Poe 1945, Pt. 1

(Continued from Poe 1944, Pt. 10)

CROWN COMICS  1
"THE OBLONG BOX"

McCombs was a short-lived publisher which seems to have only put out 2 titles in its history-- LOVER PROBLEMS AND ADVICE, ILLUSTRATED (which lasted 2 issues)-- and CROWN COMICS (which lasted 19).  Their anthology featured such characters as Voodah (a jungle hero illustrated by Matt Baker), Mickey Magic, Buck Farrel, and Clue Kelley.  Mixed in there was Graves Ghost Hunter (who seems to have only appeared in one story), and, in the same issue-- an adaptation of...

     "THE OBLONG BOX"

One might have gotten the impression the series would have a supernatural slant, but all that strangely vanished after the 1st issue.  Their sole POE adaptation had art by Alex Blum, who later became a regular on Gilberton's CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED.  This was his 1st of 2 POE stories.

(This page was originally set up on Sunday, October 12, 2014.  I'm moving it to a new page so it will be easier to make changes in the future.)   

CROWN COMICS  1
cover by MATT BAKER  (McCombs  /  [Spring] 1945)

"THE OBLONG BOX"  /  Version 1
Adaptation by ??  /  Art by ALEX BLUM

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

63 YEARS later, this story was reprinted as part of a miscellaneous anthology...

THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST HORROR COMICS
cover by A.C. HOLLINGSWORTH  (??)
(Running Press Book Publishers  /  2008)

Public Domain.

Scans of CROWN COMICS #1 from the Comic Book Plus site
     Special thanks to "Snard".
Scan of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST HORROR COMICS
     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 Alex Blum at the Lambiek Comiclopedia site.
See more Alex Blum art at the Comic Art Fans site.

Read about THE OBLONG BOX at the Study Com site.
Read the complete short story at the Poe Stories site.
See the OBLONG BOX Gallery of Illustrations.

     Audio:
Hear the WEIRD CIRCLE radio episode!
Hear the CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER episode! 

     Comics:
Read the Alex Blum OBLONG BOX adaptation!
Read the Maro Nava OBLONG BOX adaptation!
Read the Isidro Mones OBLONG BOX adaptation!
     (Coming soon:)
Read the Adelmo Almeida Dos Santos OBLONG BOX adaptation!
Read the John Pierard OBLONG BOX adaptation!

Read the Gris Grimly OBLONG BOX illustrated story!

     Misc:
Read the Alex Blum OBLONG BOX adaptation!
Read the Alex A. Blum GOLD BUG adaptation!

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

Don't miss the BONUS GALLERY of ILLUSTRATIONS up next!

(Continued in Poe 1945, Pt. 2)