Classics Illustrated Junior #531: Rapunzel (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In 1953, Gilberton began a spin-off of its vastly popular Classics Illustrated series of comics. Titled Classics Illustrated Junior, this new line was aimed at readers younger than 8. Issues featured fairy tales, nursery rhymes and fables. To distinguish itself from the sister line, Classic Illustrated Junior began its numbering at #501. This makes  #501, 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' the first issue in the series that lasted until 1971, when new owners Twin Circle Publishing discontinued all of its former Gilberton holdings.

In this issue, the story of 'Rapunzel' is explored. The fairy tale of the maiden with the lengthy tresses, locked away in a very tall tower is popularly attributed to the German folklorists, the Brothers Grimm, in their 1812 fairy tale collection Children's and Household Tales. However, modern researchers trace origins of the story to a couple of 17th century French fairy tales as well as the classical myth of the Greek hero Perseus, whose mother was confined to a bronze tower by her father. Regardless of the origins of the story, Gilberton focused on the Brothers Grimm as the primary source material.

The tale begins before the main character is even born. Her mother is having cravings for a salad made of rampion, a flowering plant with edible blossoms and roots. The nearest source of the plant is in the next door garden which belongs to an evil witch. Refusing to eat anything else except for the tantalizing rampions, the expecting mother sends her husband to gather some of the plants. 

Afraid of the witch, the husband sneaks into the garden and steals some of the rampion. He's caught by the crone. But since the plants are for the wife, the witch allows her rampions to be harvested- for a price! In return for the edibles, the old woman gets ownership of the couple's daughter; to which the very afraid husband willingly agrees.

After the birth of the child, the witch takes the infant girl into her custody. The babe is named Rapunzel, which is another name for rampion. Over the years, Rapunzel's hair grows ridiculously long. At around age 10, the conjurer imprisons Rapunzel in a tower that has no entrance way except for a lone widow at the very top. After destroying the ladder that gained the witch entrance into the tower, the hag checks on Rapunzel each morning by ordering the girl to lower her lengthy tresses. The witch then climbs up the hair to provide nourishment.

One day, a travelling prince hears Rapunzel singing in her tower and becomes immediately enamored. Hidden in a thicket, he witnesses the witch commanding Rapunzel to lower her hair. When the sorceress leaves, the prince makes the same request of Rapunzel and after making his climb, asks the girl to become his bride. But first, they've got to get rid of Rapunzel's jailer!

While Classics Illustrated Junior has a lessened page count than its older sibling series, there are several added features to the issue. Also included is a one-page recital of the nursery rhyme 'Little Miss Muffet', the Aesop Fable of the belling of the cat (titled 'The Mice in Council') as well as a 'The Animal World', a small nature strip about the abilities and  attributes of the Arctic reindeer. A connect the dot activity which reveals a kangaroo and a coloring page depicting Rapunzel in her tower bedroom round out the offerings. 

While it was not industry standards to attribute credits to the writers and artists who contributed to these pre-bronze age issues, devoted fans and comic book historians did exhaustive research in order to learn just who to admire for their work. From what I could look up, Lin Streeter painted the cover. He's also credited as the illustrator of both the title story as well as the Aesop Fable and the color page in the inside back cover. Alex A. Blum is ascribed for drawing the art for the 'Little Miss Muffet' page. William A. Walsh drew the reindeer lesson. 

No writer information was readily available. The Brothers Grimm are not even given credit for inspiring this tale whereas other issues, such as #525 'The Little Mermaid', bestows cover credit to Hans Christian Andersen.

Completing this review completes Task #28 (An issue of Classics Illustrated Jr) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Ghosts and Girls of Fiction House

This YOe Books/IDW Publishing collaboration seemed doomed almost from the start. 

Craig Yoe's forward that recounts how he was first introduced to Fiction House's massive anthology series Jumbo Comics was a brilliant piece. Then we get an introduction by noted comic book historian Michael H. Price. However, his look at Jumbo Comics is a rambling mess that leads the reader to believe that they'll be experiencing stories of jungle goddess Sheena, swashbuckling tales adapted from Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo and Mickey Mouse inspired funny animal yarns written and illustrated by comic book legends such as Al Feldstein, Bob Kane and Matt Baker. Yet all you get once you slough through about 50 pages of pre-code comics commentary,, that seems more like an commercial for the authority's other scholarly works, is a collection of spectral tales called The Ghost Gallery. 

Jumbo Comics had about a dozen regular features that appeared in the publication's 15 year history. The book was known for it's voluptuous dames, thanks in very large part to Feldstein, Baker and Maurice Whitman. Yet none of these artists worked on The Ghost Gallery. Or if they did, none of their efforts are presented in this 2015 hardcover, except for a few sketches and completed pieces. Instead, one should expect to view the efforts of Alex Blum, Bob Hebberd and the famed but more anonymous staff of the Iger Shop. That's right; a lot of the work in this book was considered so beneath the staff at Fiction House, that it was sourced out to an art house and the lack of creativity and love for the source material shows.

Officially, it was titled The Ghost Gallery by Drew Murdoch. Only there was no Drew Murdoch on the Fiction House staff. He's actually the main character. You might think that he's narrating each story. But aside from the first page (and maybe the very last panel) which would have Murdoch explaining his paranormal investigations to a cynical criminologist, the author of these mortifying myths takes a more active role in the story. 

The stories seemed rushed, which is how it was in the Golden Age of comics. The more pages turned out, the more money a writer, artist or inker could make. Artistically, the art isn't bad. But it doesn't stand out amongst the crowds either. Here, it's the writing which is not all that good. The plots have more holes than Swiss cheese, and there seems to be massive edits throughout the flow of the adventures. That leads me to believe that perhaps the writer had these vast plots that due to time or page allotments had to be trimmed - alot!

Thankfully, the stories get better towards the end. Sadly, the less we see of Drew Murdoch, the better the ghost tales got. Eventually, Murdoch became a phantom in his own series, though his name remained in the title. Eventually, Fiction House too gave up the ghost when the comics scare saw an end to all but a handful of publishers by the end of the 1950s.

I just wasn't a fan of this book. I tried to enjoy it and it did get better the last third of the book. But I really could have done without all of the extraneous information about both the publisher history and all the extra details on the other features that appeared in Jumbo Comics but not in this volume. It was almost like Michael H. Price wrote an essay about the entire company's publishing history in hopes that would be used in other future Yoe publications that feature the other stars of Jumbo Comics. A clever way to save money- sure. And maybe this generalized history was Craig Yoe's idea. Regardless, it is not a great way to introduce readers to what they might find inside, especially if they bought this book expecting to find works by the omitted artists praised in the prose section of the book.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.