Customer Reviews

Classics Illustrated #4: The Raven & Other Poems (Classics Illustrated Graphic Novels)

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Part of the "Classics Illustrated" series presenting great works of literature in a vivid new format, The Raven and Other Poems offers nine dark poems by legendary American visionary of horror and despair Edgar Allan Poe. The poems presented here are "The Raven", "Annabel Lee", "Lines on Ale", "The City in the Sea", "The Sleeper", "Eldorado", "Alone", "The Haunted Palace", and the "Conqueror Worm", each accompanied by gleefully ghoulish color illustrations. An excellent, inexpensive introduction to Poe's immortal work sporting a sturdy hardcover binding, The Raven and Other Poems is especially recommended for public library collections.

You'd have to be at least in your mid-40s or so to remember Classics Illustrated comics. Started in 1941, Classics Illustrated took some of the great novels of literature and adapted them into a format that was more digestible for kids, namely comic books. The series continued until 1971 and in the years following, various publishers have brought the line back to life, the latest being Papercutz who is reprinting some of the earlier titles as well as doing new adaptations.

The Raven features nine adaptations of poems written by the master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe and illustrated by the similarly ghastly cartoonist, Gahan Wilson. The title story leads off the book which also includes "The City in the Sea", The Haunted Palace", and the Conqueror Worm". This match of Poe and Wilson was made in Heaven. Wilson's illustrations are just bizarre and innocent enough to appeal to kids while not dulling the edge of Poe's words. I would think the book would be perfect for kids aged maybe 8 - 12 or so. It's a great medium to keep the works of Poe alive!