Classics Illustrated - A Cultural History!

I have been trying to fit this post in all year. It's been kicked forward month after month, ever since January. I thought it apt that finally I close out 2024 with this reflection on some great vintage comic books. 

Classics Illustrated was once upon a time a noble staple of comics. They were comics you could read in public without drawing down the scorn of the adult class, books that while dry and often dull were nonetheless comics in a world which was not overripe in such bounty. In Classics Illustrated - A Cultural History we get a rigorous telling of the origins and of the development of this distinguished brand even down to the modern day. I have to confess, much more went into the development of these vintage classics than I imagined, and they were held in high regard by those who produced them. Unlike many comics produced for the mass market quickly and cheaply, these were husbanded into creation by some stern editors over the decades. 

Some of the Classics Illustrated books were exceedingly well drawn (The Three Musketeers for instance) and others hold up less well over the decades. But behind their staid painted covers, all had the cache of being acceptable to the general populace, but still with the slight aroma of cheating the system. Enjoy some of my favorite covers from this venerable run. (I've also included when available the original non-painted covers for many of these.)

That wraps up 2024. See you tomorrow in 2025!

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