"

Comics, Color and The Cask of Amontillado by Nathan Peterson

This edition of The Cask of Amontillado is shown paired with visual accompaniments and analysis to demonstrate the impact that visual aids and illustrations have on Edgar Allen Poe’s tale.  In the original version, the reader can only rely on the text for a description of the story, and much is left up to speculation. What are the effects of visuals in the story? Does humor come through more effectively? Poe’s attempts at humor in Cask of Amontillado are subtle and often seem to fall flat in texts. Does adding visual aids help the comedy come through and does it become funny? Do they help make the tale feel more fleshed out or does it even need them?

In this edition: I include a comic book adaptation of The Cask of Amontillado that will accompany the original work. From the original version and comic, I will provide an analysis of the impact that the illustrations and visual aids have on Poe’s tale Also included in this edition are other visual representations to demonstrate how visuals enhance the story’s comedy, and drama, provide important details of setting, and character, and also show how the gothic elements can be aided as a whole. I hope to provide the reader with a greater appreciation for Poe’s humor and storytelling by utilizing these various visual aids, all the while hoping to provide answers to the following questions.

 

  1. Do visuals help themes to translate more effectively?
  2. What do visuals do for the reader?
  3. Can art, images, and the style in how they depict a story change a genre, and is this why Poe wasn’t overt with it in this piece?
  4. And does the use of illustrations strengthen or weaken the original tale?

 

Editor- Nathan Peterson

 

 

 

Primary Source

Poe, Edgar  A. “The Cask of Amontillado.” Godey’s Lady’s Book, no. 5 ed., XXXIII, Godey’s Lady’s Book, Philadelphia, PA, 1846, pp. 216–218.

Comic version source

Poe, Edgar A. Palais, Rudy. “The  Cask of Amontillado.” Classics Illustrated, no. 84, June 1951   pp. 29-45 https://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2015/11/poe-1951-pt-5.html

Secondary Source

 

ZIMMERMAN, BRETT. “Poe’s Linguistic Comedy.” Edgar Allan Poe: Rhetoric and Style, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005, pp. 63–84. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt81b97.9. Accessed 4 Dec. 2023.
Inge, M. Thomas. “Poe and the Comics Connection.” The Edgar Allan Poe Review, vol. 2, no. 1, 2001, pp. 2–29. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41507817. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.
Nevi, Charles N. “Irony and ‘The Cask of Amontillado.’” The English Journal, vol. 56, no. 3, 1967, pp. 461–63. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/811596. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023.
Connections to other editions
Abby Embree – Masque of the Red Death – Tales of Edgar Allan Poe: Critical and Creative Editions (uiowa.edu)

License

Tales of Edgar Allan Poe: Critical and Creative Editions Copyright © by Abby Embree; Andrew Burgess; Ann Manley; Bri Brands; Dylan Melchior; Elizabeth Klink; Emi O’Brochta; Emma Grause; Georgia Aduddell; Grace Martin; Iysis Shaffers; Jess Quintero; Kade Cockrum; Karaline Schulte; Katherine Bonny; Kathleen Zeivel; Leah Wegmann; LeDavid Olmstead; Link Linquist; Logan Williams; Lorna Bauer; Maddie Patterson; Madeleine Heath; Matthew Brown; Nathan Peterson; Olivia Noll Reinert; Piper Wiley; Sarah Inouye; Sona Xiong; Spencer Cooper-Ohm; and Trick Lucero. All Rights Reserved.

Share This Book