Classics Illustrated on BBC Radio 4

By John Freeman on 23 October 2011

BBC Radio 4 FM are broadcasting a 30 minute documentary looking at seventy years of the American comicbook series Classics Illustrated on Tuesday 25 October 2011 at 1130.

As the first issue, The Three Musketeers, was originally published in October 1941 and actor Bill Paterson presents the documentary marking the 70th anniversary of the series with contributions from Professor John Sutherland and British bookseller Jeff Brooks who revived the title in the UK using the original artwork.

The UK Classics Illustrated comics are published by Classic Comic Store and the current issue is number 34, an adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last Of The Mohicans, which is available in WH Smiths, Easons and other high street newsagents.

There are more details of the BBC Radio 4 FM documentary on the BBC website and we would expect it to be available on the BBC iPlayer after broadcast.

There are more details of the modern British publications of Classics Illustrated at the Classic Comic Store website.

You can read an interview with Classics Illustrated publisher Jeff Brooks on the downthetubes main site.

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.