First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rambo III
New York: Fawcett Crest/Jove, 1985-88. Mixed Printings. 3 vols., 12mo, publisher’s stiff photo-illustrated paper wraps, all edges stained in yellow.
Three-volume set of mass market paperbacks of David Morell’s Rambo series centering on the titular antihero of post-Vietnam media. Morrell’s debut novel introduced Rambo as a traumatized Vietnam veteran whose confrontation with a small-town police chief descends into a violent manhunt; notably, the character dies at the novel’s conclusion, an ending changed for the enormously successful 1982 film adaptation starring Sylvester Stallone. Morrell subsequently resurrected his creation to novelize the follow-up films, Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988), both based on screenplays co-written by Stallone (with the second installment co-written by Terminator and Aliens auteur James Cameron). Morrell substantially expanded the scripts, incorporating unused material and restoring the psychological complexity of his original character. First Blood a sixth printing (originally published in 1972), with the second and third titles first printing paperback originals. Price sticker to vol. III. Moderate toning, creasing and edgewear. Very good. Item #13350
$85.00