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Post by MDG on Dec 7, 2021 11:58:37 GMT -5
I don't remember seeing Charltons on the stands growing up. The first time I became aware of them was when they had a small room at a NYC con. There was a stand with the current issues for free and they had some of their talent doing free headshots. I got a E-Man by Nicola Cuti, ROG-2000 by Byrne, Mike Mauser by Staton and a Wimpy from George Wildman. I picked up the current E-Man, Yang, and a couple horror books--wish no I'd taken the romance (if they had them there--folks at cons weren't interested in that stuff).
Even after that, I don;t think I ever bought a new Charlton--all I've ever had were from shows or flea markets.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Dec 7, 2021 12:00:49 GMT -5
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.  Well I guess I know what I am going to get myself for Christmas. I really like Tom Sutton in general and especially his horror art. His covers are what caught my eye long ago to get into Charlton comics. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 7, 2021 13:05:41 GMT -5
We had Charltons, on some newsstands, in Central Illinois. We also got some bagged sets of the Modern Comics reprints. I got a Phantom off the newsstand, right before Don Newton took it over. A neighbor had some of the romance comics. My cousin had some others, in Southern Illinois. He had some of the Fightin' Army and Fightin' Marines issues, plus a Blue Beetle issue (one of the 70s reprints, I think). I know I saw some of the horror around. We also had Gold Keys around. Used to see both the Modern Comics sets and the Gold Key sets, in toy sections of department stores.
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Post by tonebone on Dec 8, 2021 10:23:41 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.
I have read some gut wrenching stories about how, the big flood aside, the Charlton plant often had minor water leakage problems, and they would routinely use the original art as a means of making the floor less slippery. They would just throw it down on the wet floor to soak up the water and provide traction. |
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Post by tartanphantom on Dec 8, 2021 11:15:47 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.
I have read some gut wrenching stories about how, the big flood aside, the Charlton plant often had minor water leakage problems, and they would routinely use the original art as a means of making the floor less slippery. They would just throw it down on the wet floor to soak up the water and provide traction. Sounds about right... I mean, it's only "old used paper" from old "funnybook" printing runs... correct? Who in the world would ever want that? I mean, if you want to reprint something, there's a Xerox machine right down the hall... 
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 8, 2021 12:35:29 GMT -5
Before we get too snarky about it, you have to remember that the only reason Charlton was publishing comics was to keep their printing presses going. Their regular magazines and other printed items brought in the real money. Same for Western/Gold Key. Both of those companies were printing firms, who got into comics to keep their presses from being idle, between bigger jobs. Western made far more money on the children's books and games and puzzles than comic books and Charlton did more with their song magazines and other publications. To them, yeah, it was just "old paper." Also, there wasn't the big collector market for comics and related ephemera then. Marvel and DC used to, occasionally, give away original art. Archie and Harvey weren't preserving art.
Charlton was a company that did things on the cheap, especially the comics. They weren't huge sellers for them, but they kept costs low enough to make it worth their while and it meant keeping the presses running, which meant lower costs, in the long run. If their sales had been bigger, the comics would have been treated better. Now, you could argue that their very cheapness was the reason their comics weren't huge sellers, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, which is fair enough. It may be an art form to us, but it was a business, to them, and a minor one, compared to their other operations.
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Post by MDG on Dec 8, 2021 13:26:03 GMT -5
I have read some gut wrenching stories about how, the big flood aside, the Charlton plant often had minor water leakage problems, and they would routinely use the original art as a means of making the floor less slippery. They would just throw it down on the wet floor to soak up the water and provide traction. When you're in the business of selling funnybooks, original art is essentially "scrap" in the process. |
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