Doctor Strange Classics!

The Steve Ditko Doctor Strange stories were again reprinted in four of the better reprints from Marvel's 80's surge of Baxter paper titles which were to some extent intended to drive competitors off the newsstands in the up-and-coming comics shops. These Ditko look alike wraparound covers are by John Byrne and Al Milgrom. 

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Atomic Reactions - In The Bullseye!

The Captain Atom saga stopped abruptly with the publication of the eighty-ninth issue of the comic, but there had been more work done as so often happened in those halcyon days of comics. The story of Captain Atom, Nightshade, and The Ghost was not finished. But it had been plotted and drawn by the team of Dave Kaler and Steve Ditko. It rested dormant until George Wildman gave some fans the golden opportunity to take the penciled story and apply the finishing touches. The group was the CPL Gang (Contemporary Pictorial Literature) who had proven their worth by publishing the one-shot Charlton Portfolio magazine. Charlton wanted a fan mag like Marvel's FOOM and DC's Amazing World of DC Comics, and so they let the CPL Gang do the honors. So, it came to pass that in the mid 70's the final Captain Atom story "Showdown in Sunuria" was at long last published in two issues of The Charlton Bullseye. The inking was done by John Byrne and the final scripting was done by Jon Michaels and Roger Stern. The outstanding black and white cover was drawn by Al Milgrom. 

So, without further ado, here is the belated "Showdown in Sunuria".  Enjoy! 

Here is the Joe Staton cover of Charlton Bullseye #2 which featured the second half of the story. I finally added this to my collection only this year, completing a search of decades. 

The story was reprinted in the second volume of DC's The Action Heroes. 

Here's a poster image by a young John Byrne and Jo Duffy. 

Here's an outstanding poster image of the good Captain by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom. That Captain Atom was an inspiration for Starlin's Captain Marvel is all too evident in this magnificent image. 

As the fires of Charlton Comics dwindled, the fate of their properties, in particular the high profile heroes such as Captain Atom and Blue Beetle became uncertain. Prodded by fanboy interest the company published a last-ditch effort in the early 80's called Charlton Bullseye. This second volume of the title featured work by fans using existing Charlton heroes as well as brand new characters. This was primarily a showcase for new up and coming talents, but along the way we got two new action hero stories.

And that was it. DC took over the character and after the Crisis On Infinite Earths (more on that next month) the Charlton characters (who lived on Earth-4 in the DC multiverse, albeit briefly) were fused into the DCU. Blue Beetle got his own series which lasted a few years then he joined the Justice League.

Captain Atom proved to be the most successful of the batch, with a run of his own title which approached sixty issues. He too joined the Justice League and was even a leader of sorts for different versions of the team. The folks at DC seemed oddly ashamed of Cap's origins and wrote off the Charlton stories as mere fantasies concocted by the military to hide the true nature of Captain Atom who was a much more grim character in the slightly darker DC Universe.

Captain Atom remains a reasonably potent part of the DC Universe, getting his own title from time to time. I don't follow these new adventures, so the details are a mystery to yours truly, but the images in which his classic look still supplies the inspiration sure can be compelling.

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Rog-2000 Day!

John Byrne was born on tomorrow's date in 1950. Byrne was arguably the most potent artist during the Bronze Age of comics on titles such as The X-Men and Fantastic Four for Marvel and later on Superman for DC. His Indy comics also made quite an impression with titles such as The Next Men and Babe. I first fell in love with his work at Charlton on Doomsday +1. But my favorite Byrne character will always be Rog-2000. 

One of the seminal books in my collecting history is E-Man #6. The book tumbled into my hands at the perfect moment and reignited my interest in Charlton, an interest that has rarely dimmed since.


But what I didn't know then, is that E-Man #6 also debuted (in color at least) a brand-new character and to no small extent a brand-new talent. John Byrne drew Rog-2000, the first of several back up features in the already superb Cuti and Staton comic with Nick Cuti scripting. Adding that wonderful spice immediately made this the best comic book of its time.


Rog-2000 was Byrne's creation for the CPL Gang, a cluster of Charlton fans including Bob Layton, Roger Stern, Duffy Vohland, and a few others, some more named "Roger". "Rog-2000" was added to the staff by Byrne as an inside joke.

He was a mascot of sorts who first shows up atop a letters page, his crusty nature in plain view due to that delightfully evocative posture.

He showed up in a few bits of spot art.

And then he debuted in his own story of sorts in CPL #11 under a typically excellent Alex Toth cover, which also starred the CPL Gang itself. Here's that story.

Soon thereafter he popped up in E-Man #6 and made a total of four appearances in the E-Man series.And here with a splash gallery are links to the Charlton stories themselves.

THAT WAS NO LADY @ DIVERSIONS OF A GROOVY KIND

WITHERING HEIGTHS @ DIVERSONS OF A GROOVY KIND 

THE WISH @ DIVERSONS OF A GROOVY KIND

ROG-2000 VS. THE SOG @ DIVERSIONS OF THE GROOVY KIND
He shows up on a few The Comic Reader covers.

A few years later those stories were collected in a Pacific Comics magazine-sized B&W reprint, and alas poor Rog-2000 diminished into the West it seemed.

Apparently during its last years Charlton toyed with the notion of reprinting some Rog-2000 stories. This cover was apparently done for the reprint and is credited to Nick Cuti, the writer of the series.

(Nick Cuti)

Rog-2000 did pop up at First Comics in E-Man #1 as part of their very funny Hostess Ad parodies.

And it was rumored he might make an appearance of sorts in Byrne's She-Hulk run.

Rog-2000 is too good a character to languish, but that's exactly what has happened. John Byrne is likely right to keep Rog limited, as his shine might rub off with too much exposure. To be truthful, I'm sure I'd find his new incarnations suspect, but there's no denying the sparkle on that chrome, it glittered very brightly for a tiny time.

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