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| A Classic in Pictures - some background to the series. |
In 1949, Philipp Marx, a refugee, first published A Classic in Pictures through his publishing company, P.M. (Productions).
He had seen the great success that was being achieved by Albert Kanter with Classics Illustrated in the United States and wanted to replicate this within the British market.
Using his Amex imprint he produced twelve titles. Each issue contained 48 pages of picture strips and they were printed in an attractive red and black ink with a full colour laminated cover.
The run was successful but didn’t supplant the success of the much larger Classics Illustrated production line.
In the mid-fifties Marx reprinted the run, this time in black and white, under his Bairns Books imprint and produced new cover artwork under the title Famous Stories in Pictures.
Some will argue that the drawing within this series was superior, artistically, to Classics Illustrated and far more visually authentic and that is, perhaps why these very attractive comics are still sought after and cherished to this day.
One of the artists within the series was the much acclaimed C. L. Doughty who drew three of them - Lorna Doone, A Tale of Two Cities and Oliver Twist for which he also painted the cover.
Collectors will know of Doughty’s work in many other children’s publications, including Look and Learn, Eagle, Knockout and Thriller Comics Library (see www.thrillerpicturelibrary.co.uk).
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