Don Quixote

by Classics Illustrated (Adaptor), Louis Zansky (Art Work)

Classics Illustrated is a comic book series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as Moby Dick, Hamlet, and The Iliad. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication in 1941 and finished its first run in 1971, producing 169 issues. Following the series' demise, various companies reprinted its titles.

The first five titles were published irregularly under the banner "Classic Comics Presents" while issues six and seven were published under the banner "Classic Comics Library" with a ten-cent cover price. Arabian Nights (issue 8), illustrated by Lillian Chestney, is the first issue to use the "Classics Comics" banner.

With the fourth issue, The Last of the Mohicans, in 1942, Kanter moved the operation to different offices and the corporate identity was changed to the Gilberton Company, Inc.. Reprints of previous titles began in 1943. Wartime paper shortages forced Kanter to reduce the 64-page format to 56 pages.

Genres: Fiction, Classics

53 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1947

About the author

Classics Illustrated is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as Les Miserables, Moby-Dick, Hamlet, and The Iliad. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication in 1941 and finished its first run in 1969, producing 169 issues. Following the series' demise, various companies reprinted its titles. Since then, the Classics Illustrated brand has been used to create new comic book adaptations.

Reviews

[Osama Siddique · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the comic that first introduced me to this great novel. It is quite a feat to capture such a representative set of lasting images from what is a vast and rich book. However, the wonderfully visualized and beautifully executed depictions of some of the most significant scenes from the book have stayed with me long after and strongly reemerged as I eventually read the novel, which has such a rich linguistic, historical and verbal tapestry. This comic book is definitely a triumph when it comes to faithful, aesthetically stylized and faithful depiction of a complex book. I cannot but imagine Don Quixote and Sancho Panza but as drawn here.

[Greg Hovanesian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading a 400-page novel in the form of a condensed comic book might sound ridiculous, but it was actually a very good way to learn the 'gist' of a classic story. Did I miss things: certainly. But I was still able to enjoy the misadventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in this quite poignant satirical comment on society at the time.