OLD IS NEW AGAIN: TALKING PAPERCUTZ CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED LINE

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Starting next month, Marvel won’t be the only publisher offering up classic literature in comic book form under an “Illustrated” banner. Papercutz, the youth-friendly publisher of Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Tales from the Crypt graphic novels announced recently that it has acquired the rights to the entire Classics Illustrated library.

The original, best-selling series of comics adaptations of the world's greatest literature will be presented in two new formats: the original Classics Illustrated, featuring abridged versions of classic novels, and Classics Illustrated Deluxe, featuring longer, more expansive adaptations. The new line begins in November with Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, adapted by French artist Michel Plessix.

Inspired by the success of the early comic books published in the early 30s and late 40s, visionary publisher Albert Lewis Kanter (1897-1973) launched Classic Comics in 1941, and the line was subsequently changed to Classics Illustrated in 1947. It featured comic book adaptations of various works by Shakespeare, Stevenson, Twain, Verne, and other authors. For 30 years, over 200 publications in Kanter's Classics Illustrated and Classics Illustrated Junior introduced young readers worldwide to literature, history, folklore, mythology, and science.

Classics Illustrated was re-launched in 1990 in graphic novel/book form by the Berkley Publishing Group and First Publishing, Inc. featuring all-new adaptations by such top graphic novelists as Rick Geary, Bill Sienkiewicz, Kyle Baker, Gahan Wilson, and others.

Newsarama.com spoke with Papercutz’s CEO and Publisher Terry Nantier and Editor In Chief Jim Salicrup about the revival of the Classics Illustrated line.

Newsarama: Since the launch of NBM’s Papercutz line with Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys in 2005, the line has since expanded and now include Zorro, Tales from the Crypt, Totally Spies and John Paul II. So, it’s been a success in reaching out to the tweens ranging from 8 to 14 years?

Terry Nantier: It certainly has! We’ve sold over 250,000 Nancy Drew, over 200,000 Hardy Boys, Tales from the Crypt is off to a racing start… Most of all we’ve established a sound regular base for ourselves and now we just need to expand that.

Jim Salicrup: If I may nitpick, I’d like to point out that Papercutz is actually not part of NBM. Terry runs NBM, which is and has been a pioneering graphic novel publisher for over 30 years, while both Terry and I are partners in Papercutz, which is a whole ‘nother company. Of course, Terry is the senior partner – he is four days older than me, after all.

NRAMA: Duly noted, Jim. So, how did the deal to republish Classics Illustrated come about then?

TN: Jim and I thought this would be a great addition to our line-up, especially considering the strength of - and our particular strength in - the institutional markets (libraries and schools) but married with new material, new modern-style adaptations good for today's generation.

NRAMA: Terry, you founded NBM Publishing in 1976. Not to cast aspersions on your age, but did you ever meet Albert Lewis Kanter, the guy who started it all with Classics?

TN: Thanks, I ain't that old! No, I did not get to meet him but he certainly had a great idea, you could say somewhat ahead of its time. Now people realize how comics are a good way to get kids to read, back in those days, those comics were a guilty pleasure/cheatsheet that educators frowned upon but all kids read anyway and now say how it got them into reading!

NRAMA: What about you, Jim? At what point in either your childhood or career did you first come across the Classics Illustrated line of books?

JS: Let me say we recently got a very nice email from Albert Kanter’s eldest son, Hal, and he called our efforts to keep Classics Illustrated and the legacy his father alive, “noble.” I first encountered Classics illustrated in a Parkchester soda shop back in the Bronx when I was a kid, and was very impressed by these very special comic books. I was totally fascinated by them! They were literally apart from all the other comics, with their own section by the paperback books. They also were a quarter each, back when all the other comics were just twelve cents. And unlike every other comic that goes off sale when the next issue is released, Classics Illustrated stayed in print, making it easy to collect ‘em all! In the first grade I did a report on what are now called “Native Americans,” and a big part of that was pages taken from the “Indians” issue of The World Around Us, which was also published by Gilberton, the publishers of Classics Illustrated. My mom still has that report.

NRAMA: Marvel Comics has launched the Marvel Illustrated imprint – a clear nod/homage/borrow from Classics Illustrated, and as you said there're some other publishers adapting classic literature works as well on their own. What made you decide to go after the rights to the entire Classics Illustrated library?

TN: We're actually using the Classics Illustrated name mostly to present all-new adaptations, many of them of much longer length than was done by CI in the fifties-sixties, so less 'encapsulation' and more depth.

But we'll also be bringing back out some of the great First/Berkley ones, the art and roster of talent on those was astounding so we couldn't resist. But we don't close any doors as to the old material necessarily...

JS: The new adaptations Terry’s talking about are being created in France and are beautiful. Perhaps one of the most interesting is the adaptation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which is illustrated by Severine Lefebvre in a manga-style. Like our Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, that style works surprisingly well with these iconic American characters. For the Tales from the Brothers Grimm, we’ll have four stories in one volume – “The Valiant Little Tailor” and “The Boy Who Wanted to Learn What Fear Was” adapted by writer/artist Mazan, ”Hansel and Gretel” adapted by writer/artist Philip Petit, ”The Devil and the Three Golden Hairs” adapted by writer/artist Cecile Chicault.

NRAMA: Just to be clear, Papercutz has plans to republish the original Berkley/First Publishing series of 27 titles? And there were 325 titles in total from the regular Classics Illustrated, Classics Illustrated Juniors, Classics Illustrated Specials and the World Around Us, correct?

TN: We'll publish many of them, as it turns out they recently found films for most, thank God, but alas not all.

JS: Jack Lake Productions is republishing many of the 325 titles from the original series. It’s far too soon to talk about what we may do with some of those originals. We’re primarily focused on the Berkley/First Classics and the new French adaptations.

NRAMA: The line launches with Michel Plessix's 144-page adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic The Wind in the Willows in November before the January publication of Rick Geary's adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic in Classics Illustrated #1: Great Expectations. Why did you decide to launch the line with these two adaptations first?

TN: The Wind in the Willows is a particularly beautiful way to start our CI Deluxe line which will feature the lengthier adaptations of 144 pages or more each. It's a loving beautifully painted and very true to the original adaptation.

As for Great Expectations, we were already working with Rick Geary, he had all the original art to rescan and the adaptations he did for First were a perfect fit for him.

JS: As a longtime comics fan, I can’t tell you how excited I am to be involved in bringing back such titles as Classics Illustrated and Tales from the Crypt as graphic novels. It’s truly a dream come true.

NRAMA: Will the upcoming editions be author-centric, meaning, as an example, Charles Dickens’ works followed by say, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alexandre Dumas, James Pennimore Cooper, etc? Otherwise, what's next on Papercutz's publishing schedule then?

TN: We'll be mixing up the authors as we go. Next to look forward to are The Invisible Man by Geary, Grimm Tales, Tom Sawyer, Oliver Twist, Robinson Crusoe...

JS: We’re also trying to track down a few issues of the Berkley/First Classics series that were completed yet never published.

NRAMA: Other than Great Expectations and The Invisible Man, Rick Geary did Wuthering Heights before the First Comics line folded a year after the revival in 1990. Are you looking at republishing that adaptation of Emily Brontë's only novel as well?

TN: Yup, we will.

NRAMA: Earlier, you mentioned about doing all-new adaptations. Will any of the earlier creators such as Bill Sienkiewicz, Kyle Baker, Dean Motter, Mike Ploog, Gahan Wilson, P. Craig Russell, Joe Staton and others be involved with the new, expanded versions?

TN: Not at this point. As for later… you never know…

NRAMA: What makes you think Papercutz’s Classics Illustrated Deluxe, which will feature longer, more expansive adaptations, will stand the test of time as the original classics?

TN: These will be beautiful, very carefully rendered and take their time to present the full story with little missing. Like going to see a movie of a great classic, besides making you want to read the original, it stands on its own as a valid interpretation in another medium.

JS: Again, just like with our Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, we will be staying true to the spirit of the original material, but presenting it in a more modern style. Due to budget concerns, previous Classics Illustrated adaptations were never longer than 64 pages, which is certainly not very much space to faithfully adapt a novel. Thankfully, today’s audience has embraced the graphic novel format that allows these longer adaptations.

NRAMA: In terms of marketing the line to today’s audience, how successful has it been in getting the local librarians to consider these publications?

TN: We’ve, from the start, offered a combination of paperbacks and hardcovers on our books. The hardcovers, besides being good collectors’ items, are also designed for the library and school library market and ours keep selling constantly. Early Nancy Drew volumes have sold over 5,000 of the hardcovers alone each. Getting good reviews from the professional press certainly hasn’t hurt and at Library conventions, we have librarian upon librarian praise us and tell us how they won’t stay on the shelf…

JS: Many of the original Classics Illustrated comics ended with a blurb that said: “Now that you have read the Classics Illustrated edition, don’t miss the added enjoyment of reading the original, obtainable at your school or library.” We’ll be running that same line in our books as well. Furthermore, Papercutz loves librarians! We’ve listened to what they’re looking for and have worked very hard to make sure we’re providing good material suitable for all-ages. With so many choices available to librarians it can be quite overwhelming. They simply can’t assume that every title will be appropriate for all-ages. Papercutz is fast becoming a name they know they can trust.

NRAMA: Finally, what do you hope to achieve with the new initiative?

TN: [To] further strengthen our position as a quality mass publisher to all ages.

JS: Throughout my career I’ve always been involved with both educational and entertaining comics. From being a kid at Kid’s Magazine, to writing and editing Spidey Super-Stories, and even editing both the Marvel (with Tom DeFalco) and Papercutz biographies of Pope John Paul II, as well as being a Trustee at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, I’ve never forgotten that comics helped me learn to read and to learn about the world. So, producing educational comics is very important to me. That said, as a comics fan, it’s awesome to simply offer beautifully illustrated “Stories by the World’s Greatest Authors.”

Visit the official site at www.papercutz.com

[Fletcher]

This is soooo cooool...I remember as a kid reading Classics and then in high school to get done with a book report. I'll get this stuff again...it's more original and better written than 90% of the garbage out there now.

[Fletcher]

AAAAAHHHHHH....would you look at that...I forgot to announce to everyone that I had the first post. Like you all couldn't see or anything...

[ssava]

These are great looking books!

I had the pleasure of having a booth next to Papercutz at Comic Con in San Diego.
They're really nice guys and....hey...
I never DID get my SHARPIE BACK!!!!

[Earl]

They have picked a nice adaption to start with. I got the Cinebook Hard Cover edition of Wind and the Willows that came out last year. It's really nice in Hardcover.

Earl.

[Blackbeard]

Fantastic news! Can't wait to pick these up for my boys.

[OM]

...Ok, really impress us - release Wuthering Heights with a mini-CD featuring a certain Kate Bush hit

[deco_la]

Those 1990s First / Berkley CIs had some great issues - Bill Seinkewicz (yeah, sp) on Moby Dick, Geary on a few, Kyle Baker's Alice in Wonderland, JK Snyder. Nice to see them coming back. I hope the new ones follow the same high-quality "auteur" approach.

[J.D. Lombardi]

Cool! I just got my Lewis Carroll "Alice" adaptation signed last year by Kyle Baker. I'm really interested to see who they'll get for newer adaptations.

[CitC]

There has been quite a resurgence in adaptations of classic works recently. I have featured three new ones on my site in the past year alone. I think it is terrific, and these Papercutz Classics Illustrated issues look great.

[saintstryfe]

Originally Posted by CitC

There has been quite a resurgence in adaptations of classic works recently. I have featured three new ones on my site in the past year alone. I think it is terrific, and these Papercutz Classics Illustrated issues look great.

Amen. To add to your background, as a Library Science student, I can tell you, these things are great. Especially since the Library I work with, our original library bound copies of the 60's comics have seen better days. With new ones, I can move them to rare books and bring in real new books. The best thing Marvel could do is offer Library-quality copies in Hard cover.

[amaraswen]

Sadly, these adaptations, originally produced in gorgeous oversized albums (8x11), are shrunken down to miniaturized size (6x9) for their American reprint.

OLIVER TWIST
http://www.editions-delcourt.fr/cata...rles_dickens_1
ROBINSON CRUSOE
http://www.editions-delcourt.fr/cata...daniel_defoe_1

[Chris Noeth]

Do not forget to pick up this Papercutz title:





Best,

Chris

[Joan17]

I have enjoyed them as a child and it would be great to share them with my nephews as I'm sure they are going to love them as much as I did.

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http://www.spidermanbuddies.com/