The Man Who Laughs: Classics Illustrated #71

by Victor Hugo, William B. Jones (Introduction), William B. ,Jr. Jones (Introduction)

Overview

One of author Victor Hugo's most controversial and most celebrated works, The Man Who Laughs is loaded with intrigue and suspense. This love story centers on a man whose face has been disfigured into a laughing mask in childhood, and a loyal blind girl who gives him her heart, amidst the cruelty of the privileged aristocracy whose laughingstock and savior the man becomes, is remarkable in its emotional impact. Hugo wrote The Man Who Laughs over a period of fifteen months while he was living in the Channel Islands, having been exiled from his native France because of the controversial political content of his previous novels.

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From its beginnings in the 1940’s to today, Classics Illustrated continues to encourage a love of reading and adventure in youthful minds through beautifully-illustrated comic book adaptations of the world’s most beloved stories by the world’s greatest authors.

A collection of Classics Illustrated books is an inviting start to any young person’s library.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620281130
Publisher:	First Classics
Publication date:	07/11/2013
Series:	Classics Illustrated , #71
Sold by:	De Marque
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
File size:	38 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	9 - 14 Years

About the Author

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) was one of the most prominent French writers and political figures of the 19th century. David Hine has worked in comics since the 1980s, and has written Batman for DC Comics, as well as Spider-Man and X-Men for Marvel Comics. He lives in London. Mark Stafford is a cartoonist-in-residence at the Cartoon Museum in London. He has collaborated with Costa award–winning Bryan Talbot on Cherubs! He lives in London.

 

Date of Birth:

February 26, 1802

Date of Death:

May 22, 1885

Place of Birth:

Besançon, France

Place of Death:

Paris, France

Education:

Pension Cordier, Paris, 1815-18

Editorial Reviews

The recent success of the stage adaptation of Les Miserables has made Hugo's name widely known to the general public. Atlantean Press marks this resurgence with the inauguration of a series of re-published works by Hugo. The Man Who Laughs ( L'Homme qui rit , 1869), generally unavailable in English since the turn of the century, is the first volume in the series. This translation, by an unidentified translator, remains highly readable. The work itself, however, despite the touching tale of the love between the blind Dea and the deformed Gwynplaine, is highly stylized, extremely long, and often tedious. It will be interesting primarily for readers wishing to gain familiarity with a lesser known work by the father of French romanticism and with the tastes of the French reading public at the time.-- Anthony Caprio, Oglethorpe Univ., Atlanta

Library Journal

“Although his visage inspired Batman’s most splendiferous villain, the Joker, Gwynplaine’s commonsense polemics still resonate, whether in Occupy protests or speeches by Elizabeth Warren.

Village Voice

“Hine’s script neither shrinks from nor winks at the tale’s over-the-top melodrama, and Stafford’s elaborately cursive and pointy drawing style, awash in darkness and saturated colors, expresses it near perfectly.

Booklist