Poe 1954, Pt. 4

(Continued from Poe 1954, Pt. 3)

NIGHTMARE  12 
"THE BLACK CAT"

St. John Publications was a small publisher that was notable for several "firsts":  the 1st 3-D comic (THREE DIMENSIONAL COMICS), the 1st movie-comedian tie-in series (ABBOTT AND COSTELLO COMICS), and the 1st graphic novel (IT RHYMES WITH LUST). 2 months after their 1st Poe adaptation, St. John did their 2nd...

     "THE BLACK CAT"

     This was the 3rd comics adaptation of this story, following...
Charlton's YELLOWJACKET COMICS #1 (Sep'44), and
EC's THE HAUNT OF FEAR #15 [1] (May-Jun'50),
     ...that one some 4 years earlier.

Unfortunately, once again, I have been unable to find any credits, either for the writer or the artist.  Any info on this score will be most appreciated!

NIGHTMARE  12
cover by JOE KUBERT   (St. John Publishing  /  April 1954)

"THE BLACK CAT"  /  Version 3
Adaptation & Art by ??  /  Page 9

Page 10

Page 11

Page 12

Page 13

As an aside... I noticed that in the book FRANKENSTEIN, the entire story is told as a flashback by Victor when he reaches the Arctic.  By comparison, the 1957 Hammer Film THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN is also told as a flashback, but by the Baron when he is in a prison cell, awaiting execution for his crimes.  This may well have been borrowed from Poe's "The Black Cat", as I note BOTH comics versions so far have used this framing device!  Compare this photo of Peter Cushing with the 1st panel in the above comics adaptation.

According to Peter Hansen at the GCD site, "Cartoon Art was a company from Glasgow, Scotland [...] With artists like Crewe Davies, Denis M. Reader, producing sci-fi type comics like Super Duper, and Whizzer and a comic called Marsman Comics drawn by Paddy Brennan before he joined DC Thomson. In 1950 they reprinted a collection of Star Pirate strips in a one off."

And, according to Frank Motler (also at the GCD), "The magnificent, Cartoon Art published the Spellbound Magazine which reprinted, among others, St. John's Nightmare #12 from 1954, it may well have been their last shot."

This seems to be a VERY obscure magazine, as its listing at the GCD is so far the ONLY place I've found it online at all.  At any rate, this version of "The Black Cat" was reprinted a few months after its original appearance.

SPELLBOUND MAGAZINE
cover by ??   (Cartoon Art  /  UK  /  1954)

HISTORIAS DE TERROR  2
cover by ??   (Editora La Selva  /  Brazil  /  1960)

TERROR NEGRO  1
cover by THOMAS WASSMANN   (Editora Cunha  /  Brazil  /  1979?)

ALMANAQUE TERROR NEGRO  1
cover by MIGUEL PENTEADO   (Editora Cunha  /  Brazil  /  1980)

THE COMPLETE NIGHTMARE
cover by NORMAN SAUNDERS   (Gwandanaland Comics  /  June 14, 2017)

Copyright (C) the various artists & publishers.

Scans of NIGHTMARE #12 from the Comic Book Plus site.
     Special thanks to "Cimmerian32".
Scan of HISTORIAS DE TERROR #2 (1960) from the Guia Dos Quadrinhos site.
Scan of SPELLBOUND magazine from the GCD site.
Scan of TERROR NEGRO #1 from the Guia Dos Quadrinhos site.
Scan of ALMANAQUE TERROR NEGRO #1 from the Bartolomeu777 blog.
Scan of THE COMPLETE NIGHTMARE from the Amazon.com site.

Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa

For more:
Read about Edgar Allan Poe at The Poe Museum site.
Read about Edgar Allan Poe at the Biography site.

See more of Joe Kubert's covers at the Comic Book Resources site.

Read about THE BLACK CAT at Spark Notes.
Read the complete story at the Poe Stories site.
See the BLACK CAT Gallery of Illustrations.

     Audio:
Hear the Peter Lorre MYSTERY IN THE AIR episode!
Hear the Basil Rathbone recording!
Hear the Norman Rose CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER episode!

     Comics:
Read the Bill Allison BLACK CAT adaptation!
Read the Johnny Craig BLACK CAT adaptation!
Read the St. John Publishing BLACK CAT adaptation!
Read the Luiz Saidenberg BLACK CAT adaptation!
Read the Fran Matera BLACK CAT adaptation!
 
Read the Juarez Odilon BLACK CAT adaptation!
Read the Editorial Novaro BLACK CAT adaptation!
Read the Gino Dauro BLACK CAT adaptation!
Read the Berni Wrightson BLACK CAT adaptation!
Read the Ricardo Villamonte BLACK CAT adaptation!

See the CHRONOLOGICAL list of Edgar Allan Poe stories!
See the ALPHABETICAL list of Edgar Allan Poe stories!

(Continued in Poe 1954, Pt. 5)