Poe 1976, Pt. 3

(Continued from Poe 1976, Pt. 2)

HAUNTED  28
"QUOTE: THE RAVEN"

D'ever notice that, apart from straight illustrated versions of the poem, or humorous take-off on it, Poe's "THE RAVEN" is something that has more than once inspired some very unexpected, off-the-wall "adaptations"?  Yep, this is another one.  I toyed for a bit with whether this actually belonged here or not... but I figure, after the Boris Karloff / Bela Lugosi film, or the Vincent Price / Peter Lorre / Boris Karloff / Jack Nicholson film...  HEY, WHY NOT!!!!

Charlton Comics was an unusual publisher, in that they had their entire staff, including their own printing presses & distribution, all under one roof.  Comics was always a sideline for them, more something to keep the presses running than to make real money at.  Rates were always low, but many liked working there as they tended to have more freedom and zero interference with what they did.

One of the people who liked working for Charlton for those very reasons was Steve Ditko. "QUOTE: THE RAVEN" would be his 3rd POE-related story (that I've been able to find), and like "Masquerade Party" could be said to be "loosely" adapted, or inspired by, the original story.

     This was the 17th version of this, following...
Harper's THE RAVEN (1880),
E.P. Dutton's THE RAVEN (1883),
Harper & Brothers' THE RAVEN (1884),
Harwell-Evans' THE RAVEN (1906),
Reilly & Britton's THE RAVEN (1910),
Dodd, Mead & Company's THE RAVEN (1930),
EC's MAD #9 (Feb-Mar'54),  
EC's MAD #46 (Apr'59),  
EC's MAD #55 (Jun'60),  
Dell's THE RAVEN Movie Classic (Sep'63),

Taika's A CRIPTA #2 (1968),  
EC's MAD #125 (Mar'69),
Warren's CREEPY #67 (Dec'74),
Skywald's SCREAM #11 (Mar'75), and  
EC's MAD #181 (Mar'76)
     ...the last only 1 month earlier.

The cover is by Mike Zeck, who really made his mark on Marvel's MASTER OF KUNG FU, pencillng more issues of the series than anyone else.

HAUNTED  28
cover by MIKE ZECK   (Charlton  /  April 1976)

"QUOTE: THE RAVEN"  
   (inspired by "THE RAVEN")  /  Version 17
Story by Richard Margopolous  /  Art by STEVE DITKO  /  Page 17

Page 18

Page 19

Page 20

Page 21

Page 22

Page 23

Okay, okay, I admit... this has NOTHING to do with Poe!!  More likely, it was merely "inspired" by the 1963 Roger Corman / Richard Matheson / Vincent Price movie, since it does involve a sorcerer, a castle, a dungeon, and a man being turned into a tiny creature, as well as a raven.  I suppose it fits, since the film THE RAVEN appears to have been a big inspiration for Steve Ditko to have created the character of Dr. Strange in the first place (in the early episodes, Strange resembled Vincent Price).  And here we have Ditko, at it again.

 And now, for the reprints...

DEVIL'S TRIANGLE  2
cover by ??   (Gredown  /  Australia  /  1976)

Now, I wonder if this reprint cover was actually intended for the original printing and not used, or, was something the production department just slapped together?

HAUNTED  58
cover by STEVE DITKO   (Charlton  /  October 1981)

FEARFUL FREAKS
cover by MANUEL BREA RODRIGUEZ   (Gredown  /  Australia  /  1982)

Copyright (C) Charlton Comics  &  the various publishers.

Scan of HAUNTED #28 cover from the GCD site.
Scans of HAUNTED #28 interiors
     from the Diversions Of The Groovy Kind blog.
Scans of DEVIL'S TRIANGLE #2,
     HAUNTED #58,
     and FEARFUL FREAKS from the GCD site.

Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa

For more:
Read about Edgar Allen Poe at The Poe Museum site.

Visit the Mike Zeck website.
Read about Steve Ditko at the Steve Ditko site.
See more of Steve Ditko's work at the Ditko Cultist blog.
See more of Steve Ditko's work at the Steve Ditko Comics Weblog site.

Read about The Raven at The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore site.
Read about the inspiration for The Raven at The Vintage News site.
Read about The Raven at the Mental Floss site.

Read the complete poem at the Poetry Foundation site.
See THE RAVEN Gallery of Illustrations!

     Audio:
Hear the Basil Rathbone recording!
See the Vincent Price performance!
Hear the Christopher Lee recording!
Watch The Simpsons cartoon!

     Comics:
See the James William Carling RAVEN illustrations!
See the William Ladd Taylor RAVEN illustrations!
See the Gustave Dore RAVEN illustrations!
See the Galen J. Perrett RAVEN illustrations!
See the John Rea Neill RAVEN illustrations!   (coming soon!)

See the Ferdinand H. Horvath RAVEN illustrations!
Read the Harvey Kurtzman / Will Elder RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Wally Wood RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Mort Drucker RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Frank Springer RAVEN adaptation!

Read the Nico Rosso RAVEN adaptation!
Read the 2 George Woodbridge RAVEN adaptations!
Read the Richard Corben RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Peter Cappiello RAVEN adaptation!

Read the Paul Coker, Jr. RAVEN adaptation!   (coming soon!)
Read the Steve Ditko RAVEN story!
Read the Jeff Bonivert RAVEN adaptation!
     (Coming soon:)
Read the Ricardo Leite RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Jerry Gersten RAVEN adaptation!

Read the Gahan Wilson RAVEN adaptation!
Read the 1st Luciano Irrthum RAVEN adaptation!
Read the 2nd Luciano Irrthum RAVEN adaptation
     at the Canibuk blog!
Read the Thomas Eide RAVEN adaptation!
Read the 2nd Richard Corben RAVEN adaptation!

Read the Eureka Productions RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Stuart Tipples RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Mangosta RAVEN adaptation!
Read the 3rd Luciano Irrthum RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Yein Yip RAVEN adaptation!

Read the David G. Fores RAVEN adaptation!
Read the 3rd Richard Corben RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Edu Molina RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Duncan Long RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Terrier Studios RAVEN adaptation!

Read the Pete Katz RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Rebecca Tough RAVEN adaptation!
Read the Gareth Hinds RAVEN adaptation!

     Misc:
Read the Steve Ditko HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Steve Ditko MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH adaptation!

See my Steve Ditko tribute!
See Steve Ditko Books IN PRINT at Steve Ditko Comics Weblog.

See my Edgar Allan Poe overview at this very blog!

(Continued in Poe 1976, Pt. 4)