Friday, March 28, 2014

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Jim Aparo at Charlton

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Today, what'say we trip on back to, oh, about 1967-1970, when Jim Aparo was just taking the comicbook world by storm at Charlton Comics! Charlton's editors knew a good thing when they saw one, and they put JA on many covers--mystery, adventure, sci-fi, romance, western, race cars, even humor! And Jim could do it all--and quite magnificently! Have a heaping helping of Aparo/Charlton goodness and see if your day doesn't seem a lot brighter!










A big ol' "Thank you!" to Grand Comics Database for the suh-weet scans!
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6 comments:

  1. GARETTMarch 28, 2014 at 1:10 AM

    Great covers! Love Aparo's art. GOGO is especially fun.

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  2. Edo BosnarMarch 28, 2014 at 1:54 PM

    Wow, what a trip seeing Aparo doing Archie-like art on that first cover. Otherwise, these are (natually) really nice - I like the Ghostly Tales covers in particular.

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  3. THE APOCOLYTEMarch 28, 2014 at 3:59 PM

    Cool, G.A.! I didn't realize Aparo did work for Charlton. Agree, GO-GO looks like fun, but wondering what's up with the super-pale dude by the chick's feet? Albino?

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  4. BillyWitchDoctorMarch 28, 2014 at 11:25 PM

    I don't think I ever realized before that Aparo did so much of his own lettering--that "HA HA HA" and titles like "Last Chance" above might just as well have appeared in his Brave and Bold days at DC. It's very distinctive--did Aparo create the style himself? And if no one's created a comic font based on it, why the heck not?

    (On the other hand, I assume Ghostly Tales #72 underwent some last-minute--no, last-SECOND title changes, because it appears somebody hastily squeaked and screeked some of the lettering in with a magic marker.)

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  5. RussMarch 29, 2014 at 6:36 PM

    Aparo's lettering was as much a part of his art's appeal as the inking. It definitely made a difference on his Charlton pages. Guys who didn't letter their own work like Aparo and Boyette might end up with that tiny "A. Machine" lettering. Aparo was still doing his own lettering on his early D.C. work like Aquaman and the Phantom Stranger. To my mind, he lost a lot when other hands inked and lettered his pages on the later Batman stories.

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  6. UnknownMarch 30, 2014 at 9:48 PM

    But... did that guy ever find the snake?

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