlds
Published: 2014-03-30 15:31:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 12506; Favourites: 526; Downloads: 0
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Description
I've partnered with guys from Rock Paper Books to create some cool new covers for some very classic novels. The books will be available through their Kickstarter campaign which begins April 4, 2014. Along with the books some supporters will be able to get prints of the covers. There are five classic books to begin will with a chance to vote for the which one we'll do next.ΒYou can find out more at www.RockPaperBooks.com
Created in Adobe Illustrator CS6, with a wacom tablet, and the mighty pen tool.Β
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Comments: 37
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this should be available as a print, it's fantastic. It looks straight out of the 1920's.
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Thanks
Head on over toΒ www.rockpaperbooks.com/ to get yourself a print.Β
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Love it, that looks like a Reaper in the Mass Effect Series.
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Very cool - I hope HG Wells' FOOD OF THE GODS is on your list ofΒ covers!
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Thanks
www.RockPaperBooks.com
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Thanks
www.RockPaperBooks.com
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This is a great piece all around, but I especially love that type.
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Thanks
www.RockPaperBooks.com
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Thanks.Β
www.RockPaperBooks.com
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There's an unfortunate sad story to this particular novel; Jeff Wayne, the guy who did the 1970s disco/rock musical adaptation with Richard Burton, tied up the international rights to the book in such a way that only he can make a film version set in the original 1901 time frame of the novel and he has veto power over any other big-budget film or TV version. Kenneth Branagh found this out the hard way in the '90s when he tried to make a film version, the Hallmark Channel was likewise stymied when they tried to make a miniseries, and the Cruise/Spielberg version had to be done as a contemporary version as a part of a deal with Wayne. The direct-to-video cheapie version by Pendragon PicturesΒ could only be distributed in North America and over the Internet, and that version only got made because it was too Ed Wood-level to pose an actual threat to Wayne. Even the Dark Horse Comics adaptation of the novel had to sell ad space for his musical in order to do their version.
The dumbest part is that Wayne's been promising since 2003 to make an animated movie of his musical and has been spending his time doing re-recordings, remixes, and live stage shows of it instead. He really had no intention of doing anything more than asserting personal control over the property at the expense of everyone else, which is -- to put it very mildly -- obnoxious.
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That's a crazy story, but all too believable the way US copyright laws have been perverted beyond reason. I can't believe I never heard this particular one before, thanks for the info 'cause I'm gonna look it up!
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There used to be a really great article on AICN about the rights issues (1998 was when the issue first came up), but I don't think it's still on the site anymore. What are available at the moment are interviews with Branagh's screenwriter Peter Briggs, which touch on the project:
www.ign.com/articles/2004/12/0β¦
www.script-to-screen.co.nz/201β¦
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That's too bad. One of the many reasons for intellectual rights laws to be reformed, a mess.Β
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The topic occasionally comes up at comic cons (I tend to commission art of the 1953 movie), and comic creators are always baffled by the Wayne situation. Chris Claremont and William Messner-Loebs both flat-out asked "Why isn't this book completely public domain by now?" And unfortunately, I can't give them an answer that won't leave their brains knotted into pretzels. The international rights issues surrounding the book are snarled beyond belief.
As to the Wayne musical itself...it's extremely divisive. Those who love it are fanatical in their adoration (some -- but thankfully not all -- will even defend Wayne's behavior over the rights to the bitter end) and hold it as the ultimate gold standard for telling the story. Then there are those -- myself included -- who think it's absolute garbage. It's strictly love-it-or-hate-it, and how you feel about it is going to depend purely on your tastes. Regardless, I don't think the book should be held eternally hostage to something done in 1976.
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I know this is a pretty old thread for a wonderful piece of artwork. However, correct me if I'm wrong but think all aspects of H G Well's work, including WotW (as obviously opposed to any derivatives) slip into the public domain next year (2016) as it's 70 years since Herbert's death.
I'm sure I read this somewhere too. Hopefully
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It's SUPPOSED to, yes. But it was supposed to fall into the public domain in the 1990s, when Branagh and Briggs were prepping their version. Jeff Wayne renewed his ownership of the international rights just as the expiration date came up, and used it to kill both the Branagh project and a potential Hallmark Channel miniseries. The Cruise/Spielberg movie was Paramount's attempt at a compromise with Wayne, hence the modern-day setting of that film.
We can't be sure WOTW will fall into the public domain as planned, because Wayne -- even back in 2005, when the Cruise/Spielberg film was coming out -- was bragging about his ownership of the property in interviews. What's to stop him from renewing his ownership of the international rights again? He's greedy enough to do it, even though he clearly has no intention of ever making his much-boasted-about animated movie version.
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