Charlton guide

I don't know if anyone else has ever seen this, but I thought this was really interesting:

http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-make-comics-charlton-way.html

Fun look at how they did things, and some good information.

I love the Charlton characters. You might find this interesting, too (or not):

http://www.brokenfrontier.com/columns/p/detail/action-heroes-we-got-em

(and yes, I do know that either I or the editor misspelled Dan Garret's name...)

tony ingram wrote:I love the Charlton characters. You might find this interesting, too (or not):

I did, thank you!

I got into the Charlton heroes when I discovered a huge supply of back issues at a street market in London when I was a kid; I'd go there with my Dad every Sunday and come back with a few comics each time, and in amongst the assorted Marvels, DC's, Harvey's and Archie's would be the odd issue of Peacemaker, Judomaster or Thunderbolt. I have quite a few of them now, and while they were simplistic, they're still great stories and great characters. I particularly like Blue Beetle, Captain Atom and Peter Cannon.

tony ingram wrote:I got into the Charlton heroes when I discovered a huge supply of back issues at a street market in London when I was a kid;

I don't know that I'd even heard of them before the Crisis, but after I found out about them I bought them when I could find them. At one point I had all the Charlton appearances of The Question (I wish I still did...) and a random number of others. I think I had at least one of each of the major characters.

In 1983, AC Comics revived them very briefly in their Americomics title. There was an issue dedicated to Blue Beetle, which revealed that Dan Garrett had actually been a reincarnated Dan Garret, who was resurrected again by his patron deities to rescue Ted Kord from certain death. They left him a note in his apartment saying "P.S, don't get killed again. The Gods". I wish DC had kept that in continuity...

tony ingram wrote:In 1983, AC Comics revived them very briefly in their Americomics title.

I had that at one point, and I think I got it again from MileHigh about a year or so ago. (Due to some issues I have with their service I was going back and forth on ordering from them).
Ever heard the Blue Beetle radio shows? Pretty fun. As are the Green Lama shows, few though there are.

I've never heard the Blue Beetle radio show, no, though I really want to. I remember the Green Lama, though. I think BBC Radio 7 ran them a few years back.

tony ingram wrote:I've never heard the Blue Beetle radio show, no, though I really want to.

Archive.org has them, and they're pretty easy to find in general. If you can't find them there, let me know and I'll help. I have some somewhere, but there are plenty of sources for them I know.

Thanks, I'll check it out!

tony ingram wrote:Thanks, I'll check it out!

http://archive.org/details/OTRR_Certified_Blue_Beetle

http://archive.org/details/OTRR_Blue_Beetle_Singles

Just as a start. They're really fun.

Just because I thought it might be of interest: the images below are from Americomics #3, published by Bill Black's A.C Comics in August 1983. It contains two stories, both of which feature both the Dan Garrett and Ted Kord versions of Blue Beetle. "Return from Pago Island" sees what appears to be a resurrected Garrett attack Ted Kord, claiming he's not fit to be Blue Beetle; on this occasion, 'Garrett' turns out to be a sophisticated android built by the late Jarvis Kord and subsequently destroyed by Ted Kord's bug ship, which apparently activates its weaponry spontaneously, leading Kord to wonder if Garrett's spirit is somehow protecting him. But curiously, the same issue also has "To Live Again", in which Garrett is resurrected for real by the Gods in order to resume his career and save Ted Kord from the mob. This story also reveals that archeologist Dan Garrett was actually resurrected by the Gods once before with no memory of his previous life...as policeman Dan Garret, the original Blue Beetle! His patron deities, who are never identified by name, leave a note in his apartment telling him to "try not to get killed this time"...

I really wish this was still in continuity!

tony ingram wrote:I really wish this was still in continuity!

Yeah, that would be fun. I like the idea of incorporating all the versions.

Bill Black may have had a relaxed attitude to copyright, but he and his company were never shoft of ideas. Did you ever come across his Blue Bulleteer series?

tony ingram wrote:Bill Black may have had a relaxed attitude to copyright, but he and his company were never shoft of ideas. Did you ever come across his Blue Bulleteer series?

No, don't know that I've heard of it.

You may not have heard the name, but I bet the costume seems strangely familiar...

tony ingram wrote: but I bet the costume seems strangely familiar...

Well, now that you mention it, it does.

Black assumed that the Phantom Lady character was in the public domain since the early stories were, and began publishing new stories featuring her. When DC objected on the grounds that they had registered the name as a trademark, he continued to use her, but changed her name to Blue Bulleteer. Confusingly, he also had her encounter a male superhero using the same codename-a renamed Bulletman! And he also continued to reprint early stories starring both Phantom Lady and Bulletman, with both their names changed to Blue Bulleteer (though Bulletgirl went unchanged). Later, he used Phantom Lady/ Blue Bulleteer as the basis for the character Nightveil.

tony ingram wrote:Black assumed that the Phantom Lady character was in the public domain

Fascinating. I'll have to hunt those down!
Thanks.

Worth it, if only for the curiosity value (though I rather liked the book anyway).

tony ingram wrote:Worth it, if only for the curiosity value (though I rather liked the book anyway).

This looked like something you might find interesting:

http://pulllist.comixology.com/sku/DEC110767/Bizzare-Thrills-Paragon-Publications-Story-TP-MR-

I think you may be right, at that! No release date as yet, though...

Mbast1 wrote:I don't know if anyone else has ever seen this, but I thought this was really interesting:

http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-make-comics-charlton-way.html

Fun look at how they did things, and some good information.

I actually got a copy of that many (many!) years ago.

(Then again, Charlton finally gave up the ghost in the mid-1980s.)