Classics Illustrated was a series of Comic books released periodically from 1941 to 1971. The series usually contained adaptions of famous literary works in graphic novel format. Among the comics were three novels from Polish and Russian literature as well an Adaption of Jules Verne’s Michael Strogoff, which is set in Russia. Knowing the rarity of finding such books in comic form, I would like to share these by making them available to you, in their original version, ads and such included.

The first comic is an adaption of Jules Verne’s Michael Strogoff, which is considered by some to be one of his best non-science fiction works. The original book takes place during a Tartar rebellion and centers around a courier sent to deliver a letter to the Tsar’s brother.

The next comic is Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, one of the most famous works of Russian literature, originally published in 1866.

Sometime later, Classics Illustrated released an adaption of With Fire and Sword by Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz, originally published in 1884. The book is a historical novel set during the Khmelnytsky Uprising.

The last adaption is Nikolai Gogol’s historical novel titled Taras Bulba, renamed as The Cossack Chief in this edition. Judging by the content of this adaption, it would seem this was based on the more prevalent 1842 edition of the tale, published ten years after the original.