More big media love for the comics! Newsweek gushes over Papercutz’s revamped Classic line:

Along with Lincoln Logs and chemistry sets, Classics Illustrated was part of that goofy but well-intentioned trend in the mid-20th century that sought both to educate and entertain America’s youth. Each issue contained a retelling of a well-known novel, supplied facts about the author and also included—I am not making this up—a biography of a scientist or inventor and the stirring tale of a brave dog. There were also issues on science and history and fairy tales. If that sounds dreadful—it wasn’t. I should know. That was where I first discovered just how good stories could be.

Now bound in hardcovers, and selling for $15—a hundred times the original cover price—the new Classics Illustrated books don’t closely resemble their predecessors, whose style was generally uniform, more or less like Prince Valiant in the funny papers. (Note to purists: if it’s the old versions you hanker for, they’re still being published by Jack Lake Productions.) The new series will use a different artist with every book, and the styles will vary radically. If the first two, “Great Expectations” and “The Wind in the Willows,” are any indication, Papercutz, the company now licensing the brand, has set very high standards for its new series.