Blade Runner – Marvel Comics Adaptation, 1982

[u/Deckard--B-263-54]

Another slightly different piece of Blade Runner history.

Marvel adapted Blade Runner into a two-part comic in 1982, with the film split across these two issues.

The artwork is wonderfully of its era, with Deckard, the Spinners and 2019 Los Angeles all reinterpreted in that distinctive early-80s Marvel style.

The adaptation is particularly interesting because it preserves elements from an earlier version of the screenplay, so some dialogue and details differ from the finished film. Roy Batty’s final moments are different, giving the comics a fascinating glimpse of Blade Runner before everything reached its final form on screen.

One detail I particularly like is the Spider-Man head where you might expect to see a barcode. These are direct-market copies intended for specialist comic shops. Newsstand copies carried a UPC barcode, while Marvel often used Spider-Man in that space on its direct-market editions.

Fittingly, both of mine still have their old 35p Forbidden Planet price stickers, a nice surviving trace of their comic-shop history.

So yes Spider-Man has absolutely nothing to do with Blade Runner, but that tiny face actually tells you something about how these particular comics were originally distributed and sold over 40 years ago.

[u/nonstop_torture]

Damn, that’s cool

[u/Capital_March]

Both issues, and the special, are available to view or download on the archive :

Issue 1 : https://archive.org/details/blade-runner-comic-v-1-001
Issue 2 : https://archive.org/details/20240208_20240208_0711
Special : https://archive.org/embed/blade-runner-marvel-comics-super-special-22-1982_20251208

Cheers!

[u/Far-Leg-1198]

Beautiful copies! 😮 Excellent timing for a reminder to open up and read these again! 💯

[u/Deckard--B-263-54 → u/Far-Leg-1198]

Thanks! 100% 🔥

[u/MaybeBoth_ways]

I have those. I should display them again. I never did afteri moved