The Jewel in the Skull (adaptation)

The Jewel in the Skull is a graphic (comic) adaptation by James Cawthorn of the 1967 novel of the same name written by Michael Moorcock. Produced by Savoy Books of Manchester it was co-published with Big O Publishing in 1978 and 1979.

It was followed in 1986 by a sequel, The Crystal and the Amulet, being an adaptation of The Mad God's Amulet and The Sword of the Dawn. Cawthorn's concluding volume, an adaptation of The Runestaff has yet to appear although it is believed Cawthorn completed it before his death in 2008.

Publishing History

• Over-sized softcover, Big O/Savoy, 80pp., ISBN: 0-861300-06-8, 1978, Cover by James Cawthorn [Mis-printed edition]
• Over-sized softcover, Big O/Savoy, 80pp., ISBN: 0-861300-06-8, 1979, Cover by James Cawthorn

1978 Mis-printed Edition

The very first printing of Cawthorn's The Jewel in the Skull in 1978 was the victim of a printing error whereby each page of the graphic adaptation was transposed with the result that the left-hand page of every double-page illustration appeared on a non-facing right-hand page with the correct right-hand page subsequently appearing overleaf. Supposedly the print run was pulped and a new corrected printing was published in 1979 as the 'first printing'; however copies of the 1978 edition continue to turn up in the secondary market.

Examples of 1978 mis-printed edition

Examples of correctly printed 1979 edition