Lappin, Jessica2026-10-062026-10-062026https://hdl.handle.net/10315/44094https://sites.google.com/view/poe-comic/pageThis webcomic may be viewed in its original form at: https://sites.google.com/view/poe-comic/pageEdgar Allan Poe's works have long been subjects of parody. In the visual art style of Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics," this vertical scroll webcomic compares Poe's "The Raven" with MAD Magazine's 1954 comic adaptation. While Poe's poem uses Gothic tropes and poetic techniques to construct an effect of Romantic beauty, MAD's version subverts theses conventions through visual imagery, dismantling that effect and turning it grotesque. From 1845 to 1954 – and even now, in 2025 – the grotesque is embedded in spaces of beauty, with parody inviting us to reconsider what we "see" as beautiful.enEdgar Allan PoeMAD MagazineParodyThe RavenGrotesqueOther