12/08/2014 -- Classics Illustrated's A Christmas Carol

Classics Illustrated was an excellent idea turned into a moneymaker by the Gilberton publishing company. It started out under the name Classics Comics. CI began its long run in the 40s and lasting until the early 70s. Atypical of comic books at that time, when a new issue came out, it would also be added to a mail order house ad. The book would be kept in print, allowing fans to order issues they
missed or hadn't seen at their local magazine stand. 

Collectors of this comic series genarally agree that there are  3 periods of publication that are easy to identify at a glance. The first period is from are the original issues published under the logo of Classic Comics. The artwork on the cover is line art, though calling it "Art" may be too generous. The second period is when the series names was changed to Classics Illustrated. Within this period, many of the issues previously published were now redrawn with much better art. The third period saw a few more changes to the comics' packaging, including painted cover illustrations on a heavier light cardboard stock.
The issue that I am presenting here features an adapation of Charles Dicken' classic holiday story: A Christmas Carol.

It was common prcatice for popular authors' projects to first be seen seralized in magazines or newspapers. It should be noted that Christmas was not the popular holiday it is today. Charles Dickens drew from his memories of Christmas past and of things he enjoyed or wished for when he was young. 

As an early Christmas gift, I'm posting the full issue of CI. An interesting bit of additional info should be noted. This issue of CI was only published once and never reprinted.

Perhaps the reason for that could be that the Dickens family still retained the rights to his books when the comic was published, like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, with the Casebook of Sherlock Holmes.

So, here's A Christmas Carol, absolutely my favorite Christmas strory and Dickens novel. This comic book is believed to now be in the public domain. Click on the individual page images below to see the larger legible scans. Once you have done so, you can use the graphics on the bottom of the screen to go page by page.

This is the first of my postings tied into Christmas that may pop up any iem before the holiday. Many Christmas pages are coming, some reverent, while others run the gamut from silly to strange. Hope you enjoy them.