If anyone out there collects Classic Illustrated from the '40s 1 1

[ThothAmon]

31 minutes ago, Scrooge said:

2 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Heck of an improvement from Kildale to Evans.

We can safely conclude as much.

 

Must disagree.  From an artistic and noirish standpoint I find the Kildale still life panel in the top middle of the page shown to be superior to any of the Evan's work shown.  I love Classics and leave them out at my coffee shop in Connecticut for people to read.  

[damonwad]

1 hour ago, Scrooge said:

and finally, though I wasn't looking for it, this page stopped me. What a great atmosphere and great work from the coloring department to impart the night-time setting - Question: OSPG list Evans / Crandall on the art. Though Jones' book mentions Evans collaborating on some CI work with Crandall, The Three Musketers is not listed. Is this Evans only? 

 

Some wonderful pages there Scrooge.

I didn't do any art comparisons (leaving that to the experts) but I see that only Evans signed the splash page on the Three Musketeers. I checked 4 or 5 other Evans/Crandall CI collaborations and

none of them had signatures except for #168, which has Evans and Crandall on the splash.

 

 

 

[batman_fan]

Not sure it I ever posted my small group but here is the 13.

 

[Scrooge]

Classics # 2 was Ivanhoe.

This is one of the very first Classics I ever bought when I came to the U.S. I bought this a million years ago at Titan Comics in Dallas.

Loved the cover. Remember the movie fondly having been broadcast in France for their Tuesday night special. Ivanhoe was broadcast July 24th 1984. I was 12. It was double-featured with Man with the Gun.

The only problem is that while I was expecting Hal Foster level of craft, I opened the book up to Ed Ashe's work ... That was a cold shower. In fact, it probably turned me off Classics for a loooong time. So, I was curious to revisit this. This Classics has been redrawn by Norman Nodel. the key scene I looked for was the unmasking of King Richard.

Here's Ashe's version -

Here's Nodel's version -

which appeared only behind the painted cover - [my copy is a very late edition with stiff cover and 25¢] -

Going back to the Ivanhoe movie, that was also adapted into comics under Fawcett Movie Comic # 20. I have a copy somewhere but didn't turn it up fast though I found the same scene from the unidentified artist at the DCM - Nowhere near as intimate and ultimately far less dramatic than the other two versions, more grandiose maybe but not better.

Now, rather than compare Ashe to others or much less to Foster who had a week to draw one page while Ashe would have been lucky to have a month to draw 64 pages, let's see where Ashe did deliver some solid work. It's not nearly as awful as I remembered it back when. First, two pages from the tournament -

This whole page though is where it's lacking compared to a Foster - happy to hear anyone dissent.

This is Foster for (unfair) comparison -

Let's leave off with this pic from Ivanhoe, the movie. I'll post more pages from Norman Nodel's version soon.

 

[Scrooge]

Nodel's version is a mixed bag. In general better executed but uneven across pages. Considering he was working from an adapted -script from someone else, we can't put the entire blame at his pencils and it's difficult enough to adapt some writers where most of the interactions are internal rather physical.

Nevertheless, there are very bright spots in Nodel's version, esp. this page, straight from Better Castles and Towers. The attention to details he put in really punch up the page. Look at the tapestries and the rug. Thank you! -

The ambush in the forest is also well executed. If only we'd captured through captions the "action" in the upper left and bottom right panels ... -

and the last page I'll show is this ominous set scene where the torture is being set-up and the grisly nature of said torture - 

[damonwad]

Really enjoying the write-ups, scans and comparisons Scrooge. Great stuff.

[Scrooge]

Classics # 3 was The Count of Monte Cristo, another Alexandre Dumas entry into the Classics series. He had 9 entries in total.

For some reason, I still don't have a copy of the original version by Ray Ramsey. My only copy is the Lou Cameron remake. It's the first HRN with the new art, HRN 135, under the painted cover -

Though I don't have the Ramsey version, we still have plenty of room for comparisons. CI's version of The Count of Monte Cristo was not the first version to appear in the US comics. That distinction falls to the serialized version that ran in Jumbo Comics from issue # 1 to 17 (skipping 9 & 10). This version was first illustrated by Jack Kirby for 8 pages and finished by another Lou, Lou Fine for the remaining 44 pages. The pages are formatted like a Sunday page. I believe the intent was to market the serialization to all markets, US and foreign to appear in periodicals. Monte Cristo was successfully sold abroad as was Eisner's The Hawk.

The story also received an adaptation in the Four Color series, with # 794 illustrated by John Buscema. It's not associated with any Disney movie, it simply slips into the series -

 

So, even without Ramsey's version, we still get a chance to see 3 interpretations of the story. The story works in 2 acts, Act I - Treason and Act II - Revenge. The key scenes are: Edmond's Escape from the Chateau d'If and his uncovering the treasure (so key they are on the FC cover above and the CI cover) and also the moment when Mercedes admits to Edmond that she'd recognized him and plead him to spare her son.

Cinematographically, I have probably seen 3 versions of the story, the French Jean Marais version (that I am most familiar with), Richard Chamberlain's version and the most recent version with Jimmy Caviezel. I'll introduce the two acts with these posters for the 1954 French version -

Cameron's version starts with this nice full page splash. I am a sucker with marine scene with a tall ship front and center -

Here are the 3 escape versions:

Cameron - split over two pages -

Lou Fine - all in one "Sunday" -

and John Buscema -

In general, the scenes about finding the treasure are less dramatic with Lou Fine doing the best -

Cameron - mirroring the painted cover closely -

Lou Fine - Love the second tier middle panel -

Buscema -

Here's the 1954 poster re: the second Act - Vengeance -

Unfortunately, there's not much comparison to make here. Oddly enough, Mercedes is completely absent from the FC version. For the Lou Fine version, the DCM only has fiche scans and they are too poor to show here and they are not the most striking. So that leaves us with Cameron's version - I  like it.

Soon, I'll post more pages from all 3 versions, esp. the Lou Fine version which obviously is my favorite [it gives more time to Edmond's period of imprisonment for instance] and I'll also post a couple of the Kirby pages.

Meanwhile, let me part with this poster from the 1934 Robert Donat's film version. I really like the poster with the focus on the vengeance and the hands closing in on the past Edmond wants to exorcise with the looming Chateau d'If in the background -

 

[damonwad]

Looking forward to seeing more of the Fine.

Here's the Ramsey cover (HRN #28- 1st yellow banner) and the escape and treasure pages for comparison's sake.

 Also a fanzine's twist on your painted cover.

 

[Scrooge]

Thank you for those scans.

I am curious. You've posted those fanzines elsewhere. What's the general content of these Classics focused 'zines?

As hinted, here are more pages from the "Jumbo" version of Monte Cristo. If you want to check out more, let me know or you can find them at the DCM in issues 1 - 8, 11 - 17.

First, a couple of Kirby pages -

Then more Fine pages -

First Edmond being shipped to the prison -

Then Edmond being sent even further down the bowels of the prison -

Edmond becoming emaciated from his imprisonment. Notice how Fine pays careful attention to alter Edmond's physique throughout these pages -

And then we jump to the final page, Page 52 of the story -

 

 

Edited November 10, 2017 by Scrooge

[damonwad]

6 hours ago, Scrooge said:

I am curious. You've posted those fanzines elsewhere. What's the general content of these Classics focused 'zines?

As hinted, here are more pages from the "Jumbo" version of Monte Cristo. If you want to check out more, let me know or you can find them at the DCM in issues 1 - 8, 11 - 17.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks again for the scans and I don't want to seem too lazy so I'll check the rest out on DCM, though I'm sure seeing them posted here would still be appreciated by many (or at least the ones with taste   ).

As far as the fanzines go, some are definitely better than others but, besides the obvious discussions of the comics themselves, in general you'll find letters pages, publisher (Gilberton) history and employee interviews, artist background, lots of foreign Classics information, new discoveries (HRN's, giveaways, etc...),  and articles related to the books that the comics were based on.

 

[eccomic]

 

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2017 by eccomic

[Tri-Color Brian]

I love these old posts with all the missing pics...

Here's the ONLY original Classics Comic I own...and I have no idea where I got it...

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I picked up this copy of Huck Finn years ago for a song on EBay. Too nice to open and read though I am tempted.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 12/18/2017 at 3:51 PM, Tri-ColorBrian said:

I love these old posts with all the missing pics...

Here's the ONLY original Classics Comic I own...and I have no idea where I got it...

I have one of those and I love what they did with the cover on this issue. Very Creative.

[gadzukes]

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