Print

[Indianbear]

Hi,
I'm new to the site and very glad that I found you. I had no idea such a gold mine of old comics existed.

I found a site where a fellow is selling a DVD containing copies of the entire series of "Classics Illustrated." He says that all of them are in public domain except for 28 issues that he does not put on the DVD.

Here is the link: Link removed by moderator just to safe

Can anyone tell me if he is correct?

Also, here is a link to a blog that is posting the entire series of "Classics Illustrated Junior" comics.

Link removed by moderator just to safe

The blogger states "All cover images are copyrights of Jack Lake Productions, Inc." but says nothing about the comics directly. The inference of course is that the mags are in public domain, but the cover art is not. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks for being here.

[boox909]

Personally I wish you had not posted those links here in GA-UK --- now your post has the feel of spam...and highly unwanted spam at that.

B. 

[Yoc]

Hi Bear,
I have my doubt on these books being public domain.  To protect this site I've removed your direct links.  Nothing personal, I just don't want GAC linked to anything that might possibly result in our own site closed for violating copyright rules.  The law is very fuzzy on these things and no point in playing with matches and getting burned.

Aussie is our expert on P.D. issues but she wont be around for a while to answer your question.  Sorry.

Hope you understand,
-Yoc

[Indianbear]

Ok, I just got my answer. The books are NOT in the public domain. I emailed the guy that is selling the DVDs and asked him directly where he got his information. His reply says that he is not selling the old magazines, he is selling text copies of the original books. Sheesh. I really read that wrong.

As for the Junior editions, I don't think they're public domain either.

Being new, I guess I'm learning the hard way.

Yoc,  I understand your position. I did not intend to put you in harms way, I was simply sharing information and seeking answers. Thanks.

boox909, Gee Whiz Dude, take a deep breath, count to 10 and chill out. I'll just chalk your caustic remarks up to you having a bad day. It happens to all of us.

[Yoc]

No harm done Bear.

Enjoy the goodies here,
-Yoc

[boox909]

boox909, Gee Whiz Dude, take a deep breath, count to 10 and chill out. I'll just chalk your caustic remarks up to you having a bad day. It happens to all of us.

Dude I was so nice to you! I'm wounded -- see? Here's the knife wound in my gut. 

B. 

[misappear]

Classics Illustrated are actually currently being published (again)

[Aussie500]

Both Classics Illustrated Comics and Classics Illustrated Junior comics were renewed, they are not public domain.

[potter6]

Hello,
I am the MD of Classic Comic Store Ltd., and we are publishing brand new issues of Classics Illustrated from 25th September. Our first titles are The War of the Worlds and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We are licensees of Jack Lake Productions Inc., who are licensed to distribute the products by permission of the copyright owners who are First Classics Inc. out of Chicago. The guy producing the DVDs was no doubt in breach of copyright but I'm not troubled by that (although Chicago might be) - the real news is that we are producing fantastic new issues - covers completely re-digitalized and all inner artwork re-coloured. Heavy gloss paper inner pages within a heavy laminated cover in perfect bound form - they look sensational! You can buy them at WH Smiths, Borders and many other High Street Retailers and, from mid October, Waterstones. They will also be on sale in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Republic of Ireland. They can also be purchased from my Website, www.classicsillustrated.co.uk . You'll love these and, at

[Yoc]

Seeing as this post from Jeff is certainly on topic and polite I'll let it go.
But as a rule I think the site would discourage advertising on the site.

Good luck with the new books Jeff.  Anything that might get kids reading anything but hopefully comics in particular is good in my book.


-Yoc

[phabox]

Agreed Yoc, this is the kind of 'spam' I can live with.

Just imagine every book on this site being made available as a brand new hardcopy reprint at these prices, its something that I could live with.

I Think I may well pick up "War of the Worlds" when I see it, just hope they don't go to over the top with the modern colouring !

Also I hope that some of the less popular stories will also be reprinted but I suspect at the end of the day it all comes down to sales.

Much as I love the scans here I would much rather have all the stuff in hardcopy but sadly for the most part the cost and rarity of the original books will prevent that ever being anything other then a pipe dream. 

-Nigel

[profh0011]

I ran across this thread via a Google Search (funny, huh?).

I've been doing a LOT of research lately into CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED as well as the Pendulum Classics series from the 1970s.  Both have been reprinted multiple times, so it's safe to say neither is public domain.  (The Pendulum books, by the way, were done under editor Vincent Fago, and every single one of them featured Phillipino artists.)

This is in addition to any OTHER comic book / graphic novel versions of any of these stories.

The Pendulum books are currently in print from a company called Saddleback Publishing.  I found the best cover scans right at their website!  I'm not sure offhand who the current publisher of the original Classics Illustrated is, but according to a letter posted at the "Tom's Place" site (where the owner was forced to take down most of the posted pages), a company named X, Inc. is the current license owner.

The letter posted on "Tom's Place" was from a "J.B., CEO".  I'm guessing that's the same Jeff Brooks who posted a message here.

[profh0011]

Incidentally, I JUST found another site that has some of these online (which I won't mention here).  A quick page count revealed 29 of the 33 pages of "The Sign of the 4" was posted.

Another quick jump over to the GCD site revealed the following in a reprint:

"Pages cut: 2, 19, 20, 34, 44, 52, 55-56."

Yep... somebody posted the REPRINT, not the original.  Oh well, close enough.

[profh0011]

"But as a rule I think the site would discourage advertising on the site."

I like to encourage this sort of thing, so I just added a DIRECT LINK to that site at my blog, to encourage people to BUY the new printings!  Hope that helps.

[profh0011]

Having done that, I was just "navigating" around their site, and noted with some amusement (or maybe frustration) that there is NO mention that both the "Marvel" and "Saddleback" books are REPRINTS of the SAME Pendulum editions.

But then, if you go direct to the Saddleback site, theyu do not once mention in ANY of the books they sell, the original year of publication, the year of the reprint, the writer of the adaptation or the artists involved.  With "marketing" like that, they're setting the comic-book industry back by generations.

[Kate]

I want to use some of the artwork in the comicbooks I find on Comicbookplus to make things to sell.
I website says that all the comicbooks on Comicbookplus are in the public domain, but if the Classics Illustrated comic books are on Comicbookplus even though they are not public domain, than how can I trust that the other books are safe to use either?

[The Australian Panther]

Kate, for one thing, you are very wise to be cautious. I commend you for that.

if the Classics Illustrated comic books are on Comicbookplus even though they are not public domain 

I checked and did a search and there are no Classic Illustrated or Classic Juniour books on the site. 
As the posts in this thread say, They have all been renewed and so are not PD.
They were originally published by a company called Gilberton. There is one title from a series called 'Picture Parade' and 5 from a series called 'Picture Progress'. I would assume that those series have not been renewed and have been checked.

how can I trust that the other books are safe to use either?

If you are not sure about them, ' When in doubt, don't'. There are plenty of other titles to choose from. And the Administrators go to a lot of trouble to ensure that what is on here is PD.
Cheers.         

[paw broon]

I posted a note saying they were not available here, but it seems to have gone astray. 
Panther has the right of it.

[Kate]

The Australian Panther, oops. You are totally right. I got my websites mixed up. It was on Ebay that I saw someone selling a CD of the comic books a while back, not on here. I apologize for the false acquisation. It was my faulty memory that was wrong. I double checked by searching "classics illustrated" on your site and it's not there. It solidifies the fact that your website can be trusted. I just needed a reminder.
Thanks for replying to my message really fast and not being angry with me about my mistake.

[The Australian Panther]

Kate,
Hey, no problemo. You did the right thing. 

[Captain Audio]

IIRC there have been PD illustrated classic novels on this site that one might have confused with Classics Illustrated. I think Treasure Island was one of these. No relation to the publishers of Classics Illustrated or the artists who worked for them.