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CLASSICS Illustrated SECOND EDITION

Sample file Sample file A Cultural History

SECOND EDITION

WILLIAM B. JONES, JR.

Sample file

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina, and London William B. Jones, Jr., is also the editor of Reconsidered: New Critical Perspectives (McFarland, 2003)

Frontispiece: Alex A. Blum, (May 1950, first Canadian edition 30 November 1950).

Classics Illustrated ( TM) is the trademark of Frawley Corporation and its exclusive licensee First Classics, Inc. All rights reserved. By permission of Jack Lake Productions Inc. (www.jacklakeproductions.com).

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Jones, William B., Jr., 1950– Classics illustrated : a cultural history / William B. Jones, Jr.—2d ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7864-3840-2 illustrated case binding : 50# and 70# alkaline papers

1. Classics illustrated (New York, N.Y.) 2. Kanter, Albert Lewis, 1897–1973. I. Title PN6725.J67 2011 741.5'973–dc22 2011014281

BRITISH LSampleIBRARY CATALOGUING file DATA ARE AVAILABLE © 2011 William B. Jones, Jr. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

On the front cover: Classics Illustrated covers (clockwise, from left) (November 1955); War of the Worlds (January 1955); (October 1949); (January 1957); Cleopatra (March 1961); Mysteries (August 1947); Journey to the Center of the Earth (May 1957) On the back cover: Caesar's Conquests (January1956)

Manufactured in the United States of America

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www.mcfarlandpub.com For Yslan, my wife and truest friend, with fondest memories of tracking , unearthing , and riding

and again for Will and Stephen, the best of sons and companions, who now know How Fire Came to the Indians, the secret of The Man Who Laughs, and what an all- too- brief thing is A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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Sample file Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix Introduction: “Good Stories” 1

I. Albert Kanter’s Dream 9 II. Of Musketeers and Mohicans: The Jacquet Shop 17 III. Louis Zansky: The Painter’s Touch 26 IV. Eccentricity Abounding: The War Years 35 V. Arnold Lorne Hicks: Transitional Figure 42

Between pages 48 and 49 are eight pages containing 22 color plates

VI. Enter Iger: The Artists 49 VII. Henry Carl Kiefer and the Classics House Style 63 VIII. Alex A. Blum: “A Prince of a Man” 76 IX. A “Newer, Truer Name”: The Late Forties 90 X. Blood, Sweat, and Rudy Palais 104 XI. Painted Covers and an Extra Nickel:Sample The Early Fiftiesfile 111 XII. Maurice del Bourgo: A “Man’s World Artist” 131 XIII. Canonical Matters and Classical Curiosities 135 XIV. Lou Cameron: “If John Wayne Had Drawn Comic Books” 144 XV. Norman Nodel: “A Certain Integrity” 153 XVI. From the Crypt to the Classics: The EC Era 165 XVII. George Evans, , and the Tradition of EC Realism 182 XVIII. Roberta the Conqueror 197

Between pages 200 and 201 are eight pages containing 26 color plates

XIX. High Tide and Greenbacks: The Late Fifties 201 XX. Gerald McCann: The Colors of the Sky 213 XXI. : “Real People and Real Events” 217 XXII. “Roberta’s Reforms”: The Early Sixties 222 XXIII. William E. Kanter: About a Son 240

vii viii TABLE OF CONTENTS

XXIV. Five Little Series and How They Grew: Picture Progress; Classics Illustrated Junior; Classics Illustrated Special Issues; The World Around Us; The Best from Boys’ Life Comics 244 XXV. “Frawley’s Folly”: The Twin Circle Era (1967–1971) 270 XXVI. Classics Abroad: The Worldwide Yellow Banner 274 XXVII. The Wilderness Years: The Seventies and Eighties 280 XXVIII. : First Publishing’s Graphic Novels 283 XXIX. “Your Doorway to the Classics”: Acclaim’s Study Guides 291 XXX. Restoration: Jack Lake Productions and 294 XXXI. Classics Collected: Notes on the Evolution of a Pastime and a Passion 299 XXXII. Classical Coda 306

Notes 309 Appendices A. Classic Comics and Classics Illustrated 317 B. Classics Illustrated Giant Editions 334 C. Fast Fiction/Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated 334 D. Classics Illustrated Educational Series 335 E. Picture Parade/Picture Progress 335 F. Classics Illustrated Junior 336 G. Classics Illustrated Special Issues 342 H. The Best from Boys’ Life Comics 343 I. TheSample World Around file Us 344 J. British Classics Illustrated, First and Second Series 349 K. Classics Illustrated, Second Series (Berkley/First) 353 L. Classics Illustrated, Third Series, Study Guides (Acclaim) 353 M. Classics Illustrated, Fourth Series (Jack Lake) 355 N. Classics Illustrated Junior, Second Series (Jack Lake) 357 O. Classics Illustrated Special Issues, Second Series (Jack Lake) 359 P. British Classics Illustrated, Third Series 359 Q. Papercutz Classics Illustrated DeLuxe Editions 360 R. Papercutz Classics Illustrated Editions 360 S. Correspondence Between Roberta Strauss and the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, re: The Dark Frigate 360 T. Letter from Roberta Strauss Feuerlicht to E. Nelson Bridwell 361 Bibliography 363 Index 367 Acknowledgments

hen I completed the first edition of Classics Illustrated: but it hadn’t addressed either the artists who worked for the W A Cultural History, I thought the song was over. In my series or the adaptations of the works that formed the title list. mind, I was chronicling a noble idea—the introduction of As it happened, Charlotte liked the CI option and told children to literary masterpieces through the comics medium— me to begin securing copyright permissions. In my innocence, that had outlasted its time. But within a year of the publication I thought the process would take a couple of weeks at most. of the book, I found that Classics Illustrated had been given Three years later, a permissions agreement was signed. In the new life through the efforts of a quixotic dreamer, Jaak Jarve, meantime, I had been contacting artists or family members a Toronto- based publisher with Kanteresque energy. With through various search directories in those early Internet days. Canadian, American, and British imprints currently active, The first artist I heard from was Rudy Palais. He called me on the 70-year- old line is on its way to becoming a worldwide the evening of 1 November 1993, when I was in charge of my presence again. In the meantime, more information about the two- year- old and six- weeks- old sons. I took the call while try- history of the original series has become available, and an ex- ing to feed both boys their very different meals. “Is this Bill panded second edition seemed in order. Jones?” I heard a raspy voice on the other end of the line ask. This book had its inception in a very different world. In “Yes, it is,” I replied. “This is Rudy Palais. How did you find fact, it began as another book altogether. In the fall of 1992, me?” I was so startled that I nearly dropped baby Stephen. my friend Stephen Buel, who, as editor of Spectrum, gave me When I recovered myself, I said, “On a computer.” After a my first opportunity to write for pay in the learn- by- doing slight pause, Mr. Palais half- laughed, half- barked his com- school, had been covering the 1992 presidential race in Little ment: “Well, that’s scary as hell!” Rock for UPI. After the election of Bill Clinton, when for a And, truly, I suppose it was. By the time I had completed few weeks anything seemed possible for anyone from Little the original edition of this work, I had only one e- mail listed Rock, Steve suggested to me that we collaborate on a bookSample on as a source.file That number has grown, to say the least. Social the president- elect’s repeated patterns of rising, falling, and networking played its part this time around, as well. I’ve dis- rising again. The idea was that we would focus on Clinton’s covered principal sources for this edition through Facebook, 1978 election as the nation’s youngest governor, his 1980 gu- Google, and various websites that, like so many other tools we bernatorial defeat, and his 1982 mea culpa resurrection as a now take for granted, didn’t exist in the mid–1990s. An inter- sort of predictor of his then- unwritten presidential career. national community of people interested in Classics Illustrated Thanks to novelist and historian Grif Stockley, we were as something more than collectibles has grown since the pub- soon in touch with Charlotte Gordon, a New York literary lication of the original edition of this book. Many share my agent. She indicated, by letter and phone conversation in late fascination with the story of first- and second- generation December 1992, that she wasn’t interested in a collaborative Americans who helped to shape the literary experience of two study of Bill Clinton’s early political career. “Who knows if generations. Others have responded to the implicit narrative anyone will be interested in him after he’s inaugurated?” she of underlying political currents in the editorial and said, in what I suspected even then would qualify as Famous business offices and the tension between the traditionalism em- Last Words. Charlotte then asked me to come up with a list bodied by the publication itself and the progressive views of of three or four possible book subjects. I dutifully listed four various editors and scriptwriters. items, which I promptly mailed by snail in those pre- When this book appeared ten years ago, I never dreamed electronic- mail days. In fact, I was serious about only one of how many doors would be opened as a result. From an invi- them: my childhood love, Classics Illustrated. Dan Malan’s su- tation to speak at the Library of Congress to an offer to provide perb Complete Guide had appeared a couple of years earlier, introductions for the revived Classics Illustrated series, the ex-

ix x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

perience has been deeply rewarding. Sometimes I still find it porter of my work on this book and has offered perspectives hard to believe that I have had the good fortune not only to on adapting classic literature. write about the series that made me fall in love with reading A group of serious collectors of original Classics Illustrated but also to write for that series. It’s been a beautiful closing of art have been attempting during the past five years or so to a circle. So many people have shown me so many kindnesses preserve as much of the Gilberton heritage as possible and to over the past decade in connection with this project that I fear prevent the dwindling number of still- intact complete sets I will never be able to thank them adequately. Their generous from being broken apart, sold, and scattered. These popular- contributions to this expanded volume, their warm encour- culture heroes include Lars Teglbjaerg of Denmark (and res ident agement of my research and writing, and their moving tokens of Sweden), Øystein Sørensen of Norway, and Lawrence and of friendship during the past ten years have left me forever in Eric Chalif of New York. All of these gentlemen have extended awe of the selfless capacities of the human heart. their friendship and allowed me the use of images of original In this extension of my original acknowledgments, I want paintings in their collections for this edition. to reemphasize my debt of gratitude to all those mentioned The Rev. George Thomas Fisher, author of The Classics before. Among that group, I wish to thank in particular Classics Index, sent me a copy of his pioneering reference work; it historian John Haufe, whose shared research on the Junior proved most helpful during my hours spent on expanding the series and tireless copying of materials from his own extensive appendices. Shakespearian scholar Mike Jensen has broadened CI archive has materially enhanced the value of the enlarged my view of what comic- book adaptations of the Bard can and Appendix; Michael Sawyer, whose documentary materials re- should achieve; our enjoyable disagreements have led to growth lating to Gilberton’s incorporation, position during the anti- on my part and mutual respect. Pop- culture writer and editor comics crusade, and legal battles with the Post Office have il- Paul Buhle has contributed not only the benefit of perspectives luminated complex and obscure issues; and Raymond True, gained from his association with such figures as Annette T. whose in sights into Classics Rubinstein and Harvey Pekar, but also his comprehensive un- Illustrated printing history derstanding of the political context of the times. More than and publication practices that, however, he has become a trusted friend. have clarified and corrected Warmest thanks are also due to the following: Tim La- areas formerly governed by siuta, publicity and marketing director of Jack Lake Produc- speculation. tions; John Y. Cole and Brian Taves of the Library of Congress; New friends have made Jane Thompson, Conservator, Arkansas History Commission; this new book possible. For Joe Darr of Southern Reprographics; Jean- Michel Margot of their willingnessSample to share the file North American Society; Melissa Conway, their memories of Gil berton Sarah Allison, and Julia D. Ree of the University of California, days, I will always be in- Riverside; Richard Dury of the University of Bergamo, Italy; debted to William Kanter’s Sara Rizzo; Bill Worthen and Patricia Grant of the Historic son, John “Buzz” Kanter; Arkansas Museum; Ron Wolfe; Jim Scoggins; William Falvey; former editor and re searcher Emily Woodside; Wayne Munson; Dan Bailey; Bart Lidofsky; Helene Lecar; for mer pub- Stephen Charla; Jean Cazort; Jacob Dockcroft; Carolyn Mc- licist Eleanor Lidofsky; for- Nutt; Mary Gay Shipley; Maryalice Hurst; Tommy Sanders; mer business managerO.B. Casey Sanders; Ben Frye; Helen Austin; Paul Gravett; Gary “Bernie” Stiskin; and artist Giddins; Randy Duncan; Calvin Slobodian; Bill Novick; Mort Künstler. Those who Sabah Siddiqui; Gregory Stone; Robert L. Beerbohm; Susan have contributed with ac- Pierce; Jim Amash; Mike Cuthbert; Allan J. Stypeck; and the counts of their roles in the ladies of the Crossett Book Club. continuing Classics Illustrated My wife Yslan Hicks has taken time from her professional saga include Jaak Jarve of commitments to support my work on this project and has Jack Lake Productions and traveled with me to Classics -related speaking engagements and Michael from Saranac Lake, New York, to Riverside, California, and Petránek of Papercutz. Com- points between. She also brought her artist’s eye to bear on Lou Cameron, original art for ics legend Roy Thomas, for- any number of panels and paintings. Will and Stephen, my The Count of Monte Cristo merly of Marvel and pres- sons, have grown up with the book on the computer and orig- (single panel), published No- vember 1956 (collection of the ently publisher of Alter Ego, inal art on the walls. We still enjoy the occasional firefly hunt author). has been an enthusiastic sup- and the tales we continue to tell. Finally, between the publi- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi cation of the first edition of this work and the second, both the original Who’s Who of American Comic Books and interna- of my parents died. It was they most of all who nurtured tionally renowned comics and animated art authority, was my my childhood love of reading, and I am forever conscious , guiding me through the inferno and purgatorio of comics of the debt that can only be paid forward. lore—the maze of artists and styles—with unfailing courtesy and patience. He sharpened my critical sight and more than once saved me from what the Earl of Rochester termed “error’s ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: FIRST EDITION Fenny- Boggs and Thorny Brakes.” So, too, did Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., of Bud Plant Illus- Classics Illustrated may be the most misunderstood comic trated Books, Palo Alto, California. In a marathon session, he books in the history of sequential art. Assorted cultural arbiters ploughed through the manuscript and called to my attention dismissed the adaptations as vulgar corruptions of the literary various matters of nuance and fact that only his trained eye masterpieces upon which they were based. Certain comics could catch. I am grateful to be the beneficiary of his expertise. champions, judging them by the standards of what they knew, Naturally, however, I am solely responsible for any errors of which is to say superhero comics, condemned them, in essence, fact, failures of judgment, or lapses in taste. because they were not superhero comics. Collectors often ig- The author of the Complete Guide to Classics Illustrated nored the series because of its complexity—with 169 U.S. titles and a specialist in the history of illustrated books, Dan Malan (not to mention the Juniors, Special Issues, and World Around of St. Louis supplied countless insights and numerous contacts. Us), entailing multiple reprints, variant covers, and new interior The importance of his two- volume Complete Guide for any art, making sense of Classics Illustrated seemed akin to the task serious collector or student of the U.S. and foreign Classics of mastering Finnegans Wake. cannot be overstated. All of us stand on his broad shoulders. Yet, from the early 1970s onward, a dedicated group of Raymond S. True of Libertyville, Illinois, the founding experts in the evolving field of popular culture—including father of the hobby, whose efforts in systematizing the publi- Hames Ware, Jerry Bails, Raymond True, Jim Sands, Bill cation sequence in the early 1970s made intelligent collecting Briggs, Mike Sawyer, and Dan Malan—made strides in tracing possible, has been an invaluable reference source and an un- the convoluted history of what was promoted as “the World’s tiring champion of my efforts. When I began collecting Classics Finest Juvenile Publication” and building a solid foundation the second time around, as a law student looking for something for research. Their various labors of love resulted in such ref- to take my mind off Prosser on Torts or Corbin on Contracts, erence sources as The Who’s Who of American Comic Books, Ray guided me to original editions of and Lorna The Classics Reader, The Classics Collector, and The Complete Doone that I cherish as emblems of more than twenty years of Guide to Classics Illustrated. Samplefriendship. file I have been fortunate in having the generous assistance No words of appreciation can express my heartfelt thanks of most of the authors and editors of these works while writing to John Haufe of Kettering, Ohio, who supplied me with pho- this book. I owe an immense debt of gratitude not only to tographs of Albert Kanter, illuminating comments and an ar- them but also to many others who shared their memories and ticle on his friend L.B. Cole, critical essays, filler details, news expertise. I am deeply grateful, as well, to those whose encour- about recent developments concerning Classics Illustrated, and agement sustained my efforts during seven years of copyright years of cheering support and helpful advice. His boyhood ex- negotiations, artist interviews, and manuscript drafts. periences in Ohio and mine in Arkansas have struck us both At the inception of this project, the unqualified enthusi- as amazingly similar, though he had sense enough to order The asm of Michael Frawley of Frawley Enterprises proved instru- Bottle Imp from the publisher before it was too late. mental in setting the copyright machinery in motion. His kind Rudy Tambone of El Segundo, California, is an amazing attention to my early inquiries and requests certainly made the resource for anyone interested in Classics Illustrated. His “Clas- crooked straight and the rough places plain. Rich ard S. Berger sics Central” website is a research tool of the first order, and it of First Classics, Inc., followed through with a permissions has been strengthened with the copyright acquisition of Dan grant of liberal scope that has allowed the generous use of il- Malan’s Complete Guide. With deadlines looming, Rudy pro- lustrations for this book. vided well- documented filler information for early issues miss- Without the generous assistance of the Central Arkansas ing from my collection, enabling me to complete the Appen- Library System and its director, Dr. Bobby Roberts, who au- dices for this volume. thorized a grant for artwork reproduction, this work would A longtime friend and respected Classics dealer, Philip J. quite literally have been impossible. My thanks extend beyond Gaudino of Port Washington, New York, has come expedi- the reach of words. tiously to my rescue too many times on this and other projects Hames Ware of Little Rock, co-editor with Jerry Bails of over the years. I have enjoyed our phone conversations about xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS the psychology of collecting and the impact of the generational of the Central Arkansas Library System; and Ava Hicks (a tire- shift on Classics Illustrated. less champion of the civilized institution known as interlibrary I am much beholden to Bill Briggs of Toronto for his ex- loan), Timothy Holthoff, Jacqueline Wright, and Carol Hamp- traordinary gift of the entire run of The Classics Reader, a 1970s ton of the Arkansas Supreme Court Library. and early 1980s fanzine. I am grateful as well to Ron Prager The generosity of Bonnie Slawson of Hot Springs, and Jim McLoughlin of New York for lending their time and Arkansas, who gave me her Classics Illustrated collection when offering their recollections. These three gentlemen are among she read about my project, touched me deeply. A substantial the world’s leading experts on the subject of Classics Illustrated, portion of the artwork reproduced in this book was taken from and I have been moved by their kindness and breadth of spirit. the issues she provided. Vida Bolding of Little Rock con - For his witty words of encouragement and approval, I tributed several Classics Illustrated Junior issues to the cause. am deeply obliged to Hal Kanter, the respected screenwriter For his professionalism and patient endurance, I am and director whose father, Albert Kanter, launched Classic grateful to Larry Pennington of Peerless Photography, a division Comics and watched over its growth for thirty years. Mr. of the Peerless Group, Little Rock. Having spent 11 hours on Kanter generously supplied an unpublished photograph of the the artwork shoot for this book, he uncomplainingly allowed founder of our feast. me to return two days later to “capture” five overlooked im- Among the artists who have taken the time to respond so ages. graciously to my impossibly lengthy queries, I wish to thank Sandra Erbe of Annapolis, my cousin and perpetual Lou Cameron, George Evans, Gray Morrow, Norman Nodel, booster, and Julie McKenzie of Baton Rouge, who assembled and Rudi Palais. Herb Feuerlicht was most gracious in sharing my proposal and suggested layout options, kept the faith even memories of his late wife, Roberta Strauss Feuerlicht, under when I had lost it. The persistence of Gary N. Speed, my difficult circumstances. Harley Griffiths, Jr., provided inval - intellectual- property attorney, helped in a very real sense to uable details of his father’s life and career. I must single out make this project possible. My agent, the late Charlotte Gor - Mrs. Louis Zansky for her kindness not only in loaning me don of New York, made unstinting efforts on behalf of a book photographs and articles about her late husband but also for in which she believed while fighting a gallant battle against allowing me to examine her file copy of the 1942 Saks-34th cancer. Robin Hood Christmas giveaway—one of only a handful of Dee Brown—chronicler of the American West, mentor, copies known to exist. and friend—was a constant source of encouraging words and Special thanks are due to Wade Roberts and Rick Oba- good counsel. Stevensonian scholar Barry Menikoff of the Uni- diah, whose 1990 conversations with me about First Pub - versity of Hawaii offered invaluable advice and immeasurable lishing’s Classics venture were the immediate inspirationSample for moral file support, not to mention a well- timed and much appre- the present enterprise. Madeleine Robins, editor of Classics Il- ciated nudge. Novelist and fellow attorney Grif Stockley started lustrated Study Guides, always proved willing to take time from me on my way, and I’m grateful to him for the travel tips. It’s her busy schedule to share our common enthusiasm. been a rewarding journey. I can’t adequately express my gratitude to the many Finally, I wish most of all to thank my parents, who have friends, colleagues, comics dealers, or fellow- collectors who encouraged my writing from the days of the “Isle of Gems” have helped me, such as Overstreet advisor Michael Tierney; stories to the present; and my sons, Will and Stephen, who Philip Martin, Karen Martin, and Ed Gray of the Arkansas have their dad free for fireflies again. Democrat- Gazette; Steve Duin of the Portland Oregonian; Mike Nicastre; Clint Miller; Jan Emberton, Cary Cox, and the staff Introduction: “Good Stories”

his is a book about memory and a moment in cultural hip- shaking singer from Memphis converted me with a reve- Thistory. It is also about stories and storytellers, both those lation about a hound dog.) who use words and those who draw pictures. It begins, as you Up to that moment, I had shown absolutely no interest might expect, with a story. in comic books; I suppose I was vaguely aware that they were bad for you. Still, I asked Dad to confirm that In the 1950s, Hall Drug Store stood at the corner of Ka- was indeed the subject (you never could be too sure at five) vanaugh Boulevard and Hayes Street in a Little Rock neigh- and begged him to get it for me. As an only child, I needed to borhood known as the Heights. The 19th president’s name do very little begging. would soon be sacrificed in a fit of civic boosterism, and plain There was something about that yellow rectangle that Hayes Street would become the grander University Avenue. made an impression. Even where Davy Crockett was In time, the Heights, an enclave of quaint bungalows, would concerned, it seemed to confer more authority than the Disney succumb to the invasion of overstated affronts to the principles imprimatur. I asked Dad what the large black letters in the of architecture. My childhood house, on Grant Street, was not yellow rectangle spelled, and he said, “Classics Illustrated.” immune to the trend; in 2010 it was leveled to make way for “What does that mean?” a house almost as large as the lot. Meanwhile, the old Hall “Good stories,” he replied. Drug Store building still stands on its corner, currently hosting a new tenant, a Korean restaurant, after housing an Sampleupscale Forfile 30 years, from 1941 to 1971, Classics Illustrated (orig- café for some years. inally known as Classic Comics) introduced GIs, bobby- soxers, Until the pharmacy closed with his retirement in 1997, and their baby- boom children to “Stories by the World’s Great- Bill Dutton, J.V. Hall’s son- in- law and successor, filled pre- est Authors”—a category that encompassed ’s scriptions in bottles adorned with the same blue- and- white and Frank Buck’s Bring ’Em Back Alive, Shakespeare’s labels that he and the original proprietor had used for more and ’s King—of the Khyber Rifles, Goethe’s Faust than forty years. To step inside the pharmacy was to enter a and Owen Wister’s The Virginian. Although the comic- book realm where memories were easily stirred because so little had series of literary adaptations and biographies was disparaged changed, down to the supply of Dr. Tichenor’s Antiseptic. by educator May Hill Arbuthnot and attacked by crusader Apart from out- of- state sojourns for college and graduate Fredric Wertham, it gradually won the applause of skeptics school, I remained a loyal, lifelong customer. and the affection of at least two generations. On an evening close to Christmas 1955, when I was five By the middle of the 1950s, with more than 120 titles years old, I went with my father to Hall’s to pick up a pre- published, a Junior fairy- tale and mythology series under scription for my mother. While Dad was chatting with Mr. way, and sales in the millions, the Gilberton Company’s Classics Hall, I spotted a spinner rack of comics, each of which bore a Illustrated had become as much a part of growing up in postwar bright yellow rectangle in the upper- left- hand corner of the America as baseball cards, hula hoops, Barbie dolls, or rock cover. One issue near the top leapt out at me—Davy Crock- ’n’ roll. The ubiquitous yellow banner attracted a variety of ett—a name I had no difficulty reading, even if the buckskin- young readers, whether they were students who wanted to take clad figure on the cover looked nothing like Fess Parker. (The short- cuts through and Jane Eyre or kids coonskin- cap craze may have died down several months earlier, who simply enjoyed the exploits of d’Artagnan and Natty but I clung to the faith well into 1956, when a sideburned, Bumppo. 1 2 INTRODUCTION

I belonged to the latter category. The yellow rectangle and The Oregon Trail at the downtown Woolworth. My barber, was reassuring, and I failed to comprehend that the names Loy Scoggins, humored my mania and secured a longtime “Shakespeare” or “Conrad” or “Dostoevsky” were supposed to client, giving me well- worn copies of and The be imposing. All I knew was that they—or their adapters and Adventures of Tom Sawyer from his magazine pile. By age six, illustrators—told good stories. I had become a collector. I began circling the numbered titles In the months after my discovery of Davy Crockett at I had acquired on the back- cover reorder list of Waterloo. Hall’s, I found Moby Dick and Robin Hood at Corder’s Model The pictures and whatever words I understood carried Market at the other end of the block, Treasure Island and The me through extraordinary adventures. I remember losing Call of the Wild back at the drug store, and myself in a new copy of at my parents’ New Year’s Eve party as 1957 dawned. While the Little Rock school crisis unfolded on the other side of town later that year, I was ab- sorbed in the Classics Illustrated retellings of The Last of the Mohicans, The Scottish Chiefs, and Mutiny on the Bounty. By the time I was eight, the series had become the fulcrum of my imaginative life. Photographs from 1958 show me holding copies of near the White House, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea next to Old Ironsides, and In the Reign of Terror beneath our very model of a modern metallic Christ- mas tree. Wishing to preserve my Classics, I began having them bound at the Little Rock Library Bindery, not realizing—or subse- quently caring—that I was seriously com- promising their future collectible status. When I should have been learning the rudiments of multiplication and division, I Sample file was committing to memory the numbers and titles on the Gilberton reorder list. My mother brought me a get- well issue every bedridden day during bouts of measles or mumps. Returning from business trips to New York, my father would produce from his briefcase crisp copies of the most recent editions, which I always believed came straight from the publisher’s offices at 101 Fifth Avenue. For Christmas 1958, my par- ents allowed me to order 15 titles directly from the publisher—for $2.25, postage paid. The obsession strengthened its grip in 1959. I discovered that some issues were harder to find than others, so I traded Classics with schoolmates, obtaining out- of- print editions of , David Bal - four, and Rob Roy in exchange for more read- ily available titles. During recess at Jefferson Elementary School, a couple of friends and Davy Crockett (November 1955). The author’s introduction to Classics Illustrated. I founded our own short- lived Classics club

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