CHARLTON'S 'THE THING!'

Associated in name only to the movie, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, Charlton's THE THING ran for 17 issues from February 1952 - November 1954 and was discontinued in the face of the restrictions imposed by the Comics Code Authority. Subtitled, "Weird Tales of Suspense and Horror", Al Fago was the managing editor for the Charlton line of comics, as well as the editor for the entire run of THE THING.

THE THING

Vol. 1 No. 1

February 1952

Song Hits, Inc. (Charlton)

Editor: Al Fago

Cover: Bob Forgione

Pages: 36

Cover price: 10 cents

CONTENTS

"The Creature From Dimension 2-K-31"

Script: ?

Art: Al Tyler; Bob Forgione

"Grunwald"

Script: ?

Art: Al Tyler; Bob Forgione

"Nightmare"

Script: ?

Art: Al Tyler; Bob Forgione

"Hellfire of Doom"

Script: ?

Art: Al Tyler; Bob Forgione

SPURS JACKSON AND HIS SPACE VIGILANTES!

Okay, we've seen enough mad doctors and scientists this week-- let's get into some new territory with this kooky mash-up of a Western/science-fiction comic. Aptly titled SPACE WESTERN COMICS, it was published by Capital Stories, Inc., aka Charlton Comics. The story seen here today (take a deep breath if you're reading this out loud), "Spurs Jackson and His Space Vigilantes Battle the Green Men of Venus" appeared in issue #41 (November-December 1952). The numbering was continued from the redundantly titled COWBOY WESTERN COMICS.

The script was written by none other than Walter Gibson-- yes, the same Walter Gibson that wrote under the name Maxwell Grant for THE SHADOW pulp magazine (and later the comic book). Other than his storied writing career, he was also an accomplished magician and ghosted a number of books for Harry Houdini. The story seen here today is well-rooted in the pulp tradition.

Artist Stan Campbell illustrated a ton of comics for Fawcett, Dell and Gilberton. Note the imaginative panel layouts in this Spurs Jackson story.

SPACE WESTERN appeared to be an experimental title and apparently didn't fare well as it resumed as COWBOY WESTERN COMICS after just seven issues.

COMICS FROM OUTER SPACE (PART 10)

Distant worlds, strange monsters and teleportation to other planets all await the reader in this one-shot from Charlton published in 1962.

THE GREEN PLANET

Special Edition (no number/one-shot)

1962 (no month)

Charlton Comics Group

Editor: Pat Masulli

Cover: Dick Giordano

Pages: 36

Cover price: 12 cents

CONTENTS

"The Green Planet"

Script: Joe Gill?

Art: Charles Nicholas; Vince Alascia

"The Man Who Was Here and There!"

Script: Joe Gill?

Art: Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio

"An Empty Earth"

Script: Joe Gill?

Art: Dick Giordano; Vince Colletta