For whatever reason, while they would dabble with the genre from time to time, Charlton never quite took the leap into publishing super hero comics on a full-time basis. They seemed content to fill their racks with war, mystery, western, hot rod, romance and even comedy books. But super heroes were an ill-fit for them, … Continue reading Brand Echh – Charlton Premiere #1
In the early 1980s at the beginning of the end of their tenure as a publishing house, Charlton came up with a way to produce a book more cheaply. They outsourced the creation of the content to fans and would-be professionals and paid not a penny--publication itself would be the only compensation these creators would … Continue reading Brand Echh – Charlton Bullseye #4
For a short period in the mid-1960s, under the editorship of Dick Giordano, bottom-rung publisher Charlton had a very nice line of up-and-coming super hero comics. It didn't last long--the market dip in the post-BATMAN TV show craze put the kibosh on all sorts of super hero aspirations. In this instance, though, we're going to … Continue reading Brand Echh – Thunderbolt #57
At around this time, the new season of the hit comedy HAPPY DAYS began, with a three-part opening storyline in which the cast went to Hollywood, and the Fonz wound up in a competition to water ski jump over a caged shark in the bay. This episode was the origin of the now-popular term "Jumping … Continue reading BHOC: X-MEN #108
Another book from the latest Modern Comics 3-Bag find was this issue of VENGEANCE SQUAD, a not-terribly-exciting action-adventure series that aspired to the level of a 1970s cop show. But creator Pete Morisi did have a very interesting George-Tuska-influenced art style which was appealing, if stiff. Also, I’m particularly taken with the way that the … Continue reading BHOC: VENGEANCE SQUAD #5
Another quasi-super hero title from the Modern Comics 3-Bag assortment was JUDO MASTER–an odd combination of World War II adventure, real-life martial arts instruction and super heroics. It honestly was a bit of a dull strip–but it had a guy in a costume in it, and so i was interested as a kid. This particular … Continue reading BHOC: JUDOMASTER #93
Another find in the 3-Bags of new Modern Comics that had appeared at my local Two-Guys department store outlet was this issue of E-MAN, the last issue in its short run as it turns out. That painted cover and the way the piece is framed seems to be trying to conceal that this is a … Continue reading BHOC: E-MAN #10
Also available in one of the new Modern Comics 3-Bags was this issue of CAPTAIN ATOM, the issue prior to the one I’d purchased previously. This was a bit of a mixed blessing, in that it meant that I knew exactly how this story turned out and much of what happened in it before I … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN ATOM #83
The first big surprise of the summer came during a routine trip to the Two-Guys department store, where i discovered that a new set of 3-Bags of Modern Comics had been released. Modern Comics were cherry-picked reprints from the Charlton back-catalog. I didn’t quite realize this at the time, I just knew that there was … Continue reading BHOC: BLUE BEETLE #1
One more book from the Modern Comics 3-Bags reprinting vintage Charlton releases, VENGEANCE SQUAD was very much of a kind with a lot of Charlton’s output during the 1970s: it resembled a low-budget television show, it lacked in personality and individuality, and it was a bit shoddy and dull. The key thing that got it … Continue reading BHOC: VENGEANCE SQUAD #6
The Tom Brevoort Experience 