Note: This post was originally published on November 30th, 2012. I was inspired to resurrect it (revising some content) with the express intention of directing aficionados of the war genre - and the Atlas line in particular - to a couple of noteworthy books. The first of those, Atlas at War ...

Over the years Charlton has been typecast and even maligned for their use of typeset, as opposed to hand lettering, in a majority of their comics. This purview has been a mainstay for decades, prompted by a cadre of fans who have derided and marginalized the company. To sway minds at this point...

Note: The following post was originally published on June 24th, 2014. It is not, however, exactly as it appeared, since its been updated with revisions GALORE, and more fascinating content than you can possibly imagine (there’s more than a little hyperbole in that statement, but if you read all...

I liked anthologies, writing a story where you never quite knew if the hero was going to come out successful or be devastated by his problems. I kind of liked knowing that you never knew if the hero or heroine was going to survive at the end. Excerpt taken from Nick Cuti’s interview with Jon B....

Note: The following is a blog post that was originally presented on July, 28th, 2011. Some of the content has been updated but the general tone has been retained and I’ve left some of the topical comments as is. (More on Ditko, indeed ) One of my earliest forays as a blogger finds me...

It will take a long time for me to get used to speaking about Bill Schelly in the past tense. His passion for comics took him on a journey throughout his life, from teenage publisher to author of countless books, chronicling both his experiences and shining a light on many important - and some...

There isn’t anything quite as good ever. Nothing quite as good as summer and being a kid. Martin Sloan, as portrayed by Gig Young in The Twilight Zone episode Walking Distance , written by Rod Serling. Originally aired on October 30th, 1959. Those words echo through my mind when I think back...

You never know what you’ll find when rummaging through old comics. My brother John and I recently visited our friend Barry Pearl, who had acquired a collection comprised of titles from various publishing houses. Barry allowed me to take several 1970s-era Charlton comics, aware of my fascination...

Thor stops to ponder the latest headlines. Or perhaps he’s reading Dick Tracy. The newsstand includes reproductions of Marvel comics on sale at the time, a subtle form of self-promotion. Take notice of the bound bundle on the ground, to be discussed later. Jack Kirby sold newspapers as a kid, so it...

Copy written by Stan Lee promoting the nascent line of Marvel Heroes. House ad appeared in Fantastic Four # 14, May 1963. Art by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko; lettering by Artie Simek; colors by Stan Goldberg. With the passing of Stan Lee the Marvel Age of Comics has ended. The...

The Steve Ditko Omnibus Volume 1 starring Shade, the Changing Man reprints, for the first time, the original eight-issue run of Ditko’s 1977 creation, along with the unpublished 9th installment (in addition, all of Ditko’s 1970s mystery, humor, sci-fi and war output for DC is...

The creator seeks worthy values. He has the drive and ambition and is willing to struggle with no guarantees of success or security. He offers his best for all others to consider - to accept or reject. Steve Ditko, Laszlo’s Hammer, 1992The thinking artist. A page from Lazlo’s Hammer, (1992)...

At this time of year my thoughts often drift back to an afternoon in late June and a classroom in Brooklyn, New York. As I sat at my desk I stared longingly at the outside world through an expansive open window - a perfect day in my mind’s eye. The semester was dwindling down, final exams were...

Steve Ditko and Wally Wood exist in a rarefied estate of comic book hierarchy. Their body of work has been admired and critiqued by fans and historians in numerous articles, books and online forums. Separately they each garnered accolades and showed great promise from the outset; Ditko in countless...

For those of us who were children of the 1960s and resided in the New York City area, Chuck McCann was a familiar name. The popular television shows he hosted (Laurel and Hardy and Chuck and Let’s Have Fun on WPIX-Channel 11 and The Chuck McCann Show on WNEW-Channel 5), epitomized the frenetic...

In the early 1970s Marvel attempted to capture a segment of the audience they had not focused on for many years. Comics geared towards young children were selling well for other companies, specifically Archie Publications, Western Gold Key, Harvey and Charlton, and since sales figures at the time...

If you had the original comics you might have ignored Marvel’s reprint titles, but occasionally new or unpublished inventory surfaced, nestled in the back pages and appearing without fanfare. For the fanatical collector who is compelled to have it all (something I’m quite...

The artistry of Steve Ditko has been captivating comic book aficionados for over six decades. One aspect of Ditko’s oeuvre worthy of further study is his facility for crafting compelling cover art (akin to a movie poster, a comic book cover was of paramount importance in capturing a prospective...

During the 1960s and into the early 1970s it was commonplace for a neighborhood in New York to have stores that had no exact classification. A segment of these establishments also bought and sold used books, magazines, records, coins, stamps, war memorabilia and assorted ephemera. Of the ones I...

Flo Steinberg was a private person who didn’t like to be in the spotlight. She probably wouldn’t have wanted the attention I afford her here, but I hope she’d forgive me (and for you Flo, I’ll be brief). Flo’s photograph first appeared in Marvel Tales Annual # 1,...

In the early 1970s Marie Severin was producing a plethora of covers for Marvel’s growing line of comics. Severin not only created cover roughs for other artists to complete (including Jack Kirby, John and Sal Buscema, Dick Ayers and Neal Adams), but penciled many of her own covers as well. Some of...

In the first part of this article I examined Steve Ditko’s contributions to Charlton press from 1969-71, a period of time when the artist chose to work almost exclusively for the company. Steady work gave Ditko time to produce his own copyrighted stories, which were published in various fanzines ...

nbsp; INTRODUCTIONMuch has been written about Steve Ditko’s work in the years since he began drawing comic books over six decades ago. His co-creation of Spider-Man alone would assure him...

The memory is distinct yet indistinct, in a way memories often are. I was four, maybe five years old, in the apartment of a relative or friend of the family that my parents were visiting. The Sunday News comics section was laying on a table and caught my attention; the stylized drawings glowed...

My introduction to Don Heck’s art began in the mid-1960s, when he was associated primarily with Marvel Comics’ super-heroes, including Iron Man, Ant-Man and The Avengers. Reprints in Fantasy Masterpieces educated me on Heck’s stylish monster science-fiction short stories, that while...