-“Now that you have read the Classics Edition, don’t miss the added enjoyment of reading the original, obtainable at your local school or public library”
These are the words that concluded every single Classics Illustrated issue, a comic series “featuring stories by the world‘s greatest authors”. The series ran from 1941 to 1962 ending its run with a total of 167 issues (Faust being the final installment). The demise of Classics Illustrated came about because of the rising influence of television and competition from other abbreviated texts such as Coles Cliff Notes. However, ask any baby boomer about their childhood comic book memories and undoubtedly Classics Illustrated will be mentioned. But what makes the series so memorable today and sought after by comic collectors around the world?
The popularity of the series can be largely attributed to the artwork. Starting in 1951 each issue featured beautiful painted covers of some of the most popular characters in literature. Cover illustrations for The War of Worlds, and Classics Illustrated Special To The Stars have gone on to seep into the collective memories of adults and parents today. The quality of the cover artwork predates the dynamic art of Marvel during the 1960s, and is almost unparalleled by any other comic publishing company of the 1950s. The inside art differs in quality from issue-to-issue but nonetheless many of the installments feature beautiful illustrations from some of the biggest names in the industry. Artists such as Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnot, Jack Able and George Woodbridge are among some the names in Classics’s illustrative roster. Indeed, it is the artwork which is the biggest reason that collectors clamor to find mint issues of Classics Illustrated in used book stores and trade shows around the globe.
It is a shame that Classics Illustrated are no longer as widely published as they once were. The writing is greatly accessible for young readers and English as a second language students. As an educator myself, I will often reprint segments of Classics Illustrated and distribute them to students while reading full versions of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and the works of Edgar Allen Poe. The writing in Classics Illustrated is clear and to the point but can often skim over key themes, particularly in the Shakespeare editions. As a bonus many issues feature supplementary segments about authors, and historical background for students.
So have Classics Illustrated really disappeared from circulation? The answer is yes, and no. They are not widely available in comic stores but reprints can be ordered from specialty companies such as Jake Lake productions in Toronto. In the 1990s, the now defunct Acclaim books published reprints of Classics Illustrated , and these can found online or in discount bins in comic stores. Perhaps one day Classics will return to wide circulation and make the great contribution to learning they did for generations past.
-Jared Robinson
