The Golden Derby - November 1967 & Beyond!

The "Action Hero" line from Charlton ended in 1967 and 1968 with a whimper and not even remotely a bang. With the kind of resolute editorial changes the small publisher was capable of, the titles Captain Atom, Judomaster, and Thunderbolt were cancelled. Soon thereafter Peacemaker joined them when its fifth and final issue hit the stands fifty years ago this month. In another distinctively drawn issue by creator Pat Boyette, the somewhat redesigned Peacemaker attempts to qell an uprising in a volcano of all places and in the back pages the Fightin' Five end their long and venerable run with some vintage spy fighting. And that was the end...almost. A few months later  in a month which proved to be quite the significant transition for Charlton as it moved away from heroes into the more and more ghosts and such, we get a highly strange but attractive one-shot tale in Charlton Premiere by artist Henry Scarpelli in which the wannabe villain Sinistro Boy Fiend battles Peacemaker, Blue Beetle and some heroes not seen before nor seen since. Many months later  in the shank of 1968 we get a final issue of Blue Beetle, the most pure expression by Steve Ditko in this particular comic of his political philosophy of "Objectivism". This issue had the feel less of a new issue of Blue Beetle and more a sense of a new installment of Mr.A. But with this comic, the Action Heroes closed up shop at Charlton for good.

Charlton would produce some of the best horror comics ever in the coming years and they would bring fascinating spins on myth (Hercules) and westerns (Wander, Man Called Loco). Eventually the superhero would return, but by then Nicola Cuti and Joe Staton wrought something fresh and fun in the shape of E-Man.

The Action Heroes themselves would pop up at Charlton in the middle 70's only in the pages of the Charlton Bullseye, a fan-created zine making use of unused pages from Charlton's vaults. This kept the fires lit briefly but even that  faded.

Several years later as the 80's hit, the heroes would be revived a final time by Charlton in a different Charlton Bullseye, one published by the company itself, but that was it. AC Comics had the contract for a year and brought out a few comics dedicated to the fondly remembered Action Heroes.

But the real sea change came when as a present for editor Dick Giordano, DC Comics picked up the Action Hero line-up and incorporated them into the DC Universe during the famous Crisis on Infinite Earths.

That proved to be a new beginning for the heroes with new series kicked off for Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Peacemaker and Thunderbolt for time. Only Judomaster didn't get the nod, but he did join those others in a 1999 book by "Action Hero" editor Giordano and CPL Gang alumnus Bob Layton called L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons)

The Action Heroes continue to be part of the DCU, with new iterations appearing from time to time, but for this fan, the "Action Heroes" will always be part of a golden time when a little company called Charlton tried to do super heroes in a different way. While the heroes  failed to find lasting sales success, they did find the kind of lasting power that lingers in the imagination. Thanks to those creators  (Frank McLauglin, Pete Morisi, Steve Ditko, Joe Gill, Jim Aparo, Pat Boyette, and many others) who made it possible. And finally thanks to Dick Giordano, the editor who kicked it all off.

This feature will suspend at this point -- after several years of tracking the monthly doings of the Action Heroes, this is the final tip of the Golden Derby. What will  come is still open to speculation, but it's been a hoot folks. Thanks for riding along.

Rip Off

The Golden Derby - October 1967!

Fifty years ago this month was the beginning of the end of the famed "Action Heroes" of Charlton Comics. Many of the runs finished up with others only hanging around for a stray single issue. Captain Atom, the flagship title of the company which had spearheaded the return of superheroes at the company when  his Cold War adventures by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko were reprinted. The series had been a tour de force for artist Ditko this time with him taking on the plotting in a formal way. While Dave Kaler was given the writer's credit, he and most others in the know suggest this was pretty much a fig leaf. Blue Beetle, Ditko's other revival would have one more issue, but that would be nearly a full calendar year away. Judomaster by Frank McLaughlin met its end as well and while DC has picked up the character they have never reprinted these vintage stories. The second issue of Hercules marked the beginning of a new phase for Charlton, away from traditional superheroes and a turn to pure adventure. Certainly the high quality of the series suggested that while superheroes were out of vogue, Charlton had little intention of leaving the market. That's also suggested by Ghostly Tales, a title which would spearhead the company's next big phase, a focus on horror and creepy comics. Along with war and romance, the company had always been a place to go to for genre comic entertainment and in a world increasingly dominated by superheroes that would be a successful niche for them for a good many years to come.

Next time we say farewell to the Action Heroes properly and to this feature as the Golden Derby tips its lid one final time.

Rip Off

The Golden Derby - September 1967!

Fifty years ago this month, the loyal fan doesn't know it yet, but a change is coming as the Silver Age superhero boom is about to bust big time. At the little Derby publisher there is a shift in visuals as new discovery Pat Boyette makes his mark in a big way and has three comics featuring his work this month. The most significant is the second issue of Charlton Premiere which features the memorable apocalyptic tale of "The Children of Doom". This story by Denny O'Neil with art by Boyette was reputedly done in a big hurry but  that doesn't impact the final impression as we have here a truly strange story of the future with desperate humans and peculiar and possibly deadly mutants. It's a grabber and has found its way into the lore of comics as one of Charlton's highlights. Boyette also stepped in on Thunderbolt, taking the reins from its creator Pete Morisi, again with an O'Neil script . The wacky Prankster makes a one and only appearance in the back up position. (Noted that O'Neil is writing under the name "Sergius O'Shaugnessy"). And Boyette makes a third bow with his own hero Peacemaker who once again struggles to save a war-weary world from itself. On the other side of things, we have a new feature written by Willie Franz, when Sam Glanzman illustrates the adventures of The Iron Corporal, an Australian fighting the good fight in the Pacific theater in Army War Heroes. Though I'm sure his Confederate dress would not get him much love these days, one of my favorite western heroes is the one-armed Captain Doom who does the right thing in the pages of Outlaws of the West. Rocke Mastroerio's cover is a dandy indeed.

More to come next month as Charlton continues to wind down its superhero line up.

Rip Off

The Golden Derby - August 1967!

Fifty years ago this month was an exceedingly interesting on from the little Derby publisher Charlton Comics. Space Adventures Presents U.F.O. is a special one-shot issue which gave up a totally strange three part story about Paul Mann, a guy who finds aliens all over. Some of Charlton's best talents worked on this fascinating comic which features a really eye-popping cover by Rocke Mastroserio. The big news of the month though was the debut of Hercules by Joe Gill and the Sam Glanzman. With the advent of this new series we see Charlton beginning its move away from the Action Heroes and onto something different. The back up Thane of Bagarth by Jim Aparo and Steve Skeates. But many of the Action Heroes are still here. Judomaster continues as Rip Jagger goes back to the states to help his old boxing mentor while Sarge Steel battles a femme fatale in the back up and shows up in final issue of Secret Agent. Blue Beetle battles some of his most exotic enemies when the Madmen attack.  Captain Atom takes to the depths of space to confront the menace of alien insects of Ronthor. As usual Charlton offered up a gang of genre books like Ghostly Tales, Career Girl Romances, Hot Rods and Racing Cars and even a final extra issue of Gunmaster, but the publisher is definitely entering a new phase.  That's seen with the publication of a new series dubbed Strange Suspense Stories and revived the old humor title Timmy the Timid Ghost.  There's a one-shot on baseball of all things. They published nearly thirty titles this month, a total they'd not reach again. There were so many nifty covers this month, that I've violated my five cover limit on this series this one time. Enjoy!

More to come next month.

Rip Off

The Golden Derby - July 1967!

On this month fifty years ago it's probably safe to say that the Charlton Action Hero universe was mature. In The Peacemaker we take a tour down below the ocean thanks to artist Pat Boyette to confront a villain who wants to change the world and the people in it. Thunderbolt is once again up and at it taking on trained killers under a handsome Pete Morisi cover.  But new on the superhero front is a new title called Charlton Premiere which showcases three new features. Each is distinctive and worthy of additional installments but alas all we ever got was these three. The Shape featuring art by Richard "Grass" Green is a naive creature who can alter his form into all sorts of useful and useless things. Many see an early variation of the same notion which would soon enough bring into the world the mighty E-Man. Also on hand in this issue is the Tyro Team about three stalwart young men who don masks and use their perfectly human talents to battle the crime around them. Finally we have a neat piece from Pat Boyette called Spookman about a supernatural "hero" who fights for mankind ultimately but who is himself still rather scary. (It is to noted that new Spookman stories have been cropping up in recent years from the folks at Charlton Neo.). In addition to these we have two more examples of Jack Keller's racing comics, this time both Grand Prix and Top Eliminator are featured. These comics were good sellers for Charlton and kept a steady presence for many many years.

More to come next month.

Rip Off

The Golden Derby - May 1967!

Fifty years ago this month the Peacemaker by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette returns for a second issue with the Fightin' 5 helping out in the back of the book. This is a sturdy outing, nothing too extreme but rock solid storytelling under a simply beautifully rendered Boyette cover. Thunderbolt by Pete Morisi offers up one of its best ever covers. This was one of the very first T-Bolt adventures I ever read (given to me by my maternal grandmother) and its a dandy, as Peter Cannon enters into a mysterious valley filled dinosaurs to once again battle the machinations of the Hooded One. The Sentinels by Gary Friedrich and Sam Grainger are the back up in this comic and they are wonderful Silver Age goodness. The Sentinels often get overlooked but Grainger's artwork is so sleek and lush that it's a shame they do. The debut issue of Charlton Premiere hits the stands, but it looks and reads like a standard Charlton war comic. Charlton converted the war comic Marine War Heroes for a final issue before giving the fans a proper first issue out in a few months. Don't try to figure it out. Outlaws of the West gives us another Captain Doom adventure and Riley's Rangers appear in Texas Rangers in Action, both with really snazzy Rocke Mastroserio covers. Charlton was running fine in the month of May.

More to come next month.

Rip Off