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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 15, 2020 22:24:51 GMT -5
That all being said, if Charlton's comics were ever reprinted in CE's - they should be remastered/recolored. I suspect if a good job were done here, they would look a hell of a lot better than they did back in the day...since a lot of other older comics have benefited greatly from this remastering/recoloring.
The only problem with this idea is that Charlton destroyed sooo much original artwork and stat copies, that re-coloring from either would be next to impossible. From what I've read in interviews with former Charlton artists and editors (in issues of Charlton Spotlight magazine and Alter Ego magazine), they would literally incinerate piles of the stuff. Also, some of the early original art may have been destroyed in the 1955 flood of the Derby, CT printing plant.
Sad for collectors.
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Post by rom on Apr 16, 2020 23:08:25 GMT -5
That all being said, if Charlton's comics were ever reprinted in CE's - they should be remastered/recolored. I suspect if a good job were done here, they would look a hell of a lot better than they did back in the day...since a lot of other older comics have benefited greatly from this remastering/recoloring.
The only problem with this idea is that Charlton destroyed sooo much original artwork and stat copies, that re-coloring from either would be next to impossible. From what I've read in interviews with former Charlton artists and editors (in issues of Charlton Spotlight magazine and Alter Ego magazine), they would literally incinerate piles of the stuff. Also, some of the early original art may have been destroyed in the 1955 flood of the Derby, CT printing plant.
Sad for collectors.
That's a shame. However, I suspect (though have no way of knowing for sure) that if a company wanted to produce reprints of these comics, they could possibly track down the original comics (which presumably still exist, somewhere) and then reprint them using the comics as the source material....without any kind of recoloring/remastering. Obviously, that wouldn't be ideal - but I would still buy these - given that it would be better than nothing. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 17, 2020 7:16:37 GMT -5
The only problem with this idea is that Charlton destroyed sooo much original artwork and stat copies, that re-coloring from either would be next to impossible. From what I've read in interviews with former Charlton artists and editors (in issues of Charlton Spotlight magazine and Alter Ego magazine), they would literally incinerate piles of the stuff. Also, some of the early original art may have been destroyed in the 1955 flood of the Derby, CT printing plant.
Sad for collectors.
That's a shame. However, I suspect (though have no way of knowing for sure) that if a company wanted to produce reprints of these comics, they could possibly track down the original comics (which presumably still exist, somewhere) and then reprint them using the comics as the source material....without any kind of recoloring/remastering. Obviously, that wouldn't be ideal - but I would still buy these - given that it would be better than nothing. Rights are a bigger issue, for reprinting. DC bought the Action Heroes, for Dick Giordano, except Peter Cannon, who was purchased by Pete Morisi. Ditko, through Robin Snyder, obtained most of his stuff. Roger Broughton bought a big chunk of the rest and reprinted some of it, in black & white, under his ACG imprint. AC Comics reprinted some of the western stuff; but, mostly the early stuff that carried over from Fawcett and others; not stuff like Cheyenne Kid. When Charlton folded, they sold off rights and stats and other materials to whoever wanted to buy. Never read who may have ended up with the horror stuff. |
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Post by rom on Apr 17, 2020 12:59:50 GMT -5
Oh yeah, rights issues can easily be a show-stopper when it comes to reprints like this. I agree that's typically more of a problem than figuring out the logistics of how to do the physical reprinting itself.
There is a plethora of great comic book material out there that deserves to be reprinted - but hasn't for whatever reason. I suspect a lot of the "why not" has to do with rights issues, and/or because the cost of having to pay the original writers/artists (again) is too prohibitive.
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Post by Rob Allen on Apr 17, 2020 16:52:38 GMT -5
One of Charlton's romance books, First Kiss, was purchased by John Lustig, who has been taking panels from the comics and putting new, funny dialogue in them. I've been on his "Last Kiss" mailing list for years. They're often hysterical. Go to www.lastkisscomics.com/ and sign up and/or read the archive. |
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Post by electricmastro on May 20, 2020 1:29:12 GMT -5
I suppose one can more or less get a good idea of where Charlton’s priorities laid when looking at some of their more recurring features, which included:
Billy the Kid
Timmy the Timid Ghost
Beetle Bailey
Wyatt Earp
Cheyenne Kid
Dr. Graves
Li'l Genius
My Little Margie
Atomic Mouse
Black Fury
Flintstones
Yogi Bear
Blondie
Sarge Snorkel
Lash LaRue
Teenage Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm
Freddy
Kid Montana
Mr. Dedd
Winnie the Witch
Rocky Lane
Li'l Tomboy
Dino
Masked Raider
Abbott and Costello
Clint Curtis
Popeye
Top Cat
Barney and Betty Rubble
Tex Ritter
Wild Bill Hickok and Jingles
Phantom
Annie Oakley
Mr. Bones
Great Gazoo
Texas Rangers In Action
Jetsons
Mopsy
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Post by tonebone on Sept 14, 2020 9:08:03 GMT -5
Great thread & fantastic scans! Great artwork here. I was especially impressed by the art in some of the '70's Charlton Romance comics, which I normally wouldn't be into. Thanks for posting these. As a kid, I do remember flipping through/reading some Charlton comics on the stands in the late '70's/early '80's. I don't remember any specific titles, but did like their horror series. I also remember seeing at least one issue of Yang. They were definitely a very underrated comic book company, and they were 'independent' long before that became much more common in the '80's with the advent of the direct market, etc. I would definitely be all for a series of reprints of some of these, especially their Horror, War, and Kung fu titles. There's a good reprint of some of Sutton's Horror comics stuff, with a few original art pages, etc. I think it's a Yoe Books book.  |
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Post by tonebone on Sept 14, 2020 9:27:34 GMT -5
That's a shame. However, I suspect (though have no way of knowing for sure) that if a company wanted to produce reprints of these comics, they could possibly track down the original comics (which presumably still exist, somewhere) and then reprint them using the comics as the source material....without any kind of recoloring/remastering. Obviously, that wouldn't be ideal - but I would still buy these - given that it would be better than nothing. Rights are a bigger issue, for reprinting. DC bought the Action Heroes, for Dick Giordano, except Peter Cannon, who was purchased by Pete Morisi. Ditko, through Robin Snyder, obtained most of his stuff. Roger Broughton bought a big chunk of the rest and reprinted some of it, in black & white, under his ACG imprint. AC Comics reprinted some of the western stuff; but, mostly the early stuff that carried over from Fawcett and others; not stuff like Cheyenne Kid. When Charlton folded, they sold off rights and stats and other materials to whoever wanted to buy. Never read who may have ended up with the horror stuff. I THINK a lot of the horror stuff is now in the public domain, but that would be a tricky minefield to negotiate. The Tom Sutton Creepy Things book has a copyright notice that specifically mentions the digitized and cleaned-up artwork as it appears in the book, no copyright notice for the raw comics. DC reprinted the Action Heroes in two volumes of Archives, with newly scanned and restored line art with fresh coloring. I have a feeling the line art was actually redrawn, as was the case for a lot of the Golden Age Archives, as well. At any rate, I have vol. 2 (the most sought after, with Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, and The Question), and it looks great. Doomsday +1 has been reprinted several times, in the 80s and 90s. |
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Post by tonebone on Sept 14, 2020 9:29:36 GMT -5
Last issues posted on Mike's Amazing came out in October 1985: Prof. Coffin #21; Iron Corporal #25; Doctor Graves #75; Punchy and the Black Crow #12; Yang #17. Yang and Graves came out on October 7; Corporal and Punchy on October 21, and the last act was Prof. Coffin on October 28.      I bought those issues of Yang and Prof. Coffin off the stands... I had no idea that those were the last off the press. |
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Post by jason on Sept 17, 2020 19:12:21 GMT -5
On a side note, I've noticed it's getting increasingly harder to find Charlton books "in the wild". I dont just mean the older titles, even the 70s books and Modern Comics/80s reprints are scarce.
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Post by profh0011 on Sept 17, 2020 20:12:09 GMT -5
The latest comic I bought was a 1944 issue of YELLOWJACKET COMICS with the cover missing. $12.00! I'm currently putting far more work into cleaning up a 7-page story from there than I should be...
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Post by kmhorrorbiz on Dec 7, 2021 9:55:01 GMT -5
Hoping someone can guide me to the right title and issue number. One of my favorite stories, which I'm almost certain was in one of the Charleton horror comics from the 80s, involves a serial killer on a college campus. The killer turns out to be an octopus who escapes from his aquarium at night and disguises himself as a human by wearing a long trench coat. The clue is that all of the victims have suction cup marks all over their bodies. I've been searching for this story for decades and would be grateful to anyone who could help me find it.
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Post by profh0011 on Dec 7, 2021 10:54:13 GMT -5
an octopus who escapes from his aquarium at night and disguises himself as a human by wearing a long trench coat   
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Post by tartanphantom on Dec 7, 2021 11:16:33 GMT -5
Hoping someone can guide me to the right title and issue number. One of my favorite stories, which I'm almost certain was in one of the Charleton horror comics from the 80s, involves a serial killer on a college campus. The killer turns out to be an octopus who escapes from his aquarium at night and disguises himself as a human by wearing a long trench coat. The clue is that all of the victims have suction cup marks all over their bodies. I've been searching for this story for decades and would be grateful to anyone who could help me find it.
It doesn't come to mind immediately... If it was an 80's issue of Charlton, then it would have been a reprint. Are you sure it was Charlton? I'll do some digging and see what I can find.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,932
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Post by shaxper on Dec 7, 2021 11:47:36 GMT -5
Hoping someone can guide me to the right title and issue number. One of my favorite stories, which I'm almost certain was in one of the Charleton horror comics from the 80s, involves a serial killer on a college campus. The killer turns out to be an octopus who escapes from his aquarium at night and disguises himself as a human by wearing a long trench coat. The clue is that all of the victims have suction cup marks all over their bodies. I've been searching for this story for decades and would be grateful to anyone who could help me find it. Well, now I wanna read this! |
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