I have a strange fondness for movies that I didn’t watch until I was well into adulthood. “How did you acquire a fondness for a movie you didn’t watch?” you might ask while sipping your latté and raising your eyebrow quizzically.
Well, for starters you should probably keep your eyes on the road and stop reading this while carpooling; that screaming you hear is coming from the person beside you. But to answer your question: comic book adaptations.
See, back in the days where the world had been colorized but it wasn’t in 4k high definition, Marvel used to release a ton of comic book adaptations of movies, sometimes in single-issue formats, but more often broken up into bite-sized limited series. I think many of these were trying to strike the type of gold they hit with Star Wars, which at one point was their top-selling title. For some reason I used to scoop up anything movie-related.
I was reminded of this while reading VeeBee’s recent review on the retro Dark Crystal figures. Dark Crystal is a property I have a strong attachment to that, for almost twenty years, was sustained solely by the comic book adaptation of the movie. 
While I eventually watched and loved the movie itself, in a weird way my brain thinks of it as a movie based on a comic, and not the other way around.
This made me think of how many other movies existed as colored pieces of paper for years and years before I actually saw the movie the comic was based on. Some of these are staples of ’80s movie watching. For instance: Raiders of the Lost Ark.
I know!
I didn’t see that movie until I was well into my twenties. But I did have the Marvel Comics adaptation. So for years and years all I had to go on was a comic book version of the real thing. While it was pretty faithful, it’s really hard to have a big rolling ball chasing Indiana Jones feel as edge-of-the-seat in a comic as it is in a movie. But still, a large part of me always thinks of it as a comic first. In keeping with the Indiana Jones trend, I also somehow managed to get the three-issue Temple of Doom adaptation. So that was the first two Indy movies that existed in comic-form only for me for quite some time.
Speaking of Harrison Ford, another movie that this happened with was Blade Runner. 
Yep, Marvel did an adaptation of that movie as well. I remember being extremely confused as to why Han Solo was acting so out of character. And where was Luke and Leia? Again, just like with Raiders, I would be in my twenties before I saw the actual movie.
Stopping and thinking about it, I ended up with a ton of adaptations. But comics were less than a buck back then, so I guess when you can afford (or your parents can afford) to buy a ton of random titles off the rack, you end up with some weird shiznit.
Moving on, the same thing happened with Robocop. Marvel did an oversized black and white adaptation of that movie as well. 
I read that over and over before my peepers ever laid themselves upon the cinematic majesty that was a cybernetic man mowing down bad guys. Bitches leave!
Another one that worked extremely well in comic form was The Last Starfighter. 
Now, that was so well-done that for a long time I had no interest in watching the movie because I doubted it could be as good as the comic. See, comics are not bound by budgets and special effects, so I figured that the movie would only pale in comparison to what the comic was able to convey. Well, I did end up watching it, and it actually didn’t suffer much at all. Some of the creature effects looked great — almost Star Wars level — and would make excellent-looking toys. 
Apparently they almost got a toy line back in the ’80s, one I would have scooped up on sight. I still would. Someone get on that!
I read the adaptations to both Arnold Conan movies before finally watching them some time in my early thirties.
There are a couple that I still have not gotten around to see. One day I’ll watch Willow.
I don’t remember being too enthused about the comic — it was no Last Starfighter or Dark Crystal, in other words — but the movie itself has a huge cult following, which means I’ll get around to watching it eventually.
I don’t know why Marvel did an adaptation of The Deep, but that’s not high on my list of things to watch.
With a bit of research, I see there were plenty adaptations I missed out on. Dune, Krull, and Buckaroo Banzai also got comics. I’ve seen the last of those, but not the first two. I was born at just the wrong time for the Logan’s Run and 2001: a Space Odyssey adaptations, but I’ve seen those movies so it all evens out.
I’m starting to wonder if there was any movie they didn’t adapt.
I even had Annie!
Yeah, I don’t know. And it’s not like I only had the first issue. I had both! I guess I really needed to know how it turned out. I don’t think I’ll be tracking this movie down anytime soon.
So basically I’m saying I need Last Starfighter toys, and I probably need to watch Willow.