Bursting With Entertainment!

One of the tried and true types of comic book covers is the one which seemingly breaks through the meager confines of the paper cover itself. I love visual gimmicks which toy with the very notion of the form and this 4th-world breaking technique is at the top. Perhaps the single finest example of this approach is the Atom cover above by Gil Kane. Not only eo we have two heroes involved in the break out, but one Atom is seemingly punching the other, but the Silver Age Atom might actually be in scale. The same hold true for the Doll Man cover below.  Here are a cavalcade of these dandy covers. Enjoy!

Rip Off

Whistling Past The Graveyard!

There is a certain charm to Jon D' Agostino's rendition of Charlton's Timmy the Timid Ghost, especially in the 1962 cover above showing Timmy whistling his way through a tough situation, but not one you'd think which might intimidate the deceased especially.

But D'Agostino's image is actually a reworking of Al Fago's 1956 image of Timmy doing almost exactly the same thing. Fago's cover has more vigor as his drawing typically had more fluid motion than D'Agostino's but I'm hard pressed to choose between these two dandy comics. I like the way D'Agostino frames Timmy's noggin in the yellow moon, but then Fago offers up the added touch of Timmy about to step into a frying pan. What added mayhem this will create is anyone's guess.

Both of  course owe their inspiration, if not to this particular 1950 St.John's cover featuring Casper the Friendly Ghost, then certainly Timmy's very existence as one of the better knock-offs of the classic beloved character.

Rip Off

The Charlton Comic Book Guide!

It's been two years I've been doing this blog. I don't have much to add to that save what everyone seems to say at times like these, that time goes by quickly and it's been a lot of fun. Both are true for me most certainly. Thanks to all those who stop by here regularly or otherwise.

One thing though that has diminished in the last year is the Charlton comics content. That was the early focus of the blog and I want to recommit to bringing more Charlton content in the coming year. I want to begin by presenting The Charlton Comic Book Guide for The Artist-Writer-Letterer.

This 1973 classic was available from Charlton by mail order during the Bronze Age and features tips from Nick Cuti, then assistant editor for Charlton. The work is laced with great art samples by Cuti himself, as well as Joe Staton, Tom Sutton, Steve Dikto, Sanho Kim and others.

It's a vintage Charlton treat.




































See you next time.

Rip Off