If DC were MGM, that must have made Charlton Comics the industry's Republic, or maybe Monogram. Production values? It wasn't uncommon to open a Charlton comic and see the saw-toothed edge of untrimmed paper stock: You could be forgiven for thinking that they published their books on paper towels. I found that absurd slogan they used to print at the top of each page puzzling: "Charlton Comics Give You More!" "More!" must have referred to "More off-register printing." Their books would turn up in odd places that didn't ordinarily stock comics regularly. I encountered an issue of Frank McLaughlin's Judo Master in a soda fountain and bought it eagerly...only to find that the issue was already years old when it hit the place's rack.
One didn't approach a Charlton comic with the same expectations as a DC or a Marvel. Here, the Republic analogy holds. You don't go to a revival house's showing of "The Phantom Empire" in the same spirit that you see "2001: A Space Odyssey" or even "Forbidden Planet." Their comics had a sprightly, fanzine-ish quality to them. They remained appealing despite being produced on the cheap.
I couldn't get enough of Steve Ditko's Blue Beetle or Captain Atom. I gained an appreciation of the work of Pete Morisi and Pat Boyette. It was the place I first saw (and was electrified by) the art of Jim Aparo, Joe Staton, John Byrne, and Sanho Kim. People who lament the genres that comics has left behind are quick to tick off Westerns, romances, even horror or "mystery," yet forget that Charlton flogged the "hot rod" genre till pretty late in the game.
Charlton Spotlight was and is an enjoyable look back at comics' Poverty Row (a term I use affectionately -- after all, creators like Steve Ditko and Tom Sutton found it a hands-off haven and produced work there that was as compelling as their work in better-paying markets). The Will Franz interview was a nice X-ray into the company and is as good an illustration of the satisfactions and frustrations of writing comics as you will find. I was surprised that I'd never met him. Dick Giordano brought a lot of talent over to DC from his days at Charlton, so I thought I might have encountered Mr. Franz roaming 666 Fifth Avenue like so many other contemporaries. He tells an anecdote about being stymied at DC by a rather snarky editor. The editor is unnamed, but the smallest smidgen of insider knowledge will give you a good guess. Also worthwhile is Ron Frantz's "secret history" of Space Western Comics. I won't reveal the secret, but it involves an author I've mentioned here in the blog and will go back to soon. Oddly enough, i didn't warm up to the comics, and not merely because the funny genre was not my Charlton mainstay. You really can't put more sand in an hourglass.
However, this issue of Charlton Spotlight --its ninth -- is its strongest yet.
