The Pendulum Press mystery deepens....

I tried hard to come up with some "pendulum" word play for the post title.  I focused and focused, hoping some arc of creativity would put me on the path to a razor-sharp pun, but, in the end, I just couldn't swing it.  That'll happen.

So, I told you about the Classics Illustrated (and Classics Illustrated Junior) reissues published by Pendulum Press, Inc.  Turns out there were twelve of these:

Black Beauty, v. 1
The Call of the Wild, v. 2
Cinderella, v. 3
Frankenstein, v. 4
Huckleberry Finn, v. 5
Moby Dick, v. 6
Negro Americans--The Early Years, v. 7
The Red Badge of Courage, v. 8
The Time Machine, v. 9
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, v. 10
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, v. 11
The Wizard of Oz, v. 12

To date, I've gotten my paws on one of these (20,000 Leagues...) and have seen cover scans for two others, so we know they exist(ed).  The memory of these Pendulum Press CI reissues was long ago eclipsed ("obliterated" may be the better verb) by the Pendulum Press series which began in 1973 and featured new adaptations drawn by Filipino artists under the supervision of Vincent Fago.  The series title remained the same--"Now Age Illustrated" (and/or "Now Age Books Illustrated").

It's the latter series that people know and remember, of course, not the twelve CI reissues.  Eager to get more information about the CI's, I bought a copy of Rosebud Graphic Classics: Arthur Conan Doyle (2002), which starts out with the Vincent Fago essay, "Nestor Redondo and the Pendulum Classics."  Lots of great inside data about the Philippines-drawn Now Age titles (which were three years in the planning, starting in 1970), but zilch about CI!  No word on when or why they came out.  My copy of the CI 20,000 Leagues... reissue gives the original copyright date but no printing date, so there you are.

Is it possible that, during the three years Fago was getting the Philippines-drawn adaptations together (1970-73), Pendulum Press got impatient and insisted that something be published under the "Now Age Illustrated" series title, even it that meant recycling someone else's previous line?  Just musing on my part, but it's highly possible, given the fact that the Classics Illustrated series met its end in 1972, just in time for Fago to get reprint rights.  It's possible, even likely, that the Pendulum CI reissues were never intended as anything except filler until the new, all-original series could get going.  In the first edition of his Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, William B. Jones. Jr. writes that the Filipino-drawn Now Age comics came about when the CI reissues (for which he gives a 1972 date) failed to sell well, but would this have given Pendulum enough time to effect a series turnaround?  Doesn't seem likely.

Below: Front and back cover, and interior splash page, from the Now Age reissue (1972?) of the 1948 Classics Illustrated version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which featured b&w reproductions of the great Henry Keifer illustrations. The back cover blurb (with "reading is fun!" in large, bold font) carried over into the new-art series, along with the Now Age Books logo:

The cover art was expanded from this interior panel:
     

Lee

Santa's last ride (for 2014)

This is Santa's last ride--for the season, that is.  The fourth of January is a little late for Kris to be starting back, but he promised to stick around until I got this post up.  Besides, he finds this whole topic fascinating.  He had bought into the Coca-Cola myth, you realize.

Our scans start with this awesome page-wide illustration from the Dec. 11, 1884 Youth's Companion (below).  Included in the montage are two images that very much correspond to our current image of Santa:

Santa details:

Next, some equally familiar images of Santa (below) from the The Night Before Christmas (M.A. Donohue & Co., no date), one of who-knows-how-many 19th- and early 20th-century picture story collections titled after the famous Clement Clarke Moore poem of 1823.  No telling when this was printed, but the illustrations, which show up in many a cheap Santa storybook, are from the late 19th century.  Do you imagine the artists received some dough every time their illustrations were recycled?  Me, neither!  But who knows?

This 1901 McLouglin Bros. edition (below) of Moore's poem (and Moore's poem only) is a far classier affair.  The cover gives a copyright date of 1899, which I'm guessing is for the illustrations.

  

 This guy is a 95 percent modern Santa.  Maybe 97 percent: 

From the same booklet (below), we see children sending letters to Santa through the fireplace.   Far out. A common theme in the 19th century, though new to me!  

Next, marvelous (and very comic book-style!) illustrations by Ruth Mary Hallock, who seems to be pretty famous, which she deserves to be.  Not sure why Santa's suit is bright red on the cover but, um, burgundy for the interior artwork, though I can't see anyone failing to instantly recognize him in either suit (below).

At one point in the book's very cool text, the little girl heroine, Gladys, spots her mother through Santa's magic telescope.  Her mom, pale and depressed, is praying for her kidnapped daughter's return.  Gladys cries out to her mother but can't be heard.  Sound a little like the crystal ball scene from the 1939 Wizard of Oz?  (A scene which, incidentally, doesn't appear in the Baum story!)

Below, another cut-rate Night Before Christmas storybook (with pages that cracked at the fold as I scanned them!), this time with a publication year--1903.  Thank you, W.B. Conkey Company.

The cheaper-than-cheap Christmas Day storybook, from 1892 (below), is another W.B. Conkey printing job, as evidenced by the washed-out images, recycled magazine art, numerous typos, and all-b&w interior.  (These, plus the Conkey credit on the copyright page.)  I like it, anyway.  The interesting text mentions Saturnalia, Norse gods, and our Pilgrim Fathers' "hatred of Christmas pastimes," among other real-story-of-Christmas details--you know, the type often treated these days as Internet (and/or Comedy Central) exclusives.  The W.B. Conkey Co. begs to differ:

Lee

More on Pendulum Press--the 1972 CI reprints

As reported by William B. Jones, Jr. in his excellent Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, the Pendulum Press "Now Age Books" series originated in 1972 as reprints of original Classics Illustrated and Classics Illustrated Junior titles.  When these failed to sell well, Pendulum decided to go with new adaptations and new art the following year.  I had never encountered a one of the CI reprints, either on line or off, until yesterday, when the Now Age Books reissue of CI's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea showed up on eBay. (It's on its way to my address as we speak.  Paid too much for it, and I'd do it again.)  I proceeded to locate two other Now Age/CI cover scans in cyberspace.  Behold:

Now I know these things exist.  Frankly, I was beginning to think Jones may be in error.  After all, even a survey as skillfully researched and organized as his CI history is bound to contain a few errors, given its sheer scope.  But, as it turns out, Jones' 1972 Pendulum data is spot on, to the delight of this CI fan.  The 1972 CI reprints really did happen, and I'm going to have one in my humble collection.  CI Santa is looking out for this collector....

Lee

For the Classics Illustrated fan on your Christmas list: Regent's Illustrated Classics, more

What to get the Classics Illustrated fan on our Christmas list? Too late for this season, of course, but Christmas 2015 is only 270 (or so) days away.  Time enough, maybe, to score a small set of Regent's Illustrated Classics, an obscure 1980s series which offered pirated Classics Illustrated art, Weekly Reader-style texts, and bad cover art.  Never heard of it?  Neither had I, until I read about these things in William B. Jones, Jr.'s Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History.   The moment I learned of their existence, I just had to locate some--maybe the CI fan on your list will find them as cool as I do.  The trick is finding them at non-stupid prices.  Beware the crazier ones being asked out there.  Please.  You'll hate yourself, otherwise.

Check out these covers, scanned from my collection.  I love them:

Chintzy, no?  But they're my kind of chintz.  (There's no accounting for lack of taste.) 

Understandably, William B. Jones, Jr. is down on this series--after all, it stole its material and altered the texts.  But I dig these for the black and white CI art reprints and, as I've already confessed, the tacky covers, most of them derived from splash page art (save for Frankenstein, which was blandly redone from the awesome line-drawn cover for that number).  Here, by the way, are some interior page samplings:  

Less obscure than the Regents pirates (probably way so) are the highly classy--and totally legit--Pendulum Press series of CI-style books, which showed up right about the time CI passed on.  I say "series of," because the Pendulum titles showed up under a number of logos, including Now Age Books, Pocket Classics, Picture Classics, AGS Illustrated Classics (reprints), and Lakewood Illustrated Classics (ditto).  The art was provided by excellent Filipino artists like Jun Lofamia (my favorite!), E.R. Cruz, and Nestor Redondo.  Wikipedia has a very good piece on Pendulum Press.

Here are some covers from my stash:

There were bios, also:

                    

Below, I've scanned the back-cover promo pages for Now Age, AGS, and Lakewood.  Notice the resemblance?  

Picture Classics had a different back-cover blurb which listed two additional titles--The Great Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Three Musketeers:  

And, if you can find it, the Filipino National Classic Comics (a.k.a. National Classic Illustrated) series is quite nice, judging from the one issue (The Turn of the Screw, art by Jun Lofamia) in my collection.  These are contemporary with the Pendulum Press titles, and were even more CI-inspired.

Here are some cover images, all swiped from on-line, save for my reissue of Turn of the Screw, which had a Classics Illustrated logo added.  I'd sell the farm for the NCI Time Machine!

  

Other possibilities: Another Filipino series, Famous Classics Illustrated (wonder what line those were based on??).  Those look pretty cool (I have yet to land one).  Or, original series-wise, you can find a mint copy of Westward Ho! (Classics Illustrated, No. 14) if you've got the dough.  And only if the CI collector on your list is a really, really close friend.

Lee