Classics Illustrated

William Bryan Jones, Jr., is the author of Petit Jean: A Wilderness Adventure; the editor of Robert Louis Stevenson Reconsidered: New Critical Perspectives; and a contributor to The Oxford Handbook of Adaptation Studies and Icons of the American Comic Book. He has written introductions for more than 100 reissued titles in the revived Classics Illustrated and related series.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments delete deletexi

Introduction: “Good Stories” delete

I. Albert Kanter’s Dream delete

II. Of Musketeers and Mohicans: The Jacquet Shop delete

III. Louis Zansky: The Painter’s Touch delete

IV. Eccentricity Abounding: The War Years delete

V. Arnold Lorne Hicks: Transitional Figure delete

delete delete delete delete  Between pages 54 and 55 are 16 color plates with 60 photographs

VI. Enter Iger: The Fiction House Artists delete

VII. Henry Carl Kiefer and the Classics House Style delete

VIII. Alex A. Blum: “A Prince of a Man” delete

IX. A “Newer, Truer Name”: The Late Forties delete

X. Blood, Sweat, and Rudy Palais delete

XI. Meyer A. Kaplan: An Editor’s Perspective delete

XII. William E. Kanter and the Family Business delete

XIII. Painted Covers and an Extra Nickel: The Early Fifties delete

XIV. Maurice del Bourgo: From Little Lefty to William Tell delete

XV. Freelancers and Publicity: The Mid–1950s delete

XVI. Canonical Matters and Classical Curiosities delete

XVII. Lou Cameron: “If John Wayne Had Drawn Comic Books” delete

XVIII. Norman Nodel: “A Certain Integrity” delete

XIX. Roberta’s Writers: Lorenz Graham and Annette T. Rubinstein delete

XX. John William Parker: Iconic Images delete

XXI. From the Crypt to the Classics: The EC Era delete

delete delete delete delete  Between pages 210 and 211 are 16 color plates with 52 photographs

XXII. George Evans, Reed Crandall, and EC Realism delete

XXIII. Roberta the Conqueror delete

XXIV. High Tide and Greenbacks: The Late Fifties delete

XXV. L.B. Cole: Horses, Wild Animals, and Poster Colors delete

XXVI. Gerald McCann: The Colors of the Sky delete

XXVII. Gray Morrow: “Real People and Real Events” delete

XXVIII. “Roberta’s Reforms”: The Early Sixties delete

XXIX. “Frawley’s Folly”: The Twin Circle Era (1967–1971) delete

XXX. Expanding the Mission (Subsidiary Series, 1953–1971): Picture Progress and Classics Illustrated Junior delete

XXXI. Ambitious Endeavors (Subsidiary Series, 1955–1964): Classics Illustrated Special Issues; The Best from Boys’ Life Comics; The World Around Us delete

XXXII. Classics Abroad: The Worldwide Yellow Banner delete

XXXIII. The Wilderness Years: The Seventies and Eighties delete

XXXIV. Great Expectations: First Publishing’s Graphic Novels delete

XXXV. “Your Doorway to the Classics”: Acclaim’s Study Guides delete

XXXVI. Restoration: Jack Lake Productions, Papercutz, and CCS Books delete

XXXVII. Classics Collected: Notes on the Evolution of a Pastime and a Passion delete

XXXVIII. Classical Coda delete

Appendices delete

A. Classic Comics (Gilberton, 1941–1947) and Classics Illustrated (Gilberton, 1947–1967; Frawley, 1967–1971) delete

B. Classics Illustrated Giant Editions (Gilberton, 1949) delete

C. Fast Fiction/Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated (1949–1951) delete

D. Classics Illustrated Educational Series (Gilberton, 1951–1953) delete

E. Picture Parade/Picture Progress (Gilberton, 1953–1955) delete

F. Classics Illustrated Junior (Gilberton/Famous Authors, 1953–1967; Frawley, 1967–1971) delete

G. Classics Illustrated Special Issues (Gilberton, 1955–1964) delete

H. The Best from Boys’ Life Comics (Gilberton, 1957–1958) delete

I. The World Around Us (Gilberton, 1958–1961) delete

J. British Classics Illustrated, First and Second Series (Thorpe & Porter/Strato, 1951–1963; Ayers & James Pty., Ltd., Australia) delete

K. British World Illustrated Series (Thorpe & Porter, 1960–1963) delete

L. Ediçao Maravilhosa (Brazil, Editora ­Brasil-América Limitada [EBAL], First and Second Series, 1948–1962) delete

M. Clásicos Ilustrados (Mexico, Editora La Prensa, 1951–1974) delete

N. Klassika Eikonographemena (Greece, ­Atlantis-M. Pechlivanides, S.A., First Series 1951–1970, Second Series 1975–1980): Greek Literature, Mythology, and History Titles delete

O. Classics Illustrated “Joint European Series”/JES (1956–1976) delete

P. Classics Illustrated, Second Series (Berkley Publishing Group/First Publishing, 1990–1991; Classics International Entertainment, 1994) delete

Q. Classics Illustrated, Third Series, Study Guides (Acclaim Books, 1997–1998) delete

R. Classics Illustrated, Fourth Series (Jack Lake Productions, Inc., 2005–2014) delete

S. Papercutz Classics Illustrated Deluxe Editions (Papercutz, 2008–2014) delete

T. Papercutz Classics Illustrated Editions (Papercutz, 2008–2014) delete

U. British Classics Illustrated, Third Series (CCS Books, 2008– ); Modern Hardbacks (CCS Books, 2016– ); Replica Hardbacks (CCS Books, 2018– ) delete

V. Letter from Albert L. Kanter to T/4 Joseph Mersand, Camp Crowder, Missouri, 7 July 1944 delete

W. Correspondence Between Roberta Strauss and the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, re: The Dark Frigate, ­November-December 1955 delete

X. Letter from Roberta Strauss Feuerlicht to E. Nelson Bridwell, 25 July 1960 delete

Y. Synopsis of The Call of the Wild by Ken W. Fitch, 1951 delete

Chapter Notes delete

Sources Cited or Consulted delete

Index delete