"A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel" (2008) - Classical Comics - Part 2

A couple more words about the 2008 graphic novel adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" from Classical Comics...

It has a pretty neat "Dramatis Personae" showing each of the characters who appear in the story:

Of particular note is that Fred's wife obtained the name Alice!

I find it a bit odd that the charity collectors aren't shown. I mean even the schoolmaster gets a nod!

And Belle gets two versions, young and older. Young Scrooge doesn't get his own mug shot!

And I definitely appreciate that Mrs. Dilber is identified as the laundress, not the charwoman!

I like the artwork, it's sort of modern yet classic(al) at the same time.

One thing I will say is that Marley's Ghost totally looks like a Jack Kirby character. The Thing, perhaps? I almost expected Marley's Ghost to yell, "It's clobberin' time!"

"A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel" (2008) - Classical Comics - Part 1

"A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel" (2008) 

Classical Comics

Script Adaptation: Sean Michael Wilson

Artists: Mike Collins (pencils), David Roach (inks)

We stay within the realm of visual arts for this graphic novel adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" published by Classical Comics in 2008.

It seems to be touted as a teaching tool, but I think it's a solid version in its own right, not trying to reinterpret the story, but just giving it visual appeal.

The adaptation is extremely faithful, with just about everything in there.

There are actually two versions, one billed as "Original Text" and the other as "Quick Text."

Indeed the Original Text version seems to include most, if not all, of the dialogue from the book, with some text boxes and other themes shown visually. It's pretty complete!

The Quick Text version simplifies some of the dialogue, presumably for younger readers.

The sample pages below give you an idea of the whole thing.

Original Text:

Quick Text:

Definitely worth checking out!

Classics Illustrated No. 53 - "A Christmas Carol" (1948) - Original Art!

Talking about "Marvel Classics Comics" being inspired by "Classics Illustrated" gives us a chance to revisit the latter's 1948 adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" from 1948 with some of the original art by Henry C. Kiefer!

Pretty cool!

Marvel Classics Comics #36 (1978) - "A Christmas Carol" - Part 2

Some additional thoughts on the "Marvel Classics Comics" adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" from 1978.

I think it's a lot of fun. It's very faithful, with the dialogue somewhat Americanized at times, with 1970s-style artwork!

It's obvious that although Marvel may have taken their inspiration from the old "Classics Illustrated" comic books, they were determined to give them more oomph. And they did!

There are a lot of extreme facial expressions displaying various emotions!

Scrooge even does a wacky Tex Avery type reaction take!

And the artwork looks super-heroey, with the Ghost of Christmas Past particularly buff. He reminds me of Prince Thun from Flash Gordon!

Scrooge himself gets a rare beefcake shot!

And mustaches! So many mustaches!

An interesting little touch is to have two women doing the "Old Scratch" conversation!

And you have to laugh that Stan Lee gets top billing over Charles Dickens! At least Stan didn't call him "Cheery Charlie" Dickens or something like that!

Good retro fun all around!

Marvel Classics Comics #36 (1978) - "A Christmas Carol" - Part 1

"A Christmas Carol"

Marvel Classics Comics #36 (1978)

Script: Doug Moench

Artists: "Diverse Hands" (Ken Landgraf, pencils)

We jump head 28 years and go from the comic strip world to the comic book world with "Marvel Classics Comics" and their adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" from 1978.

This was Marvel's attempt to revive the old "Classics Illustrated" type comic books, but with a less staid approach. Kids of the 70s were glad to have them as shortcuts to book reports!

The series ran stated in 1976 with an adaptation of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" then continued with the usual suspects until issue #36, which turned its sights on "A Christmas Carol!"

"Classics Illustrated" did their own version in 1948, which we talked about here. The Marvel take is much more dynamic and maybe even more faithful.

It has a generous 48 pages of story, not bad for your 1978 60 cents!

These splash pages give  good idea of the approach:

Well worth picking up and available without breaking the bank!

National Enterprise Association - "A Christmas Carol" (1950) - Part 2

If you got to read those strip's from NEA's 1950 comic strip adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," I'm sure you'll agree that Walt Scott did a great job with the artwork!

Walt Scott (1894-1970) was a prolific cartoonist who did a lot of work for the National Enterprise Association, including the long-running newspaper strip "The Little People" before and after a stint working for Walt Disney in the late 1930s.

I like his artwork on this comic strip adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" quite a bit. The characters are very expressive, which I think is important, as there are no word balloons, just text.

The "script" is pretty faithful, if fast-paced. I think here things work just fine, as we're all famialiar with the story and it's fun to see various plot points visualized.

Good work all around! 

Newspaper Enterprise Association - "A Christmas Carol" (1950) - Part 1

"A Christmas Carol" (1950)

NEA Syndicate 

Artist: Walt Scott

We stay in 1950 for this cool comic strip adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" illustrated by Walt Scott and syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) as their annual holiday offering.

I haven't been able to find all of the strips, but we know the story!

Take a look:

Now we skip ahead to the end...

Fun stuff!