Ol' Groove's gotta lavish a bit of praise on the vastly underrated Charlton Comics for introducing us to Groovy Age greats like John Byrne, Mike Zeck, and Don Newton. Can you spot some'a their early work in this mix?
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Summer of '76! Grooviest Covers of All Time: Beatin' the Heat with Archie, Dagar, Richie, Baron Weirwulf, and Friends
The spinner racks were full-to-overflowing in the Summer of '76, and it wasn't all Marvel and DC! Charlton, Gold Key, Harvey, and Archie were all going strong, with as many--if not more!--titles on the stands as the Big Two. Ol' Groove thought about sharing a summertime cover for each and every mag the "little four" put out, but I didn't wanna break the Internet! Here then is but a small sampling of what kids like Young Groove (and their younger siblings, pals, older siblings, and moms) spent their extra change on when they'd nabbed all their fave superhero comix...
Ol' Groove's gotta lavish a bit of praise on the vastly underrated Charlton Comics for introducing us to Groovy Age greats like John Byrne, Mike Zeck, and Don Newton. Can you spot some'a their early work in this mix?
Ol' Groove's gotta lavish a bit of praise on the vastly underrated Charlton Comics for introducing us to Groovy Age greats like John Byrne, Mike Zeck, and Don Newton. Can you spot some'a their early work in this mix?
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I'd almost forgotten how nicely done some of those painted Charlton covers used to be - particularly lovely in this batch are Newton's Phantom, Byrne's Space 1999 and Vosburg's (?) I Love You.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, those painted Gold Key covers never appealed to me for some reason - probably why I never bought any of those.
Ah, Dr. Spektor, my second favorite occult Dr. With a last name starting with S!
ReplyDeleteYa know, Charlton's romance books never made it to store shelves in my town that often. I could've sworn they only did war, western, horror, & licensed titles by '76.
ReplyDeleteThe local distributor was pretty picky about the "independent" brands (i.e. Charlton, GK, Harvey), but always made sure to stock DC, Archie, & Marvel.
This will be a contentious comment -- but, boy, comics were more varied, more interesting and more accessible in 1976 than they are today. It's almost like looking at a lost promise.
ReplyDeleteI want to frame those Charlton covers.
ReplyDelete@Bob: hear, hear! I totally agree. Publishers were willing to take chances then. It wasn't totally about the bottom line.
ReplyDeletei had that Boris Korloff comic...
ReplyDeleteby the late 70s, DC, Marvel, maybe Archie, rarely Harvey, were the only books i'd see.