Charlton Classic Covers - Reptisaurus #5!

Reptisaurus #5 was published in 1962. You can read the issue at this link. The goofy cover art is by Joe Sinnott and Vince Colletta. 

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The Charlton Reptilicus!

Reptilicus was the least successful of Charlton's monster trio, likely because the monster is the least identifiable of the three monsters. It's just an animal, large and often ferocious, but still difficult to get any sense of what Reptilicus is thinking. Also, Reptilicus never was graced with the artistic power of Steve Ditko, instead had to deal with the competent but less exciting duo of Charles Nicholas and Nick Alascia. And besides that, there are only technically two issue of "Reptilicus", because Charlton lost the rights to the name. 

Sid Pink was not happy with the sexual elements added to the novelization of the movie story published under Charlton's Monarch brand. He pulled the rights I assume, and Charlton was left with only two comics titled Reptilicus. 

The first issue featured a great Rocke Mastroserio cover while the second featured the artwork of Dick Giordano with the Nicholas and Alascia combo still on board between the covers. Reptilicus revives and threatens areas of Africa in the sequel. As far as I can tell Joe Gill wrote all the issues of the run. 

With the third issue the title of the comic is changed to Reptisaurus and the artwork is by Bill Molno. Sal Gentile and Nick Alascia supply a less than satisfactory cover. Reptisaurus is red where Reptilicus was green and gets a mate and a family. But don't wait to see what happens as continuity on this comic is pretty much nonexistent with each issue seeming to start from scratch. 

The artwork is then taken over by the team of Joe Sinnott and Vince Colletta and their work here is even less impressive than it was on Gorgo. Part of that is that Reptisaurus is hard to draw in any way which allows the reader to get a sense of his feelings. The rendition by the team makes him quite comical in places. 

Eventually like all the other monster series, the art team of Bill Montes and Ernie Bache take on the book toward the end of its run and they redesign the monster quite a bit, making him much less like the original Reptilicus. This is not a bad idea and we get some decent storytelling in the final issues of the original run. 

Following the cancellation of the original run after a meager eight issues we are treated to a special edition which puts a wrap on the character sort of.

Reptilicus the movie is a guilty pleasure of mine and I watch it on the regular, and I was pleased to finally get to read all the Reptilicus/Reptisaurus comics despite the meager quality. I am always curious and like a bad movie, even bad comics can be entertaining in their own way if you adjust your expectations. 

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Teen-Age Love Confessions - Volume Two!

Teen-Age Love Confessions Volume Two is the second of two tomes from Charlton Neo showcasing cover art from Charlton's wide array of romance comics. Most all of these are from the early 1960's and offer up a pageant of emotions, including jealousy, resentment, anger, frustration, but most of all love, both true and otherwise. There was a time when comics like this were wildly popular.  Most of these covers are by Dick Giordano or Vince Colletta, two men closely associated with the genre. Other art is supplied by Charles Nicholas, Sal Gentile, and Joe Sinnott. The covers are presented in black and white in the Charlton Neo volume but below is the whole kaboodle in glorious color. In addition to the covers the volume contains small essays about the genre at Charlton.  Enjoy again! 

 

Happy Valentine's Day! Even more romance coming your way tomorrow. 

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