Edgar Allan Poe has appeared in popular culture as a character in books, comics, film, and other media. Besides his works, the legend of Poe himself has fascinated people for generations. His appearances in popular culture often envision him as a sort of "mad genius" or "tormented artist", exploiting his personal struggles.Neimeyer, Mark. "Poe and Popular Culture," collected in The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge University Press, 2002. p. 209 Many depictions of Poe interweave elements of his life with his works, in part due to Poe's frequent use of first-person narrators, suggesting an erroneous assumption that Poe and his characters are identical.Gargano, James W. "The Question of Poe's Narrators," collected in Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 165
Additionally, much of Poe's writings and characters have made appearances in other media.
Comics There have been over three hundred comic book adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's works as of 2008, possibly more than that of any other American writer. Since then, the number of Poe adaptations in comics has exceeded that of any other comparable period. In addition to direct adaptations, a number of comics have taken Poe as a central character or as the inspiration for characters.
The list below includes only those comics that feature Poe as a character or the inspiration for a character. It does not include every "cameo" appearance or those comics that use only the image of Poe. In Funny Pages v.2 #4 (Ultem Publications, 1937) Poe is featured in a three-page semi-biographical sketch called "Edgar Allan Poe: Man of Letters" by Rafael Astarita. Crown Comics #1 (Golfing Inc., 1945) features an adaptation of Poe's "The Oblong Box" in which Poe appears as a passenger aboard the ship on which the story takes place. Gang Busters #49 (1948), includes Poe in a story called, "The Mystery that Edgar Allan Poe Solved", which is later reprinted in Detective Comics #417. Enchanting Love #2 (Kirby Publishing Co, 1949) includes a story entitled "The Beautiful Annabel Lee", which purports to tell of the historical romance between Poe and Virginia Clemm whose death inspires the famous poem. Superboy #110 (DC Comics, January 1964) includes a main story entitled "The Surrender of Superboy" in which Poe is one of several historical figures summoned from the past to humiliate Superboy. The Atom #12 (Superman DC National Comics, April–May 1964), includes a story entitled "The Gold Hunters of '49!" in which the Atom travels back in time to 1849 and meets Poe while solving a mysterious gold robbery. In the story, Poe utilizes his fencing skills, which he supposedly learned during his time at West Point. This may be the earliest comic in which Poe appears as a character in an original story not based upon his life or works. In the Italian comic book Zagor, Poe is an agent of the American secret service called "Elsewhere", with a codename "Raven". Detective Comics #417 (DC Comics, November 1971) includes Poe in a story entitled, "The Mystery that Edgar Allan Poe Solved", a reprint of Gang Busters #49 (1948). Ghosts #26 (National Periodical Publications, May 1974) features a story called "Dark Destiny" by Leo Dorfman which includes Poe as a character. In Arcade: The Comic Review #7 (The Print Mint, 1976), a three-page story entitled "The Inheritance of Rufus Griswold" by Spain Rodriquez tells the story of Poe's death. In Haunted #31 (Charlton Comics, 1977), Poe and Roderick Usher appear as characters in the 9-page story "Subway Stop" by Tom Sutton. The story is reprinted in Haunted #56 (Charlton Comics, 1981) Crazy Magazine #73 (Marvel Comics, April 1981) includes a story called "The Tattletale Heart", a satire of Poe's famous story which includes Poe as a character. Crazy Magazine #89 (Marvel Comics, August 1982) features a one-page story called "The Raven" in which Poe has writer's block, so his next tale his composed by a raven. Alien Encounters #10 (Eclipse Comics, December 1986) includes a science fiction story by Ray Bradbury, "The Exiles," in which Poe appears as a character. Jason Asala's Poe v.1 (Cheese Comics, 1996) is a series that ran for six issues between September 1996 and April 1997. It features Poe as a wandering adventurer in search of his lost love, Lenore. In order to save her, he must defeat twelve demons. His adventures become the inspiration for many of his tales and poems, including "The Raven", "The Black Cat", "The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather", and "The Bells" Jason Asala's Poe vol. 2 (Sirius Entertainment, 1997) is a continuation of the Cheese Comics series. This one ran irregularly for 24 issues between October 1997 and July 2000. It includes references to "The Fall of the House of Usher," "Von Kempel and His Discover," and "The Balloon Hoax". Edgar Allan Poe's The Bells (Tome Press, 1999) offers a humorous look at Poe's tendency to fall in love with unobtainable women. Snake 'n' Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret (HarperCollins, 2000) features Poe in a short cartoon, "Two-Fisted Poe", in which he punches a man in the face. The Phantom #1282 (Frew Publications, 2001) features a story called "The Baltimore Mystery" detailing a fictional explanation of Poe's death, and the Phantom's role in his last days. This story may have appeared in print earlier, in Fantomen #25 (Hegmont, Dec. 2000). The Dreaming #56 (Vertigo/DC Comics, 2001) features a tale entitled "The First Adventure of Miss Catterina Poe" centered around Poe's cat who battles a giant predatory worm in order to save Edgar and Virginia Poe. Poe (Boom! Studios, 2009) was a four-issue limited series featuring the Poe brothers, William and Edgar, investigating a murder that leads them to the House of Usher. The series ran from July-Oct. 2009, and was reprinted in 2011. The Mystery of Mary Rogers (NBM, 2001) is volume five in the Treasury of Victorian Murder graphic novel series, and features an historical re-telling of the real-life murder case on which Poe based his short story, "The Mystery of Marie Roget". Here, Poe appears briefly as a potential suspect in the murder. In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe (2002) by Jonathon Scott Fuqua follows a professor who has discovered the last diary of Poe, allegedly written on the author's deathbed. The diary reveals that Poe's artistic inspiration came from selling his soul to demons. As part of the deal, Poe can only write while in Baltimore; his attempts to leave that city have dire consequences. The graphic novel from Vertigo Comics is illustrated using digital illustrations and photography by Steven Park and Stephen John Phillips, respectively.DC's profile for the hardcover edition of In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe (with preview) and the paperback one Batman: Nevermore (DC Comics, June-Oct. 2003) is an Elseworlds mini-series from DC Comics written by Len Wein, with art by Guy Davis. In the story Batman teams up with Poe to solve a number of murders.Review of Batman: Nevermore issue #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 and #5 Jill Thompson's graphic novel Death: At Death's Door (DC Comics, 2003) includes Poe as a guest in Death's house as Lucifer evicts the citizens of Hell. He is shown, comically, to be in love with Death's sister Despair, who serves as his muse in the book. Scooby-Doo #80 (DC Comics, March 2004) features a story called "Cravin' the Raven" in which a Poe lookalike helps the gang solve a mystery. Ravenous (Speakeasy Comics, 2005) is a graphic novel that adapts several of Poe's stories, but also includes an original story "Ravenous" with a detective character inspired by Poe. The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo (2007) by Dwight MacPherson, is a webcomicThe Chemistry Set » SURREAL ADVENTURES OF EDGAR ALLEN POO, Chapter 1, Canto 1 originally published on DrunkDuck, which was collected into a trade paperback by ShadowLine. It follows Poe's adventures after he accidentally gets flushed down an outhouse. In Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant (Drawn & Quarterly, 2011), Poe appears in the cartoon story "Come Dream With Me," in which he receives unsettling fan mail from Jules Verne. The book also includes a story called "The Return of Annabel Lee", featuring Poe's famous character. In the Ahoy Comics series, Edgar Allan Poe's Snifter of Terror (2018-), Poe appears frequently as a "host" character, commenting on adaptations of his work by a variety of artists and writers. His image also appears as a character in many of these adaptations.
Fiction "Revenant" is a short story by Walter de la Mare, first published in The Wind Blows Over in 1936, in which Poe listens to a modern lecture on his life and works, then takes the lecturer to task for making facile judgments. "When It Was Moonlight" is a short story by Manly Wade Wellman which appeared in the February 1940 issue of Unknown, has Poe pausing in the composition of "The Premature Burial" to investigate a genuine local case, only to find himself faced with a vampire. "The Exiles" (1949) is a short story by Ray Bradbury, included in his collection of short stories, The Illustrated Man (1951), in which Poe is an entity who lives in a refuge on Mars. He is erased from time when his last work is destroyed on Earth. "The Gentleman From Paris", a short story by John Dickson Carr, first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (April 1950), features an unidentified Poe, sitting in a bar in New York, solving a Dupin–like mystery for the title character. Poe disappears before he can receive a substantial reward six months before his death.Reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits, ed. Mike Ashley, Carroll and Graf, New York, 1993, p. 431–454 "Richmond, Late September, 1849", a short story by Fritz Leiber, first published in Fantastic, February 1969, in which Poe meets a woman claiming to be the sister of Charles Baudelaire but who may in fact be Death. Poe died October 7, 1849, in Baltimore. "The Man Who Collected Poe" by Robert Bloch in which a fanatical Poe collector proves to have resurrected (collected) the real Poe and has him locked in his back room writing new Poe-esque stories. It was filmed as an episode of the film Torture Garden, which Bloch wrote. A Singular Conspiracy (1974) by Barry Perowne; A fictional treatment of the unaccounted period from January to May 1844, in which Poe, under an assumed name, visits Paris in a failed effort to join French volunteer soldiers headed to aid Poland against Russia, instead meeting the young Charles Baudelaire and designing a conspiracy to expose Baudelaire's stepfather to blackmail, to free up Baudelaire's captive patrimony. The Alteration (1976) by Kingsley Amis is set in an alternative reality where the Protestant Reformation never occurs due to Martin Luther's reconciliation with the Church and the birth of Stephen II of England. In the 'Schismatic' Republic of New England, Poe was an acclaimed general who died in a blaze of glory after successfully repelling the combined forces of Louisiana and Mexico in the war of 1848–50; the airship RNEA Edgar Allan Poe was named for him. Poe Must Die (1978) by Marc Olden is a novel that features the poet joining forces with an aging English boxer to thwart the plans of an evil occultist who is attempting to find the legendary Throne of Solomon which gives its possessor power rivaling that of God. The Last Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe: The Troy Dossier (1978) is a novel by Manny Meyers which features Poe aiding the New York City police department in 1846 to solve a pair of murders. "In the Sunken Museum", a short story by Gregory Frost, first published in The Twilight Zone Magazine, May 1981. An account of Poe's famous last days and his enigmatic last utterance.