Comic Book Journal

Who here hasn’t read classics illustrated? Chances are quite a few people have read these adaptations of the classics. While totaling over 100 issues and still counting, this series gives a visual interpretation of some of the most beloved classics in literature. Classics Illustrates does a couple different things, which are unique. It makes reading a lot more fun, and it teaches children the value of a story. When a reader can become immersed in a world of fiction, the reader will ofter come back for more escapism. I applaud Russian-born Albert Lewis Kanter for creating a timeless series which really encourages children and adults alike to love the written word. I have compiled a list of the classics that have been adapted thus far and noted which stories I think are worth checking out.

1. THE THREE MUSKETEERS Alexandre Dumas–check this out if you like high action, think Errol Flynn
2. IVANHOE Walter Scott
3. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO Alexandre Dumas
4. THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS James Fennimore Cooper
5. MOBY DICK Herman Melville
6. TALE OF TWO CITIES Charles Dickens
7. ROBIN HOOD–Who can’t love a man who steals from the wealthy only to give it to the poor
9. LES MISERABLES Victor Hugo
10. ROBINSON CRUSOE Daniel Defoe
11. DON QUIXOTE Miguel DeCervantes–if you’ve never read this you’ll never think of windmills the same way again
12. RIP VAN WINKLE & HEADLESS HORSEMAN Washington Irving–one of the greatest, creepiest, stories ever written Irving is a master wordsmith
13. DR JEKYLL & MR. HYDE Robert Louis Stevenson–Again, a suspensful masterpiece.
14. WESTWARD HO! Charles Kingsley
15. UNCLE TOM’S CABIN Harriet Beecher Stowe–Important for it’s time period, definitely worth a read.
16. GULLIVER’S TRAVELS Jonathan Swift
17. THE DEERSLAYER James Fennimore Cooper
18. THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME Victor Hugo
19. HUCKLEBERRY FINN Mark Twain
20. THE CORSICAN BROTHERS Alexandre Dumas
21. THREE FAMOUS MYSTERIES Doyle-Poe-Maupassant–Just plain fun.
22. THE PATHFINDER James Fennimore Cooper
23. OLIVER TWIST Charles Dickens–Please sir, may I have another.
24. A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT Mark Twain
25. TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST R H Dana Jr.
26. FRANKENSTEIN Mary W Shelley–Good creepy fun, high adventure, great for children and adults alike
27. THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO
28. MICHAEL STROGOFF Jules Verne
29. THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER Mark Twain
30. THE MOONSTONE William Wilkie Collins
31. THE BLACK ARROW Robert Louis Stevenson
32. LORNA DOONE R D Blackmore
33. THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES Arthur Conan Doyle–While he didn’t invent the mystery story (Poe did with the Murder in the Rue Morgue) he certainly perfected it.
34. MYSTERIOUS ISLAND Jules Verne
35. THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII Bulwer-Lytton-Edward
36. TYPEE Herman Melville
37. THE PIONEERS James Fennimore Cooper
38. THE ADVENTURES OF CELLINI
39. JANE EYRE Charlotte Bronte
40. MYSTERIES Edger Allan Poe
41. TWENTY YEARS AFTER Alexandre Dumas
42. SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON Jonathan Wyss
43. GREAT EXPECTATIONS Charles Dickens
44. MYSTERIES OF PARIS Eugene Sue
45. TOM BROWN’S SCHOOL DAYS Thomas Hughes
46. KIDNAPPED Robert Louis Stevenson
47. TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA Jules Verne
48. DAVID COPPERFIELD Charles Dickens
49. ALICE IN WONDERLAND Lewis Carroll
50. TOM SAWYER Mark Twain
51. THE SPY James Fennimore Cooper
52. THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES Nathaniel Hawthorne
53. CHRISTMAS CAROL Charles Dickens
54. THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK Alexandre Dumas
55. SILAS MARNER George Eliot
56. TOILERS OF THE SEA Victor Hugo
57. SONG OF HIAWATHA Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
58. THE PRAIRIE James Fennimore Cooper
59. WUTHERING HEIGHTS Emily Bronte
60. BLACK BEAUTY Anna Sewell
61. THE WOMAN IN WHITE Wilkie Collins
62. WESTERN STORIES Bret Harte
63. THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY Edward Everett Hale
64. TREASURE ISLAND Robert Louis Stevenson
65. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN-AUTOBIOGRAPHY
66. CLOISTER AND THE HEARTH Charles Reade
67. THE SCOTTISH CHIEFS Jane Porter
68. JULIUS CAESAR William Shakespeare
69. AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS Jules Verne
70. THE PILOT James Fennimore Cooper
71. THE MAN WHO LAUGHS Victor Hugo
72. THE OREGON TRAIL Francis Parkman
73. THE BLACK TULIP Alexandre Dumas
74. MR. MIDSHIPMAN EASY Frederick Marryat
75. THE LADY OF THE LAKE Walter Scott
76. THE PRISONER OF ZENDA Anthony Hope
77. THE ILIAD Homer
78. JOAN OF ARC
79. CYRANO DE BERGERAC Edmond Rostand
80. WHITE FANG Jack London
81. THE ODYSSEY Homer– There are no original stories, unless you count the Odyssey here’s where fiction began.
82. THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE Robert Louis Stevenson
83. THE JUNGLE BOOK Rudyard Kipling
84. THE GOLD BUG ETC Edgar Allan Poe
85. THE SEA WOLF Jack London
86. UNDER TWO FLAGS Ouida
87. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM William Shakespeare
88. MEN OF IRON Howard Pyle
89. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Dostoyevsky
90. GREEN MANSIONS W H Hudson
91. THE CALL OF THE WILD Jack London
92. MILES STANDISH Longfellow
93. PUDD’NHEAD WILSON Samuel L Clemens
94. DAVID BALFOUR Robert Louis Stevenson
95. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Erich Maria Remarque
96. DANIEL BOONE John Bakeless
97. KING SOLOMON’S MINES H Rider Haggard
98. THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE Stephen Crane
99. HAMLET William Shakespeare
100. MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY Nordhoff & Hall
101. WILLIAM TELL Frederick Schiller
102. THE WHITE COMPANY Arthur Conan Doyle
103. MEN AGAINST THE SEA Nordhoff & Hall
104. BRING ‘EM BACK ALIVE Frank Buck
105. FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON Jules Verne–Classic, fun, (although at times campy) sci-fi.
106. BUFFALO BILL
107. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES Talbot Mundy
108. KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE
109. PITCAIRN’S ISLAND Nordhoff & Hall
110. A STUDY IN SCARLET Arthur Conan Doyle–Again a Doyle classic.
111. THE TALISMAN Walter Scott
112. THE ADVENTURES OF KIT CARSON
113. THE FORTY FIVE GUARDSMEN Alexandre Dumas
114. THE RED ROVER James Fennimore Cooper
115. HOW I FOUND LIVINGSTONE Henry M Stanley
116. THE BOTTLE IMP Robert Louis Stevenson
117. CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS Rudyard Kipling
118. ROB ROY Walter Scott
119. SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE Richard Harding Davis
120. HURRICANE Nordhoff & Hall
121. WILD BILL HICKOK
122. THE MUTINEERS Charles Boardman Hawes
123. FANG AND CLAW Frank Buck
124. THE WAR OF THE WORLD SH G Wells–The only thing which made this tale better was the invention of the radio.
125. THE OX-BOW INCIDENT Walter Van Tilburg Clark
126. THE DOWNFALL Emile Zola
127. THE KING OF THE MOUNTAINS Edmond About
128. MACBETH William Shakespeare
129. DAVY CROCKETT
130. CAESAR’S CONQUESTS Julius Caesar
131. THE COVERED WAGON Emerson Hough
132. THE DARK FRIGATE Charles Boardman Hawes
133. THE TIME MACHINE H G Wells
134. ROMEO AND JULIET William Shakespeare
135. WATERLOO Chatrian Erckmann
136. LORD JIM Joseph Conrad
137. THE LITTLE SAVAGE Frederick Marryat
138. JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH Jules Verne
139. REIGN OF TERROR G A Henty
140. ON JUNGLE TRAILS Frank Buck
141. CASTLE DANGEROUS Walter Scott
142. ABRAHAM LINCOLN
143. KIM Rudyard Kipling
144. FIRST MEN IN THE MOON H G Wells
145. THE CRISIS Winston Churchill
146. WITH FIRE AND SWORD Henry K Sienkiewicz
147. BEN HUR Lew Wallace
148. BUCCANEER
149. OFF ON A COMET Jules Verne
150. THE VIRGINIAN Owen Wister
151. WON BY THE SWORD G A Henty
152. WILD ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN Ernest Thompson Seton
153. THE INVISIBLE MAN H G Wells
154. THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC Francis Parkman
155. THE LION OF THE NORTH G A Henty
156. THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO Bernal Diaz Del Castillo
157. THE LIVES OF THE HUNTED Ernest Thompson Seton
158. THE CONSPIRATORS Alexandre Dumas
159. THE OCTOPUS Frank Norris
160. THE FOOD OF THE GODS H G Wells
161. CLEOPATRA H Rider Haggard
162. ROBUR THE CONQUEROR Jules Verne
163. THE MASTER OF THE WORLD Jules Verne
164. THE COSSACK CHIEF Nikolai Gogol
165. THE QUEEN’S NECKLACE Alexandre Dumas
166. TIGERS AND TRAITORS Jules Verne
167. FAUST Goethe–Classic story of a deal going horribly wrong.
168. IN FREEDOM’S CAUSE G.A. Henty
169. NEGRO AMERICANS

The Second Series

1. The Raven & Other Stories
2. Great Expectations
3. Through The Looking Glass
4. Moby Dick
5. Hamlet–Pictures definitely make Shakespeare more interesting.
6. The Scarlet Letter
7. The Count Of Monte Cristo
8. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
9. Tom Sawyer
10. The Call Of the Wild
11. Rip Van Winkle
12. The Island Of Dr. Moreau
13. Wuthering Heights
14. Fall Of the House of Usher
15. The Gift Of the Magi–The irony in every O. Henry story was purely genius.
16. A Christmas Carol
17. Treasure Island
18. The Devil’s Dictionary
19. The Secret Agent
20. The Invisible Man
21. Cyrano de Bergerac
22. The Jungle Books
23. Robinson Crusoe
24. Rime of the Ancient Mariner–I want this Coleridge classic on my bookshelf. Trust me, if you think Pirates of the Carribean was a fun flick, then you’ll be amazed at the Mariner.
25. Ivanhoe
26. Aesop’s Fables
27. The Jungle–Like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, important to culture and society at the time.

If you have a particular favorite or just want to talk about comic books in particular, feel free to leave me a message and I’ll be glad to send an e-mail back. For more of my favorites including writers and artists feel free to check out my archieves at www.comicbookjournal.net/archive.