CLASSIC COMICS 21
"THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE"
(Remastered)
There have always been, for me, 4 "classic" writers of the 19th Century whose work I've admired, mostly in film adaptations, but also in the original texts, and sometimes, in comic-books. They are Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edgar Allan Poe.
Gilberton's CLASSIC COMICS contains the earliest Poe comics adaptations I've been able to find. Following 2 poems, the first adaptation of one of his short stories appeared in the 21st issue-- 7 issue before Jules Verne! In this case, his work shared the comic with 2 other authors-- Arthur Conan Doyle, and Guy de Maupassant.
When I started this project, I had not yet found this complete story online, but set up this page anyway, to keep things "organized", and to leave room for further expansion. Diligence has paid off!
The only downside is, I found scans of a reprint--
which is MISSING 1 page of the story. Oh well!
(This page was originally set up on Thursday, October 9, 2014. For some months, this was the earliest story in the entire project! I'm moving it to a new page so it will be easier to make changes in the future. That's how it is with blogs.)
ENJOY!
CLASSIC COMICS 21
cover by LOUIS ZANSKY (The Sign Of The 4),
ALLEN SIMON (The Flayed Hand)
& ARNOLD L. HICKS (The Murders In The Rue Morgue)
(Gilberton / July 1944)
"THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE" / Version 1
Adaptation by Dan Levin / Art by ARNOLD L. HICKS / Page 43
Page 45
Page 46
Page 47
Page 48
Page 49
Page 50
Page 51
Page 52
Since I first put this up over 3 years ago, I've gone back over the art and done extensive clean-ups, and now, have replaced ALL the lettering and word balloons. This not only makes it easier to read, it also gives it a "life" and vibrancy that simply was not there before. Some of the figure-work on this may still be a bit stiff and stodgy, but that can no longer be said for the text.
See the original 1944 version of this.
I've also now read MULTIPLE versions of this story. Barring the 1932 Bela Lugosi film, most adaptations of "RUE MORGUE" do seem to follow Poe's original to some degree. In fact, it's quite surprising to me, looking back at this now, how MUCH the Gilberton version deviates from the story, considering the "CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED" series is often thought of as "authentic". NOT so here!
In this one, Dupin and his friend are on the scene before the Police even arrive, there's very little apparent investigation involved, no testimony from various witnesses about what was heard, and Dupin actually declares to his friend on the Police force his intention to kill the murderer when he finds him! Further, we later find the sailor was not at the scene of the murders, and was apparently unaware of what happened until Dupin told him about it.
Oddly enough, the climax, where the three men go into the park in search of the ape, mirrors a similar scene in the 1986 CBS-TV movie version with George C. Scott. Although the ape was captured there (as was described in the short story), the visual would suggest that someone involved in that film may have taken inspiration from THIS comic!! This is the earliest such example I've seen of Poe comics from the 1940s or 50s being used as source material for film-makers, not one of whom ever admitted they were readers of comic-books. One should remember, the Gilberton CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED series were kept in print for 2 decades, and have been licensed around the world and reprinted by various publishers ever since, to this day! This makes them among the most-read comics in the history of the medium.
Read about the 1986 film at the Editor Eric site.
REPRINTS:
As with pretty much all the Gilberton "CLASSIC" books, this was reprinted mulitple times. Beginning with issue #35 (Mar'47), Gilberton changed the name of their series from CLASSIC COMICS to CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED. So, here's basically the same cover, but one of the more well-known reprints.
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED 21 /
cover by LOUIS ZANSKY (The Sign Of The 4),
ALLEN SIMON (The Flayed Hand)
& ARNOLD L. HICKS (The Murders In The Rue Morgue)
(Gilberton / August 1949)
cover by LOUIS ZANSKY (The Sign Of The 4),
ALLEN SIMON (The Flayed Hand)
& ARNOLD L. HICKS (The Murders In The Rue Morgue)
(Editora Brasil-America Limitada [EBAL] / Brazil / September 1949)
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED GIANTS 2 /
cover by ?? (Gilberton / October 1949)
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED 40 /
cover by LOUIS ZANSKY (The Sign Of The 4),
& ARNOLD L. HICKS (The Murders In The Rue Morgue)
(Ayers & James / Australia / 1949)
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED 21 /
cover by ?? (Gilberton / December 1953)
cover by ?? (The Sign Of The 4)
(Editora Brasil-America Limitada [EBAL] / Brazil / May-June 1959)
REGENTS ILLUSTRATED CLASSICS 32224 /
cover by ALLEN SIMON (Regents / June 1982)
with scholarly essays added. The 2nd Poe volume included this story.
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED STUDY GUIDES 29 /
cover by JEN MARRUS (Acclaim / August 1997)
cover by ALEX A. BLUM (Books 4 Pocket / Spain / October 17, 2012)
cover by ?? (Hjemmet / Egmont / Norway / May 2015)
Scan of CLASSIC COMICS #21 (1944) cover from the Heritage Auctions site.
Scans of CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #21 (1944) interiors from the XXXXX site.
Scans of CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #21 (1949)
& CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED GIANTS #2 (1949)
from the Heritage Auctions site.
Scan of EDICAO MARAVILHOSA #15 from the GCD site.
Scan of CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #40 (Australia) from the GCD site.
Scan of CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #21 (1953) from the Comic Vine site.
Scan of EDICAO MARAVILHOSA #15 (1958) from the GCD site.
Scan of REGENTS ILLUSTRATED CLASSICS #332224 (1982)
from the Lee's Comics Rack blog
with special thanks to Lee Hartsfeld!
Scan of CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED STUDY GUIDE #29
from the My Comics Shop site.
Scan of EL ESCARABAJO DE ORO (2012) from the Ediciones Obelisco site.
Scan of ILLUSTRERTE KLASSIKERE #54 from the GCD 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.
Read about Louis Zansky at the Lambiek Comiclopedia site.
See more of Arnold L. Hicks art at the Comic Art Fans site.
Read about THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE at the Spark Notes site.
Read about THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE at the Britannica site.
Read the complete story at the Poe Museum site.
See the RUE MORGUE Gallery of Illustrations.
Audio:
Hear the WEIRD CIRCLE radio episode!
Hear the Paul Hecht CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER episode!
Comics:
Read the Arnold L. Hicks RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Sam Gross RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Guido Crepax RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Gino Dauro RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Miguel Gomez Esteban RUE MORGUE adaptation! (coming soon!)
Read the Cezar Lopez Vera RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Illustrated Classics RUE MORGUE adaptation! (coming soon!)
Read the Jose Ortiz RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Ediciones Maisal RUE MORGUE adaptation! (coming soon!)
Read the E.R. Cruz RUE MORGUE adaptation!
(Coming soon:)
Read the Moises Cespedes RUE MORGUE adaptation! 11
Read the Solares Editores RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Howard Priestley RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Mark A. Nelson RUE MORGUE sequel!
Read the Giampiero Ubezio RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Ceka & Clod RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Matt Brooker RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Fabrice Druet RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Reno Maniquis RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Emerson Dimaya RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Ola Skogang RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Richard Corben RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Leandro Fernandez RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Luciano Irrthum RUE MORGUE adaptation!
Read the Ahoy Comics RUE MORGUE adaptation!
See the CHRONOLOGICAL list of Edgar Allan Poe stories!
See the ALPHABETICAL list of Edgar Allan Poe stories!
Gilberton's CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED are currently being reprinted--
go to the CLASSIC COMICS STORE to BUY your own copies!!!
Don't miss the BONUS GALLERY of ILLUSTRATIONS up next!
(Continued in Poe 1944, Pt. 4)
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