Black Beauty

Anna Sewell was born in 1820 in England. Around the age of 14, Sewell fell and injured her ankles. They didn't heal properly. From then on, she had trouble walking and relied on horses to take her where she needed to go. She loved horses and was grateful for them. Sewell was shocked to see how cruelly some people treated her favorite animal. In 1872, Sewell was told she had only a short time to live. She decided to write a book that would show the kind and loving nature of horses. That book, the only one she ever wrote, was Black Beauty. It has been considered a classic since it was published in 1877.

LEONARD BRANDT COLE had worked as art director for a lithography outfit, before entering the comic book field during the Golden Age in the early 1940's. He was mainly a cover illustrator for titles like Suspense Comics and Contact Comics. In his early work, he always used basic, flat colors and produced what he called "poster color covers". Illustrating over 1500 covers, Cole drew everything from funny animals to superheroes to jungle girls and sci-fi. A science fiction fan, Cole would often slip rocket ships and ray guns onto books such as 'Captain Flight' and 'Contact Comics' which were supposed to be devoted to contemporary aviation.

As for interior artwork, Cole did pencils and/or inks on several features for Holyoke Publications, Gilberton and Farrell. Cole also published comic books through Star Publications, producing various crime, terror, jungle and romance titles in the late 1940s and 1950s. He was art director and editor at Dell Publishing in the early 1960s. He has mainly done commercial art and design from the mid 1960s onwards, working among others on audio-visuals for University Films.

Cartoonist STEPHEN L. ADDEO was one of the countless contributors to one of the world's most popular series releases ever, "Classics Illusrrated". Not much is known about the artist as a person - but he was behind the cartoons in a number of popular titles, just as he designed a number of covers.

"Classics Illustrated" consisted of cartoon versions of famous literary classics. The Russian-born Albert Lewis Kanter (1897-1973) started releases in 1941 for Elliot Publishing - first as "Classic Comics". The first sheet contained a series version of Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers", followed by "Ivanhoe" and "The Count of Monte Cristo".

The series number four, "The Last of the Mohicans" was launched on a new publisher - Gilberton Publications. And here came Stephen L. Addeo into the picture.

NORMAN NODEL (Nochem Yeshaya) was a noted artist and illustrator of children's books and magazines. Nodel began his illustrious career as a field artist in the army, drawing military maps during World War II. After the war, he pursued a successful career as an artist in a variety of styles, notably illustrating a great many issues in the famous 'Classics Illustrated' series in the 1950s. In the 1940s, he had previously been an assistant to George Marcoux, and he has done comic book art for True Comics and Sun Publications.
His contributions to 'Classics Illustrated' varied from 'Ivanhoe' to 'Faust' and 'The Invisible Man'. He was also a regular on Charlton's teen, horror and romance titles of the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1960s he contributed to the Warren magazines Eerie and Creepy, using the pen name Donald Norman.
During the last twelve years of his life, Mr. Norman Nodel devoted a major amount of his time and energy to illustrating books and magazines specifically for Jewish children, which gave him great pleasure and satisfaction. Norman Nodel worked to the last day of his life. He died on the 25th of February, 2000.