The Joseph Conrad penned novel isn't really as simple as that. However, that seems to be the general theme of the story.
Jim has always dreamed of becoming a hero on the high seas. He gets his chance as the first mate of a steamer serving a large number of pilgrims seeking to flee religious persecution. When a storm threatens to sink the ship, the captain abandons his passenger for his own safety. Jim, initially hesitant to leave the ship, decides at the very last minute to flee with the captain.
Thankfully, the ship stayed afloat and the passengers were rescued by a French vessel. However, the act of cowardice on the part of the captain results in Jim losing his certificate to sail. Despite a strong moral objection to Jim's actions, Captain Charles Marlow is intrigued by the lads bravery to being the only crew member to stay for the entire length of his captain's trial and seeks to help Jim find new employment.
Jim flourishes as a ship's chandelier clerk at a port in southeast Asia. The natives respectfully refer to him as Tuan Jim or 'Lord Jim'. It looks like Jim has found a career with a promising future. That is until one of Jim's former crew mates arrives at the port threatening blackmail to reveal Jim's secret shame. But rather than lose face, Jim quits his swank job, running once again from his notorious past.
Originally published as a serial, Lord Jim was written by Joseph Conrad in 1899. A Polish writer who immigrated to the United Kingdom, Conrad's most famous novel is perhaps Heart of Darkness, which Francis Ford Coppola used as the inspiration for the Vietnam war classic, Apocalypse Now. Before becoming a writer, Conrad sailed the world as a merchant marine. At one time, he even captained his own vessel. Though scholars speculate that some of Conrad's exploits might have been anything but honest work.
In 1979, John Norwood Fago wrote the script for a comic book adaptation of Lord Jim. The story was part of Pendulum Press's Pendulum Illustrated Classics series (formerly Pendulum Now Age Classics.) John's father Vincent Fago was hired in 1970 to produce a line of black and white comics based on beloved works of literature. As the Gilberton Company was in the process of shuttering it's extremely popular Classics Illustrated line of books, Pendulum Press saw an opportunity to fill the void of educational tools in the classroom.
Pendulum ceased publication of new titles in the Pendulum Illustrated Classics in 1980, after releasing 13 volumes based on the works of William Shakespeare. Pendulum's parent company, Academic Industries repackaged the entire lineup into a series of pocket-sized paperbacks in 1984, called Pocket Classics. Though the books were individually priced for sale, Academic sold the books in a variety of group packages. For one low price, ranging between $19.95-$29.95, parents could buy an assortment that sometimes also included works from Pendulum's biography series. The commercials ran primarily on cable's Nickelodeon, which after 7pm nightly would morph into the A&E channel. My parents bought me a library set that included all 60 of the classics, including the dozen Shakespeare works.
In the early 90s, Pendulum would reissue full-color reprints of several of their most popular titles. Plans were to reproduce the original 72 volume lineup, but poor sales and the volatile economy for the comic book industry at the time forced Pendulum to quickly abandon the project. Pendulum folded in 1994. However, the legacy of the company's works live on as several companies have reissued many of the stories under the Pendulum Illustrated Classics banner to the next generation of students.
Artist for Lord Jim (C55) was Frank Redondo.
I loved the artwork. I loved the nostalgia. Hated the story. It's a real downer.
Completing this review completes Task #29 (Based on a classic work of fiction that you've never read) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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