In the Christmas 2008 Golden Age of Comic Books Podcast (Episode 60), I talked about one of my favorite Golden Age characters, Uncle Scrooge McDuck. Of course we all know that the “original” Scrooge was created by Charles Dickens in his 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. Although Dickens reportedly rushed through the creation of this novel in order to pay off certain debts, it has become one of the most famous Christmas stories ever written, and has been the subject of numerous writings, plays, television shows and movies. Indeed, Ebeneezer Scrooge is a universally known character, and his name will forever be associated with his miserly ways as portrayed in Dickens’ great classic.
It was inevitable, then, when Gilberton began publishing their Classic Comics (later Classics Illustrated) line in 1941, that A Christmas Carol would become a Golden Age comic book.
Classics Illustrated #53 (November 1948)
One hundred and five years after Dickens’ novel was first published, Gilberton produced Classics Illustrated #53 (November 1948) with art by the prolific Henry Kiefer. This 45 page comic book adaptation stays fairly close to the original novel (as close as a comic book can!), and Kiefer’s art is not bad. This is also a fun read, so I thought I would include a PDF of this comic book for all to enjoy.
Classics Illustrated #53 (November 1948) – PDF
This PDF file is 31.8 MB and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. I wouldn’t suggest using a dial up connection to view this rather large file!
I hope you enjoy reading this Christmas “classic” from the Golden Age of comic books.
