Charlton Arrow Week! "The Spookman" by Pat Boyette

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today we're kicking of Charlton Arrow Week here on the Diversions! I know this is kinda different--and yeah, call it a week's worth of plugs if you want--but I think Fester Faceplant and the Gang behind the new Charlton Arrow comic deserve all the plugs and kudos they can get! I mean, to Ol' Groove, gathering a group of fans and pros to revive Charlton Comics (or as close as legally possible) is a task worthy of great praise! To think that pros like Paul (Life With Archie) Kupperberg, Roger (Captain America, Daredevil) McKenzie, Joe (E-Man, Dick Tracy) Staton, Rick Stasi, Lou Mougin, Mort Todd, and so many others would join such an enterprise out of sheer love for Charlton Comics makes it a mag above and beyond wanting. It's a mag we need! If you don't have a copy (first printing is sold out!!), go here right now and get a copy. Aaaaaand get ready to order ish #2 which promises to be even better (E-Man by Nick Cuti and Joe Staton, anyone?)!

We'll start off with The Spookman, created by the great Pat Boyette for Charlton Premiere #1 (July 1967). This was the one and only appearance of Aaron Piper's demonic, time-traveling alter ego--until Roger McKenzie and Sandy Carruthers revived him for Charlton Arrow #1, that is!

What has become of Piper, The Spookman, and company? The years have not been kind! Check out McKenzie and Carruthers' macabre masterpiece of mood in Charlton Arrow #1--you'll be begging for more!

Groove's Faves: "Children of Doom" by O'Neil and Boyette

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today we're going to take a look back at Denny O'Neil (writing as Sergius O'Shaugnessy) and Pat Boyette's Children of Doom. Charlton's publishers and editory Dick Giordano must have had a lot of faith in O'Neil and Boyette's dark futuristic fable as evidenced not only by the "A Charlton Classic" blurb on the splash page, but by the fact that they allowed our creative team to experiment with black and white art in a color comic. Today we're not phased by artistic experimentation, but in 1967 Charlton's powers-that-were took a huge risk. While sales might not have set the world on fire, Charlton Premiere #2 (cover-dated November 1967) is well-remembered and highly regarded by fans of classic comics. If you've never seen it, you're probably about to become a fan, too!