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76-456: Modern Comics may refer to: Modern Comics, an imprint of Charlton Comics Modern Comics, an imprint of Millennium Publications Military Comics (later Modern Comics ), a comic book published by Quality Comics The Modern Age of Comic Books , comics published since the mid-1980s Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

152-513: A GoFundMe campaign to "help save" the company. Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman , and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics . Founded in 1939, during the era called the Golden Age of comic books , "Timely" was the umbrella name for

228-769: A bricklayer who had started a construction business in White Plains, New York , five years earlier, began what became a highly successful business publishing song-lyric magazines out of nearby Yonkers, New York . Operating in violation of copyright laws, however, he was sentenced in 1934 to a year and a day at New Haven County Jail in New Haven, Connecticut , near Derby, where his wife and he by then lived. In jail, he met Waterbury, Connecticut attorney Ed Levy, with whom he began legitimate publishing in 1935, acquiring permissions to reproduce lyrics in such magazines as Hit Parade and Big Song Magazine . Santangelo and Levy opened

304-414: A comic based on teen heartthrob David Cassidy , then starring in the musical sitcom The Partridge Family . By 1976, however, most of these titles had been cancelled, and most of the company's remaining titles went on hiatus during the period January to August 1977. Much of the new talent took the opportunity to move on to Marvel and DC. By the 1980s, Charlton was in decline. The comic-book industry

380-438: A hit on his hands, Goodman began assembling an in-house staff, hiring Funnies, Inc. writer-artist Joe Simon as editor. Simon brought along his collaborator, artist Jack Kirby , followed by artist Syd Shores . Goodman then formed Timely Comics, Inc., beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941. There is evidence that "Red Circle Comics", a name that would be used for an unrelated imprint of Archie Comics in

456-413: A job in a publishing company ... I didn't even know they published comics. I was fresh out of high school, and I wanted to get into the publishing business, if I could. There was an ad in the paper that said, "Assistant Wanted in a Publishing House." When I found out that they wanted me to assist in comics, I figured, 'Well, I'll stay here for a little while and get some experience, and then I'll get out into

532-467: A lanky 17-year-old in tow. 'This is Stanley Lieber, Martin's wife's cousin,' Uncle Robbie said. 'Martin wants you to keep him busy.'" In an appendix, however, Simon appears to reconcile the two accounts. He relates a 1989 conversation with Lee: Lee: "I've been saying this [classified-ad] story for years, but apparently it isn't so. And I can't remember because I['ve] said it so long now that I believe it." ... Simon: "Your Uncle Robbie brought you into

608-423: A number of reprints and changing his company name to Charlton Media Group . Most of Charlton's line of action heroes were acquired in 1983 for $ 5000 a character by Paul Levitz at DC Comics , as a gift to managing editor and former Charlton editor Dick Giordano . These "Action Hero" characters were proposed to be used in the landmark Watchmen miniseries written by Alan Moore , but DC then chose to save

684-484: A personal dislike for superheroes and wanted to keep them in a pulplike realm of relative believability, all the characters in his Action Hero line, except for Captain Atom, were ordinary humans which used their skills and talents instead of superpowers. The company also developed a reputation as a place for new talent to break into comics; examples include Jim Aparo , Dennis O'Neil and Sam Grainger . As well, Charlton in

760-690: A printing plant in Waterbury the following year, and in 1940, founded the T.W.O. Charles Company, eventually moving its headquarters to Derby. Charlton purchased the company Song Lyrics, Inc., which published Song Hits magazine and was owned by Lyle Engel in 1949. Following the adoption of the Charlton Comics name in 1946, the company over the next five years acquired material from freelance editor and comics packager Al Fago (brother of former Timely Comics editor Vincent Fago ). Charlton additionally published Merry Comics , Cowboy Western ,

836-475: A publishing company where he worked. The idea of being involved in publishing definitely appealed to me. ... So I contacted the man Robbie said did the hiring, Joe Simon, and applied for a job. He took me on and I began working as a gofer for eight dollars a week.... Joe Simon , in his 1990 autobiography The Comic Book Makers (cited under References, below), gives the account slightly differently: "One day [Goodman's relative known as] Uncle Robbie came to work with

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912-461: A remarkably faithful rendition of the then-current CBS-TV series, bowed in 1970 but ran for only seven issues. Both the Abbott and Costello and Hee Haw comics were discontinued in the summer of 1971, although Charlton's Hee Haw was revamped for general audiences as a 50-cent magazine, printed in black-and-white with cast photos and jokes supplemented by advertising. The last of the comedy vehicles

988-525: A single 1948 issue under Red Circle Magazines Corp. Marvel Comics was rechristened Marvel Mystery Comics with issue #2 (Dec. 1939); the magazine would continue under that title through #92 (June 1949) before becoming Marvel Tales through #159 (Aug. 1957). Timely began publishing additional series, beginning with Daring Mystery Comics #1 (Jan. 1940), Mystic Comics #1 (March 1940), Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940), The Human Torch #2 (premiering Fall 1940 with no cover date and having taken over

1064-639: A small number of recurring characters and features, including "The American Eagle", " Shotgun Harker and the Chicken ", " The Devil's Brigade ", " The Iron Corporal ", and " The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz ". Army War Heroes and Marine War Heroes depicted stories based on actual Medal of Honor recipients. Space War , first created in 1959 became Fightin' 5 in 1964. With the mid-1960s fad for James Bond secret agents such as Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. , Charlton turned their Vietnam veteran Mike Hammer hardboiled detective Sarge Steel into

1140-740: A special agent after the sixth issue, later renaming the comic Secret Agent . Charlton threw itself into the resurgent horror comics genre during this period with such titles as Ghostly Tales , The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves , and Ghost Manor . It also created a pair of identical horror-movie magazines: Horror Monsters (1961–1964) and Mad Monsters (1961–1965). Additionally, Charlton produced comics based on monsters featured in motion pictures such as Konga , Gorgo and Reptilicus . Charlton continued its commitment to romance comics with such new titles as Career Girl Romances , Hollywood Romances (later to change its name to For Lovers Only ), and Time for Love . In 1965, Charlton revived

1216-469: A staff of artists who included its future managing editor, Dick Giordano . Others (staff or freelance) who eventually worked with Charlton included Vince Alascia , Jon D'Agostino , Sam Glanzman , Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio , Bill Molno, Charles Nicholas , and Sal Trapani . The primary writer was the remarkably prolific Joe Gill . The same year the company created an in-house comics department, where comics would make up 25% of Charlton. The company began

1292-669: A weakness as their old equipment was stuck in the past, while other companies used more modern equipment that was faster, had higher quality and was more efficient, which contributed to their decline and fall. In 2000, Charlton Spotlight , a fanzine devoted to Charlton, began publication. In 2014, comics writers Mort Todd , Paul Kupperberg , and Roger McKenzie founded a revival imprint named Charlton Neo, which relied heavily on crowdfunding , and printed stories featuring Charlton characters and titles not owned by DC. In May 2017, AC Comics announced that they had entered into an agreement to bring print versions of Charlton Neo's comics to

1368-709: A wide expansion of its comics line, which included notoriously gory horror comics (the principal title being Steve Ditko 's The Thing! ). In 1954–55, it acquired a stable of comic-book properties from the defunct Superior Comics, Mainline Publications , St. John Publications , and most significantly, Fawcett Publications , which was shutting down its Fawcett Comics division. Charlton continued publishing two of Fawcett's horror books— This Magazine Is Haunted and Strange Suspense Stories —initially using unpublished material from Fawcett's inventory. Artistic chores were then handed to Ditko, whose moody, individualistic touch came to dominate Charlton's supernatural line. Beset by

1444-544: A wide variety of genres , including crime , science fiction , Western , horror , war , and romance comics , as well as talking animal and superhero titles. The company was known for its low-budget practices, often using unpublished material acquired from defunct companies and paying comics creators among the lowest rates in the industry. Charlton was also the last of the American comics publishers still operating to raise its cover prices from 10 to 12 cents in 1962. It

1520-596: The Ghostly titles, now including Ghostly Haunts . Other Bronze Age Charlton horror titles included Haunted , Midnight Tales , and Scary Tales . In 1973, Charlton debuted the gothic romance title Haunted Love , but this same period saw the mass cancellation of almost all of Charlton's vast stable of traditional romance titles, including such long-running series as; Sweethearts , Romantic Secrets , Romantic Story , I Love You , Teen-Age Love , Just Married , and Teen Confessions , all of which dated from

1596-640: The Roman goddess of love, posing as a human reporter. Patsy Walker , Millie the Model , Tessie the Typist and other Timely humor titles also included Harvey Kurtzman 's "Hey Look!" one-pagers in several issues. Future Comic Book Hall of Fame artist Gene Colan , a Marvel mainstay from 1946 on, recalled that, "The atmosphere at Timely was very good, very funny. ... [I worked in] a big art room and there were about 20 artists in there, all stacked up. Syd [Shores]

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1672-634: The 14th floor of the Empire State Building , where it remained until 1951. The superheroes were the products of what Timely referred to as the "adventure" bullpen. The company also developed an "animator" bullpen creating such movie tie-in and original talking animal comics as Terrytoons Comics , Mighty Mouse , All Surprise Comics , Super Rabbit Comics , Funny Frolics , and Funny Tunes, renamed Animated Funny Comic-Tunes . Former Fleischer Studios animator Fago, who joined Timely in 1942, headed this group, which consisted through

1748-587: The 1950s. In the mid-1970s, a brief resurgence of talent occurred, energized by Cuti, artist Joe Staton , and the " CPL Gang " – a group of writer/artist comics fans including John Byrne , Roger Stern , Bob Layton , and Roger Slifer , who had all worked on the fanzine Contemporary Pictorial Literature . Charlton began publishing such new titles as E-Man , Midnight Tales , and Doomsday + 1 . The CPL Gang also produced an in-house fanzine called Charlton Bullseye , which published, among other things, commissioned but previously unpublished material; including

1824-596: The 1960s Marvel hero ). Other Timely characters, many seen both in modern-day retroactive-continuity appearances and in flashbacks, include the Angel , the next-most-popular character in terms of number of appearances; the Destroyer , an early creation of future Marvel chief Stan Lee ; super-speedster the Whizzer ; the flying and super-strong Miss America ; the original Vision , who inspired Marvel writer Roy Thomas in

1900-696: The 1960s to create a Silver Age version of the character ; and the Blazing Skull and the Thin Man , two members of the present-day New Invaders . Just as Captain America had his teenage sidekick Bucky and DC Comics' Batman had Robin , the Human Torch acquired a young partner, Toro , in the first issue of the Torch's own magazine. The Young Allies —one of several "kid gangs" popular in comics at

1976-399: The 1970s and 1980s – may have been a term in use as Goodman prepared to publish his first comic book. Historian Les Daniels , referring to Goodman's pulp-magazine line, describes the name Red Circle as "a halfhearted attempt to establish an identity for what was usually described loosely as 'the Goodman group' [made] when a new logo was adopted: a red disk surrounded by a black ring that bore

2052-521: The Angel, ended that same month with #92, becoming the horror anthology Marvel Tales beginning with issue #93 (Aug. 1949). Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company , the newsstand-distribution company he owned, on comics cover-dated Nov. 1951. In 2015, Marvel registered the trademark "Timely Comics". The following year, Marvel announced that Timely Comics would be

2128-915: The Captain Atom character in Strange Suspense Stories numbers 75, 76, and 77, reprinting the Steve Ditko-illustrated stories that had originally appeared in Space Adventures in the early 1960s. Retitling the comic, Captain Atom Volume 2 #78 (cover dated Dec. 1965), Charlton began publishing newly created stories by Ditko of the superhero. In 1967, Ditko stopped working at Marvel and returned to Charlton full-time. After his celebrated stint at Marvel, he had grown disenchanted with that company and his Spider-Man collaborator, writer-editor Stan Lee . Having

2204-523: The Human Torch, looking much different from the interior story. That initial comic, cover-dated October 1939, quickly sold out 80,000 copies, prompting Goodman to produce a second printing, cover-dated November 1939. The latter is identical except for a black bar over the October date in the inside-front-cover indicia, and the November date added at the end. That sold approximately 800,000 copies. With

2280-784: The Modern Comics imprint and sold in bagged sets in department stores (in much the same way Gold Key Comics were published under the Whitman Comics moniker around the same time). None of these measures worked, and in 1984, Charlton Comics suspended publication. In 1985, a final attempt at a revival was spearheaded by new editor T. C. Ford with a direct-to-market Charlton Bullseye Special . Later that same year, though, Charlton Comics went out of business; Charlton Publications followed suit in 1991, and its building and presses were demolished in 1999. Editor Robin Snyder oversaw

2356-516: The Navy ), Ghostly Haunts (originally Ghost Manor ), Ghostly Tales (originally Blue Beetle vol. 3), I Love You (originally In Love ), and Sweethearts (originally Fawcett 's Captain Midnight ). Al Fago left in the mid-1950s, and was succeeded by his assistant, Pat Masulli , who remained in the position for 10 years. Masulli oversaw a plethora of new romance titles, including

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2432-673: The Pelican Postman" in Krazy Komics and other titles; "Krazy Krow" in that character's eponymous comic; "Tubby an' Tack", in various comics; and the most popular of these features, Jaffee's " Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal " and Hart's " Super Rabbit ", the cover stars of many different titles. Timely also published one of humor cartoonist Basil Wolverton 's best-known features, Powerhouse Pepper . The first issue, cover-dated January 1943, bore no number, and protagonist Pepper looked different from his more familiar visualization (when

2508-481: The Silver Age, Charlton, like Marvel and DC, published war comics . Notable titles included the "Fightin'" line of Fightin' Air Force , Fightin' Army , Fightin' Marines , and Fightin' Navy ; the "Attack" line of Army Attack and Submarine Attack ; Battlefield Action ; D-Day , U.S. Air Force Comics , and War Heroes . Though primarily anthologies of stories about 20th-century warfare, they included

2584-469: The Western title Tim McCoy , and Pictorial Love Stories . The company used a second-hand press originally used for printing cereal boxes. These large presses were very costly to both stop and start, which only happened twice a year when they had to be cleaned, and so they started publishing comics as a mean to keep the presses going. After the entry into the comic business, the company's first comic book

2660-440: The artwork the company had bought from Fawcett Comics , in addition to printing presses and typesetting machines. Several issues of comics were destroyed, and some titles abandoned completely. Due to the shutdown following the flood, the comics were outsourced to outside presses for some months. Superheroes were a minor part of the company. At the beginning, Charlton's main characters were Yellowjacket , not to be confused with

2736-504: The cancellation of Captain America Comics at issue #75 (Feb. 1950) – by which time the series had already been Captain America's Weird Tales for two issues, with the finale featuring merely anthological horror/suspense tales and no superheroes. Sub-Mariner Comics and Human Torch Comics had already ended with #32 (June 1949) and #35 (March 1949) respectively, and the company's flagship title, Marvel Mystery Comics , starring

2812-501: The characters for other uses. Moore instead developed new characters loosely based on them. The Charlton characters were incorporated into DC's main superhero line, starting in the epic Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries of 1985. Charlton's original strength, doing everything in-house, like art, lettering, editorial, printing, packaging and distribution, had helped them survive when America's largest distributor, American News Company , closed its doors. But this gradually turned into

2888-525: The circulation slump that swept the industry towards the end of the 1950s, Haunted struggled for another two years, published bimonthly until May 1958. Strange Suspense Stories ran longer, lasting well into the 1960s before "giving up the ghost" in 1965. Charlton published a wide line of romance titles, particularly after it acquired the Fawcett line, which included the romance comics Sweethearts , Romantic Secrets , and Romantic Story . Sweethearts

2964-628: The comics division of pulp magazine publisher Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities all producing the same product. The company's first publication in 1939 used Timely Publications , based at his existing company in the McGraw-Hill Building at 330 West 42nd Street in New York City. In 1942, it moved to the 14th floor of the Empire State Building , where it remained until 1951. In 2016, Marvel announced that Timely Comics would be

3040-465: The company's last Captain Atom story. Also during this period, most of Charlton's titles began sporting painted covers. Early in 1975, Cuti, already writing freelance for the company in addition to his staff duties, quit to write freelance exclusively for Charlton when its line expanded to include black-and-white magazines in addition to the King Features and Hanna-Barbera franchised titles. He

3116-673: The company's staples, particularly cartoon characters from Hanna-Barbera ( The Flintstones , The Jetsons , Top Cat , Korg: 70,000 B.C. , others). Charlton took over publication of a number of King Features Syndicate characters from that company's short-lived King Comics , including Beetle Bailey , Blondie Comics , Flash Gordon , Jungle Jim , The Phantom , and Popeye . Charlton also published Bullwinkle and Rocky , and Hoppity Hooper , based on Jay Ward Productions ' Hoppity Hooper , and Rocky and His Friends/The Bullwinkle Show . Charlton dabbled occasionally in adaptations of live-action TV comedies. The most successful

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3192-457: The direct-sales comic shop market, starting with Charlton Arrow #1 in September. The Charlton Arrow , an anthology series featuring many Charlton characters, was the company's main product and only title sold in stores, but the company ran a number of other titles through mail-order and digital sales. In January 2018, citing poor sales and "a variety of financial calamities," Todd launched

3268-606: The era fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books . Rival publishers National Comics Publications / All-American Comics , the sister companies that would evolve into DC Comics , likewise had their own "big three": Superman and Batman plus the soon-to-debut Wonder Woman . Timely's other major competitors were Fawcett Publications (with Captain Marvel , introduced in 1940); Quality Comics (with Plastic Man and Blackhawk , both in 1941); and Lev Gleason Publications (with Daredevil , introduced in 1940 and unrelated to

3344-693: The era, frequently changed the titles of their comics, rather than start new ones at number 1 (a new publication required a new postal permit, while an existing publication that just changed its name could use its existing permit). Notable examples of this practice include the titles Billy the Kid (originally Masked Raider ), Blue Beetle vol. 2 (originally The Thing! ), Blue Beetle vol. 3 (originally Unusual Tales ), Fightin' Air Force (originally Never Again ), Fightin' Army (originally Soldier and Marine Comics ), Fightin' Marines (originally The Texan ), Fightin' Navy (originally Don Winslow of

3420-668: The future co-creator of Marvel Comics ' Spider-Man , Steve Ditko . (After the mid-1980s demise of Charlton, Captain Atom went on to become a stalwart of the DC stable, as would Blue Beetle, the old Fox Comics superhero revived by Gill and artists Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico as a campy, comedic character in Blue Beetle #1 [June 1964].) Charlton also had moderate success with Son of Vulcan , its answer to Marvel's Thor , in Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #46 (May 1965). During

3496-547: The hugely popular Ditko back helped prompt Charlton editor Giordano to introduce the company's "Action Hero" superhero line, with characters including Captain Atom, Ditko's the Question , Gill and artist Pat Boyette 's The Peacemaker , Gill and company art director Frank McLaughlin 's Judomaster , Pete Morisi 's Peter Cannon... Thunderbolt , and Ditko's new "Ted Kord" version of the Blue Beetle. Because Giordano had

3572-543: The late 1960s published some of the first manga in America, in Ghost Manor and other titles (thanks to artist Sanho Kim ), and artist Wayne Howard became the industry's first known cover-credited series creator, with the horror-anthology Midnight Tales blurbing "Created by Wayne Howard" on each issue—"a declaration perhaps unique in the industry at the time". Yet by the end of 1967, Charlton's superhero titles had been cancelled, and licensed properties had become

3648-735: The later Marvel character, and Diana the Huntress. In the mid-1950s, Charlton briefly published a Blue Beetle title with new and reprinted stories, and in 1956, several short-lived titles written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel , such as Mr. Muscles , Zaza the Mystic , and Nature Boy (the latter with artist Mastroserio). The company's most noteworthy period was during the "silver age" of comic books , which had begun with DC Comics ' successful revival of superheroes in 1956. In March 1960, Charlton's science-fiction anthology title Space Adventures introduced Captain Atom , by Gill and

3724-514: The long-running I Love You , Sweetheart Diary , Brides in Love , My Secret Life , and Just Married ; and the teen-oriented romance comics Teen-Age Love , Teen Confessions , and Teen-Age Confidential Confessions . On August 19, 1955, the company was hit hard by a flood . The water was rising so fast that vital office records was all that could be saved. $ 300,000 in paper inventory, plates, mats and original comics artwork were lost, including

3800-532: The name in 1961. This brand extended to the company's short-lived editorial advisory board in 1948 in an effort to compete with other publishers like DC Comics and Fawcett Comics , and used the moniker Marvel Comic Group in its editorials. List of characters making multiple appearances, either in Timely Comics solely or in Timely and subsequent companies Atlas Comics and Marvel Comics . I applied for

3876-564: The name of a new imprint of low-priced reprint comics. Publisher Martin Goodman's business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of companies all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these shell companies under which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55 (May 1944). As well, some comics' covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12 (Winter 1946–47), were labeled "A Marvel Magazine" many years before Goodman would formally adopt

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3952-515: The name of a new imprint of low-priced reprint comics. In 1939, with the emerging medium of comic books proving hugely popular, and the first superheroes setting the trend, pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman founded Timely Publications, basing it at his existing company in the McGraw-Hill Building at 330 West 42nd Street in New York City. Goodman – whose official titles were editor, managing editor, and business manager , with Abraham Goodman officially listed as publisher – contracted with

4028-528: The newly formed comic book packager Funnies, Inc. to supply material. His first effort, Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), featured the first appearances of writer-artist Carl Burgos ' android superhero , the Human Torch , and Paul Gustavson 's costumed detective the Angel . It also contained the first published appearance of Bill Everett 's anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner , created for

4104-502: The non-continuing-character story "Jungle Terror", featuring adventurer Ken Masters, drawn and possibly written by Art Pinajian under the quirky pseudonym "Tohm Dixon" or "Tomm Dixon" (with the published signature smudged); "Now I'll Tell One", five single-panel, black-and-white gag cartoons by Fred Schwab , on the inside front cover; and a two-page prose story by Ray Gill , "Burning Rubber", about auto racing . A painted cover by veteran science-fiction pulp artist Frank R. Paul featured

4180-491: The numbering from the unsuccessful Red Raven ), and Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). Going on sale in December 1940, a year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and already showing the hero punching Hitler , that first issue sold nearly one million copies. With the hit characters Human Torch and Sub-Mariner now joined by Simon and Kirby's seminal patriotic hero Captain America , Timely had its "big three" stars of

4256-505: The phrase 'A Red Circle Magazine.' But it appeared only intermittently, when someone remembered to put it on [a pulp magazine's] cover. Historian Jess Nevins , conversely, writes that, "Timely Publications [was how] Goodman's group [of companies] had become known; before this, it was known as 'Red Circle' because of the logo that Goodman had put on his pulp magazines...." The Grand Comics Database identifies 23 issues of Goodman comic books from 1944 to 1959 with Red Circle, Inc. branding, and

4332-436: The post-war era found superheroes falling out of fashion. Television and mass market paperback books now also competed for readers and leisure time . Goodman began turning to a wider variety of genres than ever, emphasizing horror , Westerns , teen humor, crime and war comics, and introducing female heroes to try to attract girls and young women to read comics. In 1946, for instance, the superhero title All Select Comics

4408-407: The real world.' ... I just wanted to know, 'What do you do in a publishing company?' How do you write? ... How do you publish? I was an assistant. There were two people there named Joe Simon and Jack Kirby—Joe was sort-of the editor/artist/writer, and Jack was the artist/writer. Joe was the senior member. They were turning out most of the artwork. Then there was the publisher, Martin Goodman... And that

4484-460: The sale of some properties to their creators, though most of the rights were purchased by Canadian entrepreneur Roger Broughton . He produced several reprint titles under the company name of Avalon Communications and its imprint America's Comics Group (ACG for short, Broughton having also purchased the rights to the defunct American Comics Group properties), and announced plans to restart Charlton Comics. This did not occur beyond its publishing

4560-488: The series returned for four issues, May–Nov. 1948) as the bullet-headed naif in the striped turtleneck sweater. Additionally, Timely in 1944 and 1945 initiated a sitcom selection of titles aimed at female readers: Millie the Model , Tessie the Typist and Nellie the Nurse . The company continued to pursue female readers later in the decade with such superheroines as Sun Girl ; the Sub-Mariner spin-off Namora ; and Venus ,

4636-479: The story from the two characters' different perspectives). After the Simon and Kirby team moved to DC late 1941, having produced Captain America Comics through issue #10 (Jan. 1942), Al Avison and Syd Shores became regular pencilers on the title, with one generally inking over the other. Stan Lee (né Stanley Lieber), a cousin of Goodman's by marriage who had been serving as an assistant since 1939, at age 16,

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4712-584: The time—debuted under the rubric the Sentinels of Liberty in a text story in Captain America Comics #4 (June 1941) before making it to the comics pages themselves the following issue, and then eventually into their own title. Seeing a natural "fire and water" theme, Timely was responsible for comic books' first major crossover, with a two-issue battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner that spanned Marvel Mystery Comics #8–9 (telling

4788-488: The title Modern Comics . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Modern_Comics&oldid=1139561213 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Charlton Comics Charlton Comics published

4864-535: The unpublished movie-theater giveaway comic Motion Picture Funnies Weekly earlier that year, with the eight-page original story now expanded by four pages. Also included were Al Anders' Western hero the Masked Raider ; the jungle lord Ka-Zar the Great , with Ben Thompson beginning a five-issue adaptation of the story "King of Fang and Claw" by Bob Byrd in Goodman's pulp magazine Ka-Zar #1 (Oct. 1936);

4940-545: The years of such writer/artists as Hart, Gantz, Klein, Platt, Rule, Sekowsky, Frank Carin (né Carino), Bob Deschamps , Chad Grothkopf , Pauline Loth , Jim Mooney , Moss Worthman a.k.a. Moe Worth, and future Mad magazine cartoonists Dave Berg and Al Jaffee . Features from this department include "Dinky" and "Frenchy Rabbit" in Terrytoons Comics ; "Floop and Skilly Boo" in Comedy Comics ; "Posty

5016-504: Was My Little Margie , based on the 1952-55 network series starring Gale Storm ; the Charlton version ran for a full 10 years (1954-64, 54 issues) and inspired two spinoffs, My Little Margie's Boy Friends (1955–58, 11 issues) and My Little Margie's Fashions (1959, five issues). Abbott and Costello , debuting in 1968, was based on the syndicated Abbott and Costello animated cartoon series of 1967-68 and ran for 22 issues. Hee Haw ,

5092-514: Was The Partridge Family , based on the then-current ABC-TV sitcom ; launched in 1971, the comic book ran for 21 issues until it was cancelled in 1973. Nicola Cuti made creative improvements to Charlton's line in the early 1970s, which had been referred to as comics' Bronze Age , during which he worked as assistant editor under George Wildman , who was occupied primarily with administrative duties. Cuti brought Mike Zeck , among others, into Charlton's roster of artists, and his writing enlivened

5168-491: Was Yellowjacket , an anthology of superhero and horror stories launched September 1944 under the imprint Frank Comunale Publications, with Ed Levy listed as publisher. Zoo Funnies was published under the imprint Children Comics Publishing; Jack in the Box , under Frank Comunale; and TNT Comics , under Charles Publishing Co. Another imprint was Frank Publications. In 1951, when Al Fago began as an in-house editor, Charlton hired

5244-563: Was about the only staff that I was involved with. After a while, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left. I was about 17 years old [sic], and Martin Goodman said to me, 'Do you think you can hold down the job of editor until I can find a real person?' When you're 17, what do you know? I said, 'Sure! I can do it!' I think he forgot about me, because I stayed there ever since. However, in his 2002 autobiography, Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (cited under References, below), he says: My uncle, Robbie Solomon, told me they might be able to use someone at

5320-554: Was changed to Blonde Phantom Comics , and now starred a masked secretary who fought crime in an evening gown . That same year, Kid Komics eliminated its stars and became Kid Movie Comics . All Winners Comics became All Teen Comics in January 1947. Timely eliminated virtually all its staff positions in 1948. The precise end-point of the Golden Age of comics is vague, but for Timely, at least, it appears to have ended with

5396-539: Was in a sales slump, struggling to reinvent a profitable distribution and retail system. Charlton's licensed titles lapsed, its aging presses were deteriorating towards uselessness, and the company did not have the resources to replace them. In 1981, yet another attempt was made at new material, with a comic-book version of Charlton Bullseye serving as a new-talent showcase that actively solicited submissions by comic-book fans, and an attempt at new Ditko-produced titles. A number of 1970s-era titles were also reprinted under

5472-405: Was in the last row on my side, and there was another row on the other side. Dan DeCarlo was there, several other people – Vince Alascia was an inker; Rudy LaPick sat right behind me," with Mike Sekowsky "in another room". Yet after the wartime boom years – when superheroes had been new and inspirational, and comics provided cheap entertainment for millions of children, soldiers and others –

5548-700: Was promoted to interim editor just shy of his 19th birthday. Showing a knack for the business, Lee stayed on for decades, eventually becoming Marvel Comics' publisher in 1972. Fellow Timely staffer Vincent Fago would substitute during Lee's World War II military service . The staff at that time, Fago recalled, was, " Mike Sekowsky . Ed Winiarski . Gary Keller was a production assistant and letterer. Ernest Hart and Kin Platt were writers, but they worked freelance; Hart also drew. George Klein , Syd Shores, Vince Alascia , Dave Gantz , and Chris Rule were there, too". In 1942, Goodman moved his publisher operations to

5624-738: Was replaced by Bill Pearson , who became assistant editor after promoting Don Newton as the new Phantom artist and writing scripts for that title. Charlton's black-and-white comics magazines were based upon current television series and aimed at older readers. One of these was The Six Million Dollar Man #1–7 (July 1976 – August 1977). Retailing for $ 1, it featured art by Neal Adams ' studio, Continuity Associates , as well as some stories by veteran illustrators Jack Sparling and Win Mortimer . Also published in magazine form were adaptations of The Six Million Dollar Man spinoff The Bionic Woman , Space: 1999 , and Emergency! , as well as

5700-627: Was the comic world's first monthly romance title (debuting in 1948), and Charlton continued publishing it until 1973. Charlton had launched its first original romance title in 1951, True Life Secrets , but that series only lasted until 1956. Charlton also picked up a number of Western titles from the defunct Fawcett Comics line, including Gabby Hayes Western , Lash LaRue Western , Monte Hale Western , Rocky Lane Western . Six-Gun Heroes , Tex Ritter Western , Tom Mix Western , and Western Hero . Seeking to save money on second-class postage permits, Charlton, like many comic-book publishers of

5776-523: Was unique among comic-book companies in that it controlled all areas of publishing – from editorial to printing to distribution – rather than working with outside printers and distributors, as did most other publishers. It did so under one roof at its Derby headquarters. The company was formed by John Santangelo Sr. and Ed Levy in 1940 as T. W. O. Charles Company, named after the co-founders' two sons, both named Charles, and became Charlton Publications in 1945. In 1931, Italian immigrant John Santangelo Sr.,

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