Mood:
caffeinatedTopic: Comic Books - New
TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3370: I was very pleased to receive the package in the mail containing two issues of Classics Illustrated that are being reprinted by Jack Lake Productions Inc., out of Canada!
I 'grew up' with Classics Illustrated, although by that time many of the earliest of the series had been reprinted several times. By the time I obtained them, usually to give me a 'picture' of what the novel was about that I had to read for English classes, I had already read the novel in text format. I was a good reader, but sometimes the sequential illustrations in the Classics Illustrated would help make some of the language used by the original authors come more "to life" for me! So what's with the new reprint editions? And why should YOU possibly add these to YOUR reading list? Well, here's part of the press release that was sent to me:
Today Jack Lake Productions re-masters and reprints the original Classics Illustrated comics for a new generation of readers. “It’s amazing to be able to work on some of these books that were created by comic industry legends.” said Gagnon. “There’s a whole team of very talented artists working for JLP, each with their own individual projects, putting out some great stuff.” Gagnon’s most recent project with Classics Illustrated is issue #129, which features the true biography of the real life frontier legend Davy Crockett. The original version was published in 1956 and illustrated by the legendary Lou Cameron. For the new versions Gagnon takes the original printed artwork and restores the black line art or “inks”, adds additional embellishments, and then creates all new colors. “It’s crazy because some of the same books I’m restoring for a new generation of readers, I used to read when I was a kid, and they had been around for decades by then. It’s amazing the longevity this material has.” Gagnon added." So that's the reason the comic has been reprinted. Why YOU should think about adding this to YOUR reading list is that I'm thinking that you would probably like to know about the persons that Classics Illustrated is having reprinted at this time for a new audience. Plus I'm sure you also know of younger persons that would enjoy reading these, both for possible school projects, as well as getting to 'know' the characters that are being written & illstrated about! I for one really enjoyed this issue of Davy Crockett. Of course I was around in the mid 1950's when the Coonskin Cap Craze by Davy on the Walt Disney TV Show captured the imaginations of many 'baby boomers' such as myself! So just to see what my youngest son would think of the 2nd issue that came in the package to me... I let him take it and read it. I'm looking forward to seeing what he thought about issue #142 on Abraham Lincoln! That will be published here in the near future... The comic book sized publication has a stiff paper cover, and better paper interior pages than the original comics that were first published. The inside front cover has an article on David Crockett, (he never called himself 'Davy'), which is continued on the back inside cover. Along with a recommended readings list. In addition there was a two page story titled 'The Story of Great Britain' Part 3: Saxon England, which was the third of twelve features on the hisotry of Great Britain. On the last interior page was a text piece on 'James Bowie', who also fought at the Alamo, which is where Davy Crockett died. I've owned an earlier printing of this comic book, but have sold it since then. I found that having this newly printed edition of the same comic book to be well produced, and a thing of beauty as well as more than readable! I want to bring to your attention the inker and colorist of this newly printed edition...
Mike Gagnon is a comics pro with over a decade of experience, as well as a wandering nomad in the frozen climes of Canada. Gagnon is best known as a writer and colorist, but has also been known to do some fine inks and cover illustrations. Mike spends his time using one or more of his talents creating work for clients of all sizes, from Marvel to small press. When not busy with paying gigs Mike enjoys developing his own creator owned comics where he continues to hone his craft in storytelling and expand his repertoire of skills. You can see more of his work at www.mikegagnon.ca". Mike can be proud to be associated with this publishing effort! My review rating for this comic book is a NEAR MINT (NM) 9.4 out of a 10.0 possible comic book grading scale. If you don't find this comic book at your local retailer... You can find these comic books for sale at the Jack Lake Productions web site. If you would like signed copies and / or original art, check out Mike's web site at: MikeGagnon.ca. I do not see a Facebook Fan Page for the Classics Illustrated series. However, there is a 'community page' on Facebook for Classics Illustrated., that gives a good background history, that is based on the Wikipedia entry. Again, I'm looking forward to what my youngest son thinks of the issue I gave him to read and then review blog.... My thanks to Mike Gagnon for submitting these two issues of this comic book series for possible review here in my blog! ~Michael D Hamersky
BTW, You can 'follow' this Blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app! We currently have over 2,320 'Followers'! Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!! ~ Michael D Hamersky Note: My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item that was reviewed here today...!If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at: ComicBooksCircus.com Web Page Note: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer. NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.
To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to: Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA  Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to have sent me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages in my network already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' for myself so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there. Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!
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That's because Mike Gagnon had given me a 'heads up' that they would be coming, after I expressed my interest in seeing them.
"Gagnon is breaking new ground as an inker and colorist for Classics Illustrated, published by Jack Lake Productions of Toronto. Classics Illustrated was a series of young reader friendly comics published in the 1950s and 60s that featured comic stories adapted from classic literature and true biographies of historical figures. 
Here's the Creator Bio for Mike Gagnon: "
My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and the archived blog posts, now over 3,369 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!
Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!! (Note: I don't list my email address here, due to 'spambots' gathering it and 'spamming' me.
