Graphic Classics Volume 21: Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery (Graphic Classics (Eureka))
Another excellent addition to the bookshelf is the 21st volume in Eureka's Graphic Classics series, ''Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery''. The very first Graphic Classics volume featured Poe, focusing on his horror stories, while this one emphasizes his mystery and detective work. In fact, if you know anything about Poe, you know he wrote what are considered the first detective stories, one in particular starring an observational sleuth who was almost certainly the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. That story is ''The Murders in the Rue Morgue'' and it dutifully leads this volume, adapted by Antonella Caputo with some lovely period artwork by Reno Maniquis. ''Rue Morgue'' is the longest of the offerings in this book, which is filled not only with short stories, but also poems that I haven't read since I was a Poe freak in junior high, and have never seen adapted to comics before. There are also a couple of new adaptations of stories Graphic Classics has adapted in other volumes, but one never tires of ''The Masque of the Red Death'' or ''The Tell-Tale Heart''. Especially this version of ''Heart'', which stars a modern tatted-and-pierced female as its maddened narrator. Also, Poe's fixations on premature burial, consumptive illness, madness and macabre romantic impulses are well known, and in full display here. But it's the obscure ''Berenice'' -- with a bizarre subject I will not spoil for you here -- that takes the prize for weirdness. --Scripps News / Andrew A. SmithThe artistic roster is an eclectic delight. Each selection plays to that artist's strength, ranging from straight mystery like ''Murders In The Rue Morgue'' with art by the Domino Lady's Reno Maniquis to oddball entries like Lisa Weber on ''Hop-Frog'', or a lovely adaptation of ''Berenice'' by Nelson Evergreen. --Comic Book Resources / Greg HatcherEdgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery is a solid collection of Poe's works that belongs on the shelf of every Poe fan and horror aficionado. Suitable for 12-year-olds and up, it also serves as a reader friendly introduction to the master's works for teen readers who haven't encountered him yet. --Comics Bulletin / Penny Kenny