I know there's a pile of times we've tripped upon Charlton issues, 'round these parts, but I wanted to open a discussion specifically about the Charlton line, and our interaction with them.
As many of you know, I am quite fond of the little comics company that could in Derby. My "about me" page on Ebay is even titled "Charlton House"! I thank Ditko mainly for that, but also the "genre" organization of the entire line.
Speaking to that, the "weird" comics like Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves, Midnight Tales, Baron Weirwulf's Haunted Library and others were regular favorites, but I also enjoyed many many many of their other titles. Today, just happening upon Charlton titles I've never seen charges me in a way that seeing the Marvel and DC books I've owned or seen a thousand times cannot.
So, feel free to share any tales of Charlton with us! And if you're visiting from the Charlton section of the Island of Misfit Comics MBs, WELCOME! Hope you enjoy your stay!
Morisi did a lot of work, for a lot of years. One wonders what he would've been doing the latter part of his career if he'd been doing this stuff full time! (Morisi's "real" job was a beat cop, full time)
Doesn't PAM actually own the rights to his creation, Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt? I seem to recall that DC actually licensed the character from him when they did that short-lived series about 10 years ago.
Joe and his excellent missus Hillary are two of the sweetest people I've ever met in comics. Joe is very fast, quite versatile, and happy to bring apparently heartfelt enthusiasm and interest to any new story. Joe was among the few established veterans to attend the MOCCA convention in NYC this year -- a con dominated by micro press and self-publishers -- and seems continually interested in new projects and talent.
The gentleman has been the major penciler on SCOOBY-DOO in DC's Cartoon Network line of books -- showing way way more brilliance than that property ever enjoyed on TV. I hear now he's working on CrossGen's CROSSOVER book, which I hope is going swimmingly for him.
I had the impression Joe might share part ownership of the E-Man character...
Remember THUNDERBUNNY, who appeared occasionally in the later days of Charlton -- in BULLSEYE, I think?
Martin Greim [sp?] used to post frequently on the DC boards, especially on the T*H*U*N*D*E*R*Agents board. MG sounded as happy to hear from the bunny's fans as I ever was to read those adventures.
Wow! Marty Greim is one of the oldest and most respected of comics fans--his acitivties reaching way, way back to the glory days of CAPA-alpha and a whole mess of fanzines. I met him at one of the Phil Seuling conventions in NYC back in 1974. Nice gent--good to know that he hasn't lost his passion for comics.
What I mostly remember from Charlton, I guess, is their licensed books. I know that, as a kid, I had some Hanna Barbera Charlton titles, such as Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear and even Valley of the Dinosaurs. I think I might have had some Charlton comic strip titles, too, such as Blondie (Did they do that one, or am I totally confused?).
Beyond that, I guess they didn't leave a great impression. I've never been a horror fan, so I don't know if I've ever even read Dr. Graves, Baron Weirwulf, etc. I did have some Charlton war and western comics, but frankly, they weren't very memorable, and the stories varied greatly in quality.
I don't recall ever seeing Charlton work by Ditko or other greats - at least, not as a kid. I often didn't read the credits in those days, though, so who knows?
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons."
-From The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror II"
When I was little, Charltons were the "weird" comics that you only found at the dentist. I don't know why but they never had DC or Marvel, just Charltons and other "off brands". I remember some doctor had a stack of Dick Tracy and Popeye comic books, published by God knows what companies, and I'd never seen such things on the newsstands. Was there like a secret subscriber club just for doctors? Some mysterious guy from Charlton in a trenchcoat offering special discounts to the medical profession?
The first Charlton I ever bought was a Captain Atom which I recognised as having a Ditko cover ~ 1967? ~ then Blue Beetle and the others. I really dug the trade dress, the repeated symbol across the top of each cover. Dunno if they started to appear on newsstands where I lived because of the Triumphant Return Of Ditko specifically, I think it was because they were becoming more focused on superheroes ~ or rather, ACTION HEROES! ~ and that made them more sellable or something.
I still think of Charlton as this sort of extra special "secret" comic company for people who are "in the know". You had to be COOL to get Charltons, they weren't for just anybody. Right?
I discovered Charltons in the early 70s. One of my neighbors had several, and I was fascinated with Blue Beetle and Captain Atom. I also thought that the Question had the absolute coolest look I'd ever seen. I asked to borrow them so many times that he eventually gave them to me. Sadly, I was never able to find any more; I suppose they may have ceased publication by then. I never saw them again until 1985, when they turned up in CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS.
Charlton's were sporadic in my section of Brooklyn when I was a kid, lo, those many years ago! I do recall going to the neighborhood barber and reading a Ghostly Tales and recognizing the artist's style as "that guy who drew Spider-Man". It was called "The Eternal Oak" appearing in Ghostly Tales # 71, featuring a Native American getting revenge on his agressors.
In the early 1970s a store or two did begin getting the Charlton's on a fairly regular basis and my brother and I started buying them, many featuring terrific Ditko covers. Some great work in those books (I wrote an article about Ditko's work at Charlton from 1969-1974,when he worked almost exclusively for Charlton, a few years back in Comic Book Marketplace).
If you've never seen any of this work, a nice sampling appeared in one of Robin Snyder's Ditko packages a few years back. He may still have some available.
I recall getting Charltons at two or three places, in Oregon! Mulino Grocery carried a couple sporadically, and they lasted forever on the spinner rack, there, so if there was an issue of FF or Archie (*gasp*), we'd wait on the Charltons.
Two other places, a Ben Franklin drug store and a grocery/laundry in Molalla (sounds like a Ditko town) carried them, but by far the Ben Franklin was the BEST source of new Charltons. Not sure how the distribution system worked, in those days, but I was constantly finding little piles of Ghosts, Many Ghosts, Haunted, Space War, etc. at garage and rummage sales in the northwest.
For a couple of reasons. The Charlton Heroes MB at the Second String Sanctuary is now officially closed. I drew a little bit of inspiration from there, and feel that the members there might make a good fit here.
As well, I was looking to increase traffic here, and it seems Charlton is one of the best approaches to do that. There seems to be a lot of interest in Charlton's stuff, and with our friends upstairs, that only seems emphasized.
As always, your advice and ideas are merrily accepted!
I never found too much Charlton stuff on any of the racks growing up in the city. There was a Mom-&-Pop corner market near my grandparents' house that seemed to have them. Mostly, there was a small grocery store in rural Michigan, near where my grandparents (not the ones just mentioned) had a summer home, which always had Charlton. My stack of comics at the summer home was chock full of Charlton titles. Part of my brain always goes off kilter whenever I'm at a shop or someplace and I see a cover of a Charlton title that I forgot I ever had...like opening up a secret memory vault that's been locked up for 30 years.
Lately, I've been snagging PAM's Thunderbolt series off ebay, but getting the 20-30 book mixed Charlton lot for $10 or less has been a helluva lotta fun, too. Great stuff...simple and fun, yet cutting edge (Ditko's Question, Blue Beetle) as well.
My earliest introduction to Objectivism a la Ditko was his infrequent Charlton back-up feature, KILLJOY.
I think I own only two examples. Were there more?
When that Flame character weeps and moans, complaining that KILLJOY violates her rights by not letting her burn him up...!!
mmmmm, SAVORY !!
BTW: is there any mysterious backstory regarding the "MODERN COMICS" line of Charlton reprints? Was that imprint created just so Ditko enthusiasts could meet each other around the $o.25 bins at cons? Love 'em! I trust Steve had a financial agreement regarding those reprints that satisfied him.
I always assumed that the Modern Comics was more akin to the Whitman reprints of DC material. I'd also be surprised if Ditko saw anything from the reprints...I don't know what the royalty agreement on stuff like that was back then.
"BTW: is there any mysterious backstory regarding the "MODERN COMICS" line of Charlton reprints?...I trust Steve had a financial agreement regarding those reprints that satisfied him."
No mysterious backstory, really. Modern Comics was created specifically to sell sets of three comics in a bag, I believe. There is a specific set of Modern Comics that were reprinted. Much like certain issues of King Comics, these are very plentiful.
I would expect that Sturdy Steve got no particular recompense due to this use, but I could be entirely wrong as well.
Linda
