Bradbury 31, Day 8: "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl"

First published in 1948, "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl" is an interesting short story by Ray Bradbury first printed as "Touch and Go." In this tale, a man commits a crime of passion, angrily killing his rival. Desperate to keep himself from being connected with the murder, the killer begins obsessively cleaning everything he touched in the house - but quickly loses track of what he did or did not touch.

As "Touch and Go" it was published in EC Comics' Crime SuspenStories by Al Feldstein and Johnny Craig; Craig did an excellent job of depicting the killer's confusion and madness. Under the story's later title, "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl," it appeared on a 1988 episode of The Ray Bradbury Theater with Michael Ironside as the killer. Ironside is an actor beloved by film buffs but not exactly renowned; in this program he's absolutely riveting as the rattled killer. It's one of the best episodes of that series and a very fine adaptation.

Tomorrow: another Ray Bradbury tale!

Bradbury 31, Day 7: The Martian Chronicles

Published in 1950, The Martian Chronicles was the first of several books by Ray Bradbury where he compiled various short stories of his into a novel, fashioning bridging material between chapters, revising various details and creating new chapters entirely. It welded together many of the short stories he had written about Mars through the 1940s, developing from it an engaging tale of how humanity would colonize Mars. It was (and is) a celebrated novel with a radio adaptation appearing the same year on Dimension X. Naturally they had to condense many of the details to fit a half-hour, but some of the best moments of the book can be found there; listen to it yourself at archive.org by clicking here.

In 1980 The Martian Chronicles became a made-for-TV movie starring Rock Hudson, likely getting off the ground because of the fascination with science fiction following the success of Star Wars in 1977. Bradbury didn't think too highly of this adaptation but I found it serviceable; it's probably the only attempt at telling the whole book through live action media I'll see in my lifetime. Anyway, the Martian costumes looked unique.

In 2011, Ray Bradbury authorized a full-colour full-length comic book adaptation by artist Dennis Calero. It omitted various tales which had been dropped from The Martian Chronicles reprints over the decades (such as "Usher II") but otherwise, everything is there; and yet, it's not entirely satisfying. Calero is capable of fine work, but the entire book feels rushed. The colors lack subtlety and instead make Calero's lines look simple and half-finished, as though it were produced in MS Paint. It tells the story accurately - that's the best thing I can say about it. If only the cover matched the interior!

I'll visit more stories from The Martian Chronicles as the month continues. There will be more Ray Bradbury tomorrow!

Bradbury 31, Day 6: "It Burns Me Up!"

"It Burns Me Up!" is one of those Ray Bradbury short stories which doesn't quite fit the usual genres he's pinned to - it isn't horror, fantasy or science fiction. It does have a somewhat unusual storytelling device in that it's narrated by a dead man, but even that's not unheard of in literature. First printed in 1944, I suppose you could call it a crime story as the plot involves investigators looking into the murdered man's death while the narrating dead man complains about their shoddy work.

Although it's not one of Bradbury's best-known works, it too has been adapted, via Topps Comics in 1993. Topps had a knack for bringing in some of comics' all-time greatest creators for their Bradbury adaptations and in this instance, the adaptation came from Harvey Kurtzman, best-known for his work at EC Comics, who were, of course, boosters of Bradbury's in the 1950s. As Kurtzman wasn't involved in the 50s adaptation it certainly seems right for him to adapt one of Bradbury's tales; as his work was rather sketchy, Matt Wagner (a legend in his own right) came in to finish it up; Wagner explains the process through a series of articles here. It's a very neat look at Kurtzman's work with his geometric characters appearing almost 3-dimensional on the page. Seek it out!

Tomorrow: More Ray Bradbury!

Bradbury 31, Day 5: "The Fog Horn"

The Ray Bradbury story we know of as "The Fog Horn" first appeared in 1951 under the title "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms." The 1953 motion picture of that name was being developed at the time the short story was printed and a deal was struck between the filmmakers and Bradbury to use elements from his story in the movie. "The Fog Horn" tells of a lonely prehistoric creature which is drawn toward a lighthouse by a fog horn, thinking it has found one of its own kind. The film Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, which represents one of the first film works to draw from Bradbury's imagination. Although the film took very little from his story, the scene where the creature enacts the events of "The Fog Horn" is easily the most poignant moment. Of course, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms became immensely important in the lore of movie monsters as it led to a certain Japanese lizard by the name Godzilla.

In 1993 Topps Comics had artist Wayne D. Barlowe paint an adaptation of "The Fog Horn." Barlowe's adaptation is not entirely comics - it reads like an illustrated text story - but it's very beautiful art. In this tale, rather than a four-footed land creature, the lonely dinosuar is rendered after that of a pleisiosaur, inviting friendly thoughts of the Loch Ness Monster.

Tomorrow: More Bradbury!

Bradbury 31, Day 4: "The October Game"

To some eyes, Ray Bradbury stories mean something warm, heartfelt and nostalgic; the wonders of childhood, the simplicity of rural living, the vistas of the imagination. Of course, he could also write stories which were just plain demented. Such a tale was 1948's short story "The October Game." It plays on a familiar Halloween game where children are gathered in a dark room and handed what their host claims are the body parts of a dead witch. Except in Bradbury's tale...

In 1953, Al Feldstein and Jack Kamen adapted the story for EC Comics' Shock SuspenStories. Although EC had a reputation for grim, terrifying images, I've presented the finale of their adaptation above - and as you can see, it's gore-free. Even in the supposed-unrestrained ranks of EC, they understood restraint; Bradbury's own tale leaves the final horror up to the reader's imagination. In fact, there are some Bradbury fans who disagree as to what the final line of the story means. Good on Feldstein & Kamen for understanding the story's strengths!

Tomorrow: More Bradbury!

Bradbury 31, Day 3: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Ray Bradbury's 1962 novel Something Wicked This Way Comes was not entirely original; elements of the book were drawn from his earlier horror story "The Black Ferris" (which was itself adapted into EC Comics and the Ray Bradbury Theater). The novel is a wonderful example of Bradbury's dark fantasy storytelling - the story of two boys who visit a strange traveling carnival and realize its owner is wielding malevolent magic against the people of the town.

As Bradbury originally conceived of the novel as a movie screenplay, it's appropriate that it finally came to the screen in 1983. The film is not perfect but some of the weirdness of the novel is captured perfectly, especially Jonathan Pryce's turn as the villainous Mr. Dark. The fates of various townsfolk were changed - particularly that of the lightning rod salesman, who is much more significant in the film version.

A comic book adaptation finally arrived in 2011 from publisher Hill & Wang, authorized by Bradbury himself. However, it's Something Disappointing This Way Comes. It appears as though artist Ron Wimberly prepared his adaptation for full colour (as Hill & Wang's Fahrenheit 451 & The Martian Chronicles were), but the pages were printed in black & white. Tones which may have looked sharp in full colour appear muddy in the black & white treatment. The story itself is there and faithfully retold - simply less than great production values mar the occasion.

Tomorrow: More Bradbury!

Bradbury 31, Day 2: The Screaming Woman

"The Screaming Woman" is a well-known Ray Bradbury story about a girl who hears the sound of a woman screaming from somewhere beneath a vacant piece of land. When she tries to alert her parents to the noise, they assume she's making up a story. Without their help, the girl sets out to save the screaming woman on her own.

Unlike many of Bradbury's tales, this one originated in a medium other than print: radio. In 1948, "The Screaming Woman" appeared on the top-notch radio series Suspense with child star Margaret O'Brien in the lead role. You can hear it from archive.org here.

The story finally appeared in print in 1951. Soon after it was adapted to EC Comics' Crime SuspenStories via Al Feldstein and artist Jack Kamen; later still it was adapted to the 1984 radio series Bradbury 13 (you can listen to it at youtube here). What makes these adaptations interesting is that the ending is rather different; in the radio play, the woman is saved from her burial. However, Bradbury has stated this was because of radio broadcast standards - his original plot left the woman buried alive. The subsequent adaptations simply muddied the finish - it's no longer clear whether or not the woman is rescued.

In 1986, the story was adapted for television's Ray Bradbury Theater with Drew Barrymore in the lead role. Interestingly, this adaptation goes back to the Suspense version with an upbeat conclusion. What I find most interesting about all of these adaptations is that the child isn't depicted as someone being taught a moral (Bradbury was pretty good at avoiding moralizing). In, for instance, Cornell Woolrich's The Window a child who is always lying to his parents witnesses a murder and thus his parents won't believe him - a "boy cries wolf" moral. The girl in "The Screaming Woman" is not a serial liar - she's simply a little girl. By virtue of being a child, she's considered untrustworthy. There is some form of truth in there about how dogged and persistent children are in their beliefs despite adult skepticism.

Tomorrow: More Bradbury!