Bringing back the classics

I talked today to the legendary Roy Thomas, former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief, award-winning comics writer and fanboy supreme. We talked about Marvel Illustrated, Marvel’s take on the old Classics Illustrated line. The Marvel line kicks off with adaptations of “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Treasure Island” and “The Man in the Iron Mask” - all written by Thomas.

Thomas has been around long enough that he used to read those old Classics Illustrated books as a kid. “I didn’t buy them all,” he said, “but I bought quite a few of them.”


When writing his adaptations for Marvel, a priority is keeping the original language as much as possible, he said. The idea, for example, with “The Last of the Mohicans” is to make it read as if James Fenimore Cooper had written the comic — “but with an eye toward a 21st century audience being able to understand it.”



Look for more on Marvel Illustrated in a future Comics Fan column.