The success of the stop-motion animated film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM has prompted the release of the comic book version of the film. Scheduled for a February 25, 2009 release through Bluewater Productions out of Portland, Oregon, the stop-motion film-to-comic will be a first for production partners Bluewater Productions and Hand Made Heroes Film & Television, honoring Gothic horror maestro Edgar Allan Poe's 200th anniversary.
The comic version of Poe's tale of condemnation, hope and redemption borrows images directly from the film, providing a direct correlation between the two projects; film and comic. Wrapping up production and starting on the DVD, Lougee got in contact with Darren Davis of Bluewater Productions, famous for their Ray Harryhausen Presents Signature line of comics, as well as the then newly-released Vince Price Presents line. Lougee pitched the idea of producing the story as a one-off comic, using the film images, and Davis jumped on board, rallying the crew at Bluewater to help get the pendulum swinging.
"While we were in the throes of production on the short, I had the idea of pursuing various media outlets for the film and the story itself," explained the film's director, Marc Lougee. "So much of what we've been doing over the last couple of years to promote the film has been involving the internet, social media and 'alternate ' means of promotion for the project, so I wanted to explore the options that were available to us in pushing the story a little further out into the world, outside of the traditional channels of distribution. Doing a comic was something I've always been keen to try, and not being much of an illustrator, I realized we could use the still images from the stop motion film as 'sequential art' in comic form; what we have as a result is a sort of hybrid between the film, a graphic novel and a short story comic. I think it's a very cool-looking way of telling the story, with a fresh approach."
Sequential art in comics is a familiar sight for most everyone, but utilizing the images used in the film itself and re-processing them for another type of 'sequential art' made sense to Lougee and Producer Susan Ma.
Lougee added, "We're all about making the story of THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM accessible. Students, teachers and fans of the gothic genre can see the film on the DVD, and then read the story in the comic book, or vice versus, seeing the images culled directly from the film. This means folks will spend that much more time with Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale, and in the case of students studying Poe's work, I feel this sort of approach, the combination of films and comics will, in tandem, help get kids interested in literature. This is especially relevant as we're in the midst of Edgar Allan Poe's 200th anniversary; what better time to get to know the man and his work than now?"
In THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, a victim of the Spanish Inquisition is brought before a tribunal. Condemned and alone, he's left to suffer a fate worse than death as his captors employ fiendish machinations in their efforts to unhinge him.
Featuring images taken directly from the award-winning animated film and coupled with Poe's original text, the graphic version of the story in comic book form ratchets up the effect of Poe's tale of gothic horror, creating a spine-tingling experience not to be missed.
THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM comicbook is scheduled for release in February 2009. The PIT AND THE PENDULUM DVD is available online at www.thepitandthependulumdvd.com.
