Charlton Arrow Week! "The Challenge of Mata Zin" by Fred Himes
Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! It's 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 (Not sold in stores!). Aaaaaand get ready to order ish #2 which
promises to be even better (E-Man by Nick Cuti and Joe Staton, anyone?)!
One thing Charlton was well known for back during the Groovy Age was their licensed comics. They licensed newspaper comic strips, TV shows, TV cartoon shows, pop stars, you name it. In 1974/1975, dinosaurs and cavemen seemed to be poised to take over Saturday mornings. Land of the Lost on NBC. Korg, 70,000 B.C. on ABC. And Valley of the Dinosaurs on CBS. Today we're gonna check out Valley of the Dinosaurs #3 (April 1975). Fred Himes was awesome on this strip, as his "The Challenge of Mata Zin" should prove....
Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!
Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.
All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.
As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!
I run across reviews that outright dismiss Himes work. I always found it oddly charming, Boyette light sort of.
ReplyDeleteI've had trouble ordering the Charlton Arrow. I want a copy and I for sure want a copy of the second one if E-Man is part of the plan. I'll try again.
Rip Off
Rip, the first printing has already sold out, but the second printing will be available any day now.
DeleteA new E-MAN by Cuti and Staton is slated for the third issue.
I like Fred Himes work. He had a nice style that was at odds with what passed/passes for typical comic book art. One of the things that bothers me about comic books is that if the art isn't bombastic or loud or follows the soon to be forgotten style of the day it isn't even considered. It's dismissed outright. Rip Jagger mentions Pat Boyette, an artist who was extremely underrated by the comic book fans for the most part. Yet, the man was admired by some of the top creators in the field. Obviously he was doing something right.
ReplyDeleteYeah, back to Fred Himes work. Not loud, not flashy, not slick. But still pretty good.
Oscar, we have a never-before published story by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette slated for the 2nd ish of The Charlton Arrow!
ReplyDelete