Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

William B. Jones Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001

From 1941 to 1971, the well-loved yet controversial Classics Illustrated series brought abridged, comics-style versions of literary masterpieces such as Homer’s Odyssey, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Goethe’s Faust, and Hugo’s Les Miserables to millions of children and adults worldwide. Founded by Russian Jewish immigrant Albert Kanter at the dawn of the "Golden Age" of comics, the series used the comic-book form to introduce young readers to the works of Melville, Dickens, Stevenson, Twain and other authors.

This work tells the story of Kanter’s enterprise and examines the cultural significance of the most successful publication of its kind in the context of the times in which it was published. Attention is given to the evolving mission of Classics Illustrated to bring serious literature to popular culture; the publication’s ability to stand up to the anti-comics hysteria of the early 1950s; the growth of subsidiary educational series encompassing folklore, mythology, history, and science; and the unsuccessful attempts to revive the series in the 1990s. The careers and contributions of each of the artists are covered, and the text is supplemented by quotations from exclusive interviews and correspondence with such illustrators as George Evans, Gray Morrow, Lou Cameron, Norman Nodel and Rudolph Palais. Detailed appendices provide artist attributions and the contents of each issue in every Classics Illustrated-related series. More than 200 illustrations offer a generous sample of what drew millions of readers to "the World’s Finest Juvenile Publication."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William B. Jones, Jr. lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is also the author of Robert Louis Stevenson Reconsidered: New Critical Perspectives (2003). He has written on twentieth-century American popular culture and has co-produced an archival CD compilation of regional garage-band music.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 287 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company; 1st edition edition (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786410779
• ISBN-13: 978-0786410774
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,463,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "No, but I read the Classics Comic!", July 7, 2005

By 

Renee Thorpe (Karangasem, Bali) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations (Hardcover)

Ever said that line? Then you'll love this beautifully written and lovingly researched book about the history of Classics Illustrated.

Jones manages to evoke the characters of the men and women who contributed to this fascinating niche of Americana: illustrators, editors, publishers, and even its detractors. Interviews were obviously thorough, chapters are meticulously footnoted, and yet it reads like ...well, like an engrossing classic tale of adventure! Pick a chapter at random or read from cover-to-cover... it's consistently a winner.

While occasionally too ready with a disavowal of nostalgia, Jones does not hesitate to reveal his personal lifelong love of the comic book series. Truly, the best works of fandom itself can be so endearing, so contagious with admiration and awe. This book is no exception. Like myself, Jones loved the comics when he was a kid. Just as publisher Albert Kanter intended, as an adult I've managed to read every word of the real Count of Montecristo and War of the Worlds and The Moonstone, but I first learned these vivid and amazing tales by reading the Classics versions. Jones augments my personal appreciation and gratitude in this excellent book.

His work was in-depth and, while certainly using a critic's eye, relatively even-handed when it comes to the series' contributors. Now, reading the book, Jones has even made me appreciate the work of Classics artists whose pages I'd previously disliked.

Excellent illustrations, particularly of rare pages and covers, fill the book. Nice personal photos of the artists and editors are a great touch, seeing as this is a book of both down-to-earth and scholarly sensibilities.

Only fault I can find is that the text sometimes refers to a page or panel or other artwork which is not actually reprinted in the book. It can be maddening, at times, because we want to see exactly what he's talking about. My family's incomplete collection lies in another continent, otherwise it would be nice to have it at hand for referencing these things. Keep yours at hand. The book, I suppose, would be gargantuan if Jones did include these bits. So, by rights, it is an excellent book, and I did enjoy reading it.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An easily maligned subject treated with taste and dignity, March 10, 2002

By 

Iconophoric - See all my reviews

This review is from: Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations (Hardcover)

The thing I appreciate most about this book is the soberness (with no lapses into pretentiousness or portentousness) the author brings to his subject. A survey of Classics Illustrated, to be sure, could have very easily elicited yet another visually engaging pretty-picture book saddled with a stridently jokey, throwaway text --ala Chronicle Books. We can be thankful that the tone here is intelligent, the level of detail scholarly, and very few, if any, stones are left unturned. The author has done all his homework, giving all known writers, editors, artists of the series coverage commensurate with their contribution.

This is a thoughtful, caring volume that is so much more than a tribute to a long-gone comic series, although it could be read as that too. One can't help but feel this is a primer on the way more books about popular culture really ought to be written.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique book about a unique "comic" line, July 15, 2005

By 

Gary S. Zaboly (New York City, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations (Hardcover)

CLASSSICS ILLUSTRATED comprised such a crucial, influential, and above all, entertaining part of my youth that they have never entirely left me, and in fact I still have my entire childhood collection, and then some. The author of this book, William B. Jones, notes that his approach to the subject is meant to be objective in nature; but of course anyone raised on CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED can never be completely objective about them, and time and again Jones' understandable passion for these books seeps through. Nor is it simply nostalgia: when I go back to reread old issues it is mainly for the inherent richness of the storytelling and artwork they contain. Where in all comic book history is there a work so profound and moving as the Norman Nodel-illustrated LES MISERABLES, or as sad and tragic as the Angelo Torres-illustrated TOILERS OF THE SEA? Where is the comic book art that can excel, for its sense of historical time and place and fine drawing, John Severin's treatment of the Alamo and the Mexican War in BLAZING THE TRAILS WEST? Has there ever been a swashbuckling comic book so superbly ALIVE as George Evans' treatment of THE THREE MUSKETEERS? As for THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, I wholly agree with the author that it was never adapted so effectively, in any medium, as it was in CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED. I could go on. This is not to say that there weren't issues that were pretty bad, especially in the early days, and Mr. Jones freely admits this. But for those who are already familiar with this series, and especially for those who aren't, I cheerfully recommend this book as a kind of bible to CI and its several related series. I learned so much that was new to me about the issues, the artists, the editors, and the evolution and ultimate decline of the publishing house, Gilberton Company. The packaging and layout and paper quality of the book is a delight. Bravo, Mr. Jones! And bravo, CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED!