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GRAPHIC CLASSICS: EDGAR ALLAN POE
(144pp trade paperback, $10.00; pub.
Eureka Productions)
Review by Alan Rankin
Ahh, comics and classic literature. Despite what the Werthams of the world might think, the last sixty years have shown that comics actually combine quite well with history's great books. In addition to getting untold numbers of ninth graders through English Lit (present company included), "classic comics" have created some high-quality works that succeed as comics, in addition to working as adaptations of another medium.
The illicit affair between comics and literature began with Gilberton Publishing's
Classics Illustrated in 1941. Almost 170 issues, ranging from
The Iliad to
Wild Animals I Have Known, were constantly in print for the next three decades, due no doubt to their usefulness around term-paper time. In the '70s, Marvel picked up the ball, publishing 36 issues of
Marvel Classic Comics – some of which were later reprinted in paperback form. In the early '90s, First Comics joined forces with book publisher Berkley to resurrect the
Classics Illustrated name. First took the innovative step of pairing great stories with great comics artists, resulting in an excellent series that can still be found in used-book and comic stores. I particularly recommend Bill Sienkiewicz'
Moby Dick, Rick Geary's
Great Expectations and
The Invisible Man, and Gahan Wilson's rendition of
The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. In each case, the artist's style is perfectly suited to the story.
The latest runner in the "classic comics" relay is the best yet (and that's saying something). Wisconsin-based Tom Pomplun, publisher of the literary mag
Rosebud, has taken the great-artists-plus-great-stories equation and extrapolated it to its logical conclusion. The result is a series of 144-page paperbacks that explore a writer's work thoroughly, in both comics adaptations and illustrated text pieces. Edgar Allan Poe, for example, features an even dozen of Poe's best-known stories and poems. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is adapted by Geary, who really has a flair for Victorian mayhem. Matt Howarth and Stanley Shaw adapt "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Masque of the Red Death," respectively. Unlike classic comics of the past, the adaptations try to retain as much of the writer's original structure and language as possible. "Red Death," for example, features only two word balloons; previous adaptations would have almost certainly added invented dialogue to "liven up" this grim tale. This technique, combined with illustrated text stories like Richard Sala's "The Black Cat," make this a classic comic even your English teacher would love.
Like First's series, the stories also succeed as great comics. The best example is J.B. Bonivert's "The Raven," featuring a bizarre, intricately detailed art style that's unlike anything else I've ever seen. Each panel invites long examination of its complex flourishes, and would do so even if divorced from Poe's best-known work. Rafael Nieves and Juan Gomez's "The Bells" changes the poem's verse not at all, but adds a visual interpretation that throws Poe himself into a sad tale of murder in old New England. And Roger Landridge's "Eldorado" is darkly funny; I especially like the expressions on the face of the knight's hapless horse.
The collection is rounded off with an intro by Joe R. Lansdale, and a reprint of a Spain Rodriguez story about the odd circumstances of Poe's death. Some critics have apparently taken issue with the presence of reprints in this series, but frankly, I don't agree. Prose literary anthologies have been doing the same thing for decades. (In fact, it's a criticism that's particularly ill-suited to the medium of comics – where 90% of the "graphic novels" produced in any given year are collections of reprints!) Besides, stuff like Spain's story, or the scattered illustrations by Maxon Crumb (brother of R.), add nice touches of weird flavor to the collection.
Pomplun's come out with eight collections so far, including
Mark Twain,
Arthur Conan Doyle,
H.G. Wells,
Bram Stoker and
H.P. Lovecraft. (Get this:
Lovecraft features art by Richard Corben, S. Clay Wilson, Geary, Maxon Crumb, and bizarro post-pop painter Todd Schorr!) I'll be seeking more of these for my own bookshelf. A success on every level; they might even have cheered Poe up.
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