Nostr notes by Rip Jagger (Unofficial)

Ditko At Charlton - 1975! Ghostly Tales - Ditko at Charlton: 1975 ...

2026-10-31T09:30:30Z

Ditko At Charlton - 1975!

Ghostly Tales - Ditko at Charlton: 1975 gives us more Ditko stories, but his long partnership with Joe Gill gets interrupted many times as new names offer up scripts for Ditko's pen. This volume gets the page count up again at around two hundred and seventy-five pages, but there are fewer covers. That is the case despite there being more Charlton ghost host books this year. Added to Ghostly Haunts, Ghostly Tales, Haunted, The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves and Ghost Manor would be Beyond the Grave, Creepy Things, Monster Hunters, Scary Tales and Midnight Tales. (The latter had been around, but Ditko hadn't contributed until issue twelve.)
(This drawing by Tom Sutton of the classic ghost hosts is not in this volume.)
New ghost hosts in addition to Winnie the Witch, Mr. Bones, Dr. Graves, and Mr. Dedd are Dee Munn, Mort Tishin, Baron Weirwulf, Baroness R. H. Von Bludd, as well as Professor Coffin and Arachne. The truth is we see little of the hosts in this volume as the stories have more of a generic flavor, at least the ones by Ditko. In addition to Joe Gill, we are treated to scripts by Joe Molloy, Gary Petras, Michael Pellowski, Britton Bloom, Brock J. Hanke, and Nick Cuti. One cute touch is that Gill signed one of his stories as "Hiram Walker".
(Surprisingly this cover by Ditko is not included in this tome.)
In addition to the ghost stories, we get a two-part Captain Atom story which had been mostly prepared but never published before the CPLGang did so in Charlton Bullseye #1 and #2. This one had been plotted but it was up to Roger Stern to provide a script and John Byrne to provide inks. Also from Charlton Bullseye is an unpublished Gill-Ditko effort called "Moonshot".
It was in this year that Charlton began to use painted covers quite a lot in place of the classic look. This is most likely why we get so few Ditko gems. Here they are.
And that wraps up my Halloween special look at SD Publications Famous Comics collections. I would anticipate that we will see at least one more for 1976 and personally I'd love to see one for Gill and Ditko's late 60's work as well. Some of those stories can be found in the two Yoe Books collections The Art of Steve Ditko and The Creativity of Steve Ditko.
Happy Halloween!
The Dojo is not done with Ditko yet. Next time we get into the hard stuff.
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Wayne Howard's Midnight Tales! Wayne Howard is one of those ...

2026-10-30T09:46:07Z

Wayne Howard's Midnight Tales!

Wayne Howard is one of those eccentric talents who tapped into something special. An acolyte of Wally Wood, there's no denying Howard's debt to the work of Wood. He was an assistant to the great man himself for a time. But then he went and took that "Woodesque" approach and carved out his own niche.
At Charlton he found a place he could thrive. His earliest work has a really full-bodied character to it. In later years his work became a bit flatter in its way, losing some of the vitality of the early days. But he never lost the charm that infused his characters. They always had distinct qualities that enlivened them.
Howard found some small success as an inker for the Big Two, but his work is mostly found at Charlton where he even created his own title, the reasonably successful Midnight Tales. For eighteen glorious issues he oversaw a ghostly book like few others. Talents like Joe Staton and Don Newton contributed regularly and along with Howard gave this book its own distinctive flavor. But what set this book apart were the tremendous gags used for the detailed covers. They are one-offs and not necessarily connected to any particular story inside the book.
Here the beautiful niece of Professor Coffin, the lovely Arachne. She was the eye-catching hostess of Midnight Tales alongside her academic uncle Professor Cyrus Coffin, the Midnight Philosopher. This tempting double-spread poster was included in the fifth issue of Wayne Howard's Charlton tour de force. I found it here.
Wayne Howard passed away in 2007, too young. He'd left comics behind and avoided talking about them. But those of us who are his fans will never forget them. Here's what Mark Evanier had to say about this talent. Here's a link to a site where you can read some of those great stories.
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The Many Ghosts Of Joe Staton! Joe Staton has always been one of ...

2026-10-29T09:51:29Z

The Many Ghosts Of Joe Staton!

Joe Staton has always been one of my favorite artists in comics. His work was always vivid and lively and attractive. He knows how to tell stories, and now he has done so for decades working for DC primarily, yet also working on his own here and there. He was for quite a time the artist on the comic strip Dick Tracy, bringing a great look to a strip which has languished artistically for too long. He announced his retirement a few years back.
I first became a fan of Staton's when he was a workhorse for Charlton Comics, doing E-Man, Space 1999, Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, and other projects. He created many an inviting and evocative cover for the company too, some of them gracing the ghost books.
Here's a gallery of his creepy covers.
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Clipping A Few Dedd Heads! Rocke Mastroserio When Charlton bailed ...

2026-10-22T09:22:22Z

Clipping A Few Dedd Heads!

Rocke Mastroserio
When Charlton bailed out of the superhero genre in the late 60's, they dived into the ghost one. Thunderbolt (which had been Son of Vulcan which had been Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds) became Ghostly Tales, a comic hosted by Mr. L. Dedd. He's just about my favorite horror host for a comic, his cackling approach perfect pitch for the Charlton-style ghost story. Below are a bunch of versions of Mr. Dedd taken from sundry comics, each by a different artist.
Steve Ditko
Jim Aparo
Pat Boyette
Wayne Howard
Tom Sutton
Wes Crum
Rocke Mastroserio was the first artist to render Mr. Dedd and he did the first several covers before guys like Pat Boyette, Steve Ditko, Jim Aparo, and others tried their hand at him. It's Mastroserio's version that I still find the best. Some artists make him too noble looking, only Rocke made him appear as wretched as he should look.
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Hercules - The Armor Of The Gods! Hercules #13 is the last ...

2026-10-21T09:15:45Z

Hercules - The Armor Of The Gods!

Hercules #13 is the last original issue of the run from Charlton. The comic is dated September 1969. The cover is by Sam Glanzman, the guy who has done all the covers for the series. The comic is edited by Sal Gentile.
The lead story of Hercules is untitled this time out unless you use the title on the cover "Hercules Wears the Armor of the Gods". It was written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Sam Glanzman. It begins with a symbolic splash page showing Hercules and Mars fighting with Zeus and Hera looking on. The story begins in Greece with Hercules being hassled by some soldiers who clearly don't seem to know who he is. The battle is one whe Mars hurls his war hammer to Earth literally zapping Hercules. The soldiers run off and Mars materializes and faces off against Hercules. They wrestle and fight for a time after Zeus gives the okay and then Mars offers Hercules a free punch at his jaw. Hercules takes advantage and knocks the War God out. Hera is unhappy but Zeus tells her to be quiet about it, though she doesn't comply. Diana the goddess of the hunt agrees with Zeus and tells Hera so. Later she appears at the camp of Hercules where he's eating some captured game and takes him by means of riding a moonbeam to Olympus for another feast among the gods. But quickly a fight between Hercules and Mars erupts ending with Mars throwing Hercules out of Olympus down through some clouds. Zeus intervenes though and brings the Man God back to Olympus. He then arranges for Hercules to get some of the armor of the gods manufactured by Vulcan. With his new gear Hercules is able to withstand the attacks of Mars and in fact Mars breaks his sword against the body of Hecules, specifically his face. This stops the fight and Hercules gives back his godly armor and returns to Earth await the day he will be among the gods of Olympus permanently. The story ends with Hercules sitting contented around his humble campfire.
"Mountain Man Morgan in New War Dance" is yet another tall tale of the giant who helped build the railroads. This one is pretty imaginative, and has Morgan get his friends the Indians to literally war dance on the stones that form the rockbed for the railroad. Their dancing breaks up the stones so the rails will seat properly. Morgan meanwhile shattes boulders to help supply stone. The Indians seem quite happy about this solution and indicate at the end of the story they want some payment for their work for new wigwams.
Thane of Bagarth is titled "Chapter Thirteen: Revenge" and is written by Steve Skeates and illustrated by Sanho Kim. The story begins with the Time Traveler who is lost in a dark cave. He finds himself in the dream of Hrothelac, the banished Thane of Bagarth and the two meet. Then another green four-armed monster attacks and Hrothelac kills it. Then just as quickly as he arrived the Time Traveler disappears. Hrothelac is then told by a voice that he must battle more monsters and such before he can have his revenge. The scene shifts to the Celts battling against invading Vikings and losing. The final shift in scene for the series features the Time Traveler again and this time he finds himself trillion of miles away from Earth opn another planet in another galaxy, and he is most confused. The next chapter is supposed to feature Eowanda, but it will never be.
"Letters to the Editor -- Hercules" features three letters this time, one by Tony Isabella. One compliments the series to date, while Isabella runs down several series he's following from Charlton. The editors even note that they cut his letter down quite a bit. Their response to him indicates the future of Charlton as they say that superheroes have seen their day for the time being but that war, romance, and westerns are the consistent sellers for the company.
This final Hercules issue is a very different experience from the debut issue two years earlier. Most dramatically is the shift in the classical myth approach taken early on. The stories have gotten more and more modern in their feel and character as the series has developed, and that seems to be the result of clear editorial mandate. The artwork of Sam Glanzman has really undergone a transformation with this final issue really opening up in terms of layout design. Much is done with words indicating mood and emotion and the layouts seem to thematically inform the work itself such as the use of a peace symbol to frame the moments when Hercules gets his armor.
This series is one of my childhood delights. I've not read these issues through probably since I first got them before these reviews, though I've taken them out many times and read an issue here and there. The confused saga of Bagarth is sad really given the immense promise of the scenario initiated by Steve Skeates early on. A sequel to Beowulf is a clever notion, but it becomes a bit of mush as the series introduces odd elements of sci-fi and seems to become bogged down in its own misguided plot.
It's clear that once they finished the Twelve Labors the staff of Charlton really didn't know what to do with Hercules. The last several issues have been mostly stories about dinner parties and sibling strife. Surely if the series had continued they would've shifted the story line forward, but we'll never know.
As I've noted the series has been reprinted many times by ACG/Avalon. I even found a "new" reprint version of the series a few weeks ago I didn't know about. These stories have a real modern feel to them that stands out from much of the material Charlton produced at the time. They are at once timeless and of their time.
This is a great series and is currently available in a handy reprint volume from Dark Horse.
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Hercules - The Wrath Of The Gods! Hercules #12 is dated July ...

2026-10-20T09:31:54Z

Hercules - The Wrath Of The Gods!

Hercules #12 is dated July 1969. The cover is another excellent one by Sam Glanzman, and the issue is again edited by Sal Gentile.
The Hercules story this time is titled "The Wrath of the Gods" and it was written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Sam Glanzman. As this story opens, Hercules has completed his Twelve Labors (though we've only seen eleven in the series to date) and he is demanding that he be elevated to Olympus. Mars takes objection but is chastened by Zeus with a burst of fire. Hera shows up and suggests a banquet in the honor of Hercules and she goes to Earth and personally invites the Man God who is of course suspicious but accepts anyway when Zeus speaks up. Hercules then dashes off to cleanse himself in a bath for the feast then awaits his ride, the Chariot of Apollo shows up and takes him to Olympus. At the feast Hercules is invited to tell the tale of his Twelve Labors which he does though he gets the order of their accomplishment different than what we've seen in the series so far. His story though proves somewhat dull to the guests who nod off, then Mars in a rage calls Hercules a liar for claiming to have done such great things. Hercules in respect for his host ignores this challenge, but finally Mars splashes him with wine and even Zeus wonders why his son won't retaliate, then he gives them express permission to battle and the fight is on. The battle through the castle of the gods and then Mars uses his godly powers to hit Hercules with a lightning bolt. Hercules is stunned and despairs since he doesn't have such powers. Then Zeus gives him such power and he throws a bolt back at Mars stunning him. The two lock up in a show of strength that causes havoc on Earth until finally Mars lands a blow to Hercules that sends him flying down through the clouds out of Olympus itself. Hercules lands on Earth and remarks about what a grand party it was and how he'll have to stay longer next time.
"Man Mountain Morgan in Tough Tommy Turner" offers up another prose tall tale of the giant who assisted the railroads. This time there's a ruffian named Tommy Turner and his gang who are stealing supplies. Morgan goes to find them, and using a special sound sends their horses running. He then bundles the wagons together and drags the stolen supplies back to the railroad camp, and then turns the thieves over to the law.
Thane of Bagarth is titled "Chapter Twelve: Melting in the Dark" and it was written by Steve Skeates and illustrated by Sanho Kim. It begins with the "dead" body of Hrothelac, the banished Thane of Bagarth in the Celtic village. But in another world, a dream world Hrothelac is awake and full armored. He is told by a voice that he must seek out strange creatures and battle to gain his revenge. A giant green four-armed monster stalks from the shadows and Hrothelac battles it finally slaying it with a thrown sword. Meanwhile the Celts are amazed that the dead body of Hrothelac is moving in the real world. At this moment a warning comes that Vikings are invading the village and the Celts rise to the defense. The scene changes to a misty nowhere in which the Time Traveler is once again flying to a new location in time and space, finding himself in front of a cave and a sorceress, but before the sorceress can strike him with a spell he disappears again. The last scene show Eowanda, the current Thane of Bagarth plotting in his castle.
"Letters to the Editor -- Hercules" offers up two letters this time. One talks extensively about the defunct Action Hero line and how they should be broght back. The editors agree but say that's the way of publishing. They repeat a claim made in many letters pages that Hercules is selling very well and in fact seems to do better each month. The second letter speculate on why Hera hates Hercules so. Also included on this page is a neat design by Steve Ditko featuring both the new Blue Beetle and the redesined Captain Atom.
The series reaches its climax of sorts with this issue. The Labors are done, and though the Augean Stables is not shown in the series it is mentioned here when Hercules relates his experiences. The new pattern in the series seems to be to pit Hercules against Mars each issue. Their enmity has been growing steadily and this issue seems to be all about that struggle between these two sons of Zeus. Glanzman's artwork continues to loosen with more experimentation in layout each issue. The Thane of Bagarth storyline is becoming more and more fantastical as the Time Traveler jets all over and the dream battles of Hrothelac at least get our hero up and moving. He's been remarkably passive during the series.
This issue has been reprinted a few times I think by ACG/Avalon. For sure it was reprinted in Hercules #1 and I think it also was reprinted in Tales of the Man-God Hercules #1. The Hercules versus Mars stories are good for this since they are self-contained for the most part unlike the Twelve Labors. The Thane of Bagarth story has not been reprinted to my knowledge.
One more to come.
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Hercules - The Trophy Hunter! Hercules #11 is dated May 1969. It ...

2026-10-19T09:19:11Z

Hercules - The Trophy Hunter!

Hercules #11 is dated May 1969. It features one of Sam Glanzman's best covers for the series. The comic was edited by Sal Gentile.
The lead Hercules story is titled "The Trophy Hunter" and it's divided into two parts. The story was written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Sam Glanzman. The first part opens with Hercules knocking out some nameless opponent and deals with a ploy of Hera's to lure Hercules to Olympus to embarass him. She invites him and he's so overcome with pride he beats his chest creating an avalanche. His response to this is "Aww, I done it again!". Hera and all the gods of Olympus look forward to the feast celebrating Hercules and even Zeus seems fooled by Hera's plot. Zeus sends Apollo on his chariot to fetch the Man-God who suffers as they pass the sun. In Olympus he bows to Zeus and gets into a contest of grips with Mars that creates a thunderstorm on Earth. During the meal Hera uses her magic to make Hercules clumsy and then pretends to be a serving girl to make him look boorish and rude. Mars and Hercules face off and Hercules lands a solid punch on the War God who responds by sending Hercules back to Earth to face his cousin King Eurystheus for his next labor.
Part II is titled "The Prey" and it begins with view of the mountains between Arcadia and Achaia where stands a robust and magnificent Hind. Hercules comes from the shadows to leap on the giant deer but it escapes and the chase continues out of the mountains into the desert where the stifling heat causes Hercules to collapse. The Hind though returns to the Man God and uses it hooves to dig up water for the man chasing it. Hercules then uses his rope to snare the Hind and eventually subdues it. He carries it to the court of King Eurystheus but then unleashes it allowing it escape. He has done what was asked and no more. If Hera wants the beast, then it will have to captured again.
"Mountain Man Morgan -- Tame The Tracks" offers up another text story, a tall tale about the railroad and the giant Morgan's efforts to help it succeed. In this story he has to tear up some tracks and replace them so that the two ends will meet. He does so, once again saving the railroad from ruin.
Thane of Bagarth undergoes a big change this time. The story is again written by Steve Skeates but the art this time is taken on by Sanho Kim. The tale is titled "Chapter Eleven: Beowulf's Decision" and opens in the year 2174 where the Time Traveler's daughter and her boyfriend find his notes and debate how best to rebuild his machine and hopefully save him. There is a brief glimpse of the Time Traveler before the scene shifts to the still unconscious Hrothelac, the banished Thane of Bagarth who is being tended in a Celtic village. The scene shifts again to the Land of the Geats where the current Thane of Bagarth the treacherous Eowanda plots to take over the warriors of Beowulf and perhaps takes Beowulf's place entirely. Beowulf fearing Eowanda's ambition leads his troops into battle despite his age and illness. As they head to battle, Beowulf's man Eadstan with the serf girl Freahulf ride back to the Land of the Geats but encounter a Swede who is dispatched by Eadstan. Back in the Celtic village Hrothelac has a dream in which he battles Eowanda, Beowulf, and Eadstan. As he battles in his dreams he gets out of bed and collapses. The Celts tending him annnounce that he is dead.
"Letters to the Editor -- Hercules" features three letters this time, and all of them talk not only about Herc but about other cancelled Charlton comics. There seems to be a great demand to bring back the Action Heroes. One letter writer complains again about Herc's "oriental" look but the editors say it's what Sam Glanzman wants and that's it. On a sad note, the death of Rocke Mastroserio in February 1968 is noted.
This issue of Hercules continues the changes in the series. The artwork by Glanzman on the lead feature gets more and more experimental as he plays with panel design and even changes up his style within the story. It's really quite attractive. One new trick is using words like "Anger" and such to surround characters as they argue, an attempt to heighten I suppose the emotional impact of the stories. This apparently will be the last of the Hercules stories to deal with his Twelve Labors despite the fact he's only done eleven of them. The cleaning of the Augean Stables I guess wasn't considered dramatic enough for a comic presentation. The storyline will shift a bit next time.
This comic was mostly reprinted in Modern Comics Hercules #11.
More to come.
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The Chilling Art Of Pat Boyette! Steve Ditko was at Charlton for ...

2026-10-18T09:28:20Z

The Chilling Art Of Pat Boyette!

Steve Ditko was at Charlton for two reasons, they paid promptly and they left him alone to draw his comics the way he liked. That combination drew many talents to Charlton, not the least of which was Pat Boyette. Boyette was a "Renaissance Man" of sorts, a maker of early radio as a performer and later television and even movies as a producer and director. His most famous movie The Dungeon of Harrow is a drive-in horror flick not without its charms. (More on that below.) And those charms are also evident in his artwork, which was incredibly distinctive and ideal for rendering tales of gothic horror. I daresay no single comic artist of any era was better at drawing ancient castles and musty denizens of same. A heaping helping of Boyette's most distinctive work is included in the 2003Vanguard Press volume titled The Nightstand Chillers.
Most of the stories had appeared earlier in an issue of Vanguard's Tales from the Edge. That material plus more to plump it up a bit makes The Nightstand Chillers a nifty read. The stories included are from a wide array of publishers Boyette worked for through the 1970's. The list includes Skywald, Atlas-Seaboard, Globe Publications, Ace and of course Charlton.
Here are the covers of the magazines and comics the stories appeared in. They range from early in his career in 1971 to the early 90's. Two of them are from the period when Charlton was doing painted covers and Boyette was perfect for that kind of presentation.
Pat Boyette was one of the most distinctive and individual talents ever in the world of comics. He is most famous today for Peacemaker, the hero he created with Joe Gill.
The story above for Charlton Premiere is considered his masterpiece. Written by Denny O'Neil, this is a bizarre tale of the future. "The Children of Doom" was cranked out very quickly, but between them O'Neil and Boyette captured something truly haunting.
Boyette began in radio and later in television working as an announcer, blessed as he was with a sonorously deep voice. He wrote, directed, and produced several movies including the bizarre Dungeon of Harrow. He was always an artist though and dabbled in comics eventually linking up with Charlton Comics. He became a workhorse for them, and his unusual gothic tones grace scores of comics, primarily in the horror and war categories. Below is a gallery of some more of his vivid covers with some additional notes.
Ironically though I'm a big fan of Charlton, the first Pat Boyette cover I ever chanced upon was this effort for Warren's Eerie magazine. The weird stylings of Boyette left a heavy impression from the first moment I saw them.
Here are some of his weirdly gothic ghost book covers.
He drew the first covers for three of Charlton's ghost hosts in their own magazines, specifically Dr. Graves, Winnie the Witch, and Mr. Bones.
Pat Boyette was a massive talent, with a vision unlike any other single artist. His work is instantly recognizable and because he labored in the ghetto of Derby much overlooked by many fans today. Like so many of his peers, he excelled at material other than superheroes, and alas that puts him on a second tier for many. Not for me for sure. He's one of my idols, a guy who did it his way and did it very well indeed.
The Spookman by Pat Boyette was apparently originally to be called "Sandman", but alas that name was taken. His presence brings a little heft to a comic which had real diversity. I'd have loved to see some more Spookman stories, but I can't imagine anyone but Boyette drawing them. (Some relatively recent efforts to revive the hero have proved to me that Boyette is a hard act to follow.)
Now that's a hoot! And a face only a mother could love. We wrap all this up tomorrow with The Shape.
But as mentioned, he did more than comics. Boyette also wanted to make movies, and he did make one called The Dungeon of Harrow.
This is really a pretty terrible movie by any absolute standard. The sound and picture quality are suspect, but that is the poor quality of the print really. The color drops out periodically and sometime that helps. This might've been better in B&W actually. The sets are meager, making Ed Wood's stuff seem polished in places. It all does have a claustrophobic feeling, but that' because the rooms are just tiny. I'm afraid the ubiquitous torches are going to incinerate the place any minute.
The story is pretty slim. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say the hero gets stranded on an island with some pretty insane characters and there's some torture, killing, and ghostly visitation before it's all said and done. But aside from the visuals, which from time to time do deliver a compelling sense of drama, the thing that makes this movie flow like molasses is the horrible acting. Boyette's voiceover is the best acting in the thing, making me wish he'd dubbed the main hero. This guy is wretched. He never seems to know what to do with his eyes, seems unclear of where to put his hands, and his delivery of dialogue is sometimes painful. His acting makes me yearn for the subtle nuances of Sven-Ole Thorson! The "Captain" who is stranded with him is better but not by much. The others are better than these two leads, but it's likely because they have somewhat less to do. Now though, I think of the henchman "Mantis" and I take that back; he sucks too. I'll let other reviews give out more painful details, but suffice it to say, this is perhaps the worst acting I've seen in a professional movie. It's dreadful.
That said, there is an offbeat charm to this movie, a quaint dreamlike aspect that makes it better than the sum of its parts. But sadly, when it comes to Pat Boyette, I'll take his comics work anytime over this example of his cinema work.
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Ditko At Charlton - 1973! Tonight I'll Dream of You - Ditko ...

2026-10-17T09:26:28Z

Ditko At Charlton - 1973!

Tonight I'll Dream of You - Ditko at Charlton: 1973 is the largest of the volumes in this series coming in at near three hundred pages. Once again, we have stories from Ghostly Haunts, Ghostly Tales, Haunted, The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves and Ghost Manor. In addition, we get two stories from Haunted Love and one from E-Man. (More on the latter below). Back also are Winnie the Witch, Mr. Dedd, Impy, Dr. Graves and Mr. Bones. All the stories are of course drawn by Steve Ditko and all but two are written by Joe Gill. That story was written by Bhob Stewart and Russ Jones, and deals with a jealous comic strip artist who deserves his grim fate. All the stories are pretty darn good and deal with classic supernatural happenings and justice from beyond the grave.
Killjoy both written and drawn by Ditko debuted in the second issue of E-Man. And this is pure Ditko, offering up a chaotic protagonist who is giving the pugilistic putdown to those he deems to be abusing the just economic system as judged by Ditko. It's a bit ironic that this Randian notion of economic fair play is undermined by several of the supernatural stories by Gill which see greedy bastards get their comeuppance and justice is somewhat meted out to downtrodden masses. Unlike many of Ditko's Objectivist heroes, Killjoy has the benefit of being funny.
Here are the covers in this issue.
More Gill and Ditko to come next week.
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Tom Sutton's Creepy Things! I likely said this before, but ...

2026-10-16T07:34:06Z

Tom Sutton's Creepy Things!

I likely said this before, but alas it remains true -- Tom Sutton is one of the most underrated artists of his generation. The Yoe Books publication Tom Sutton's Creepy Things gives us a nifty insight into one of the finest stylists of the Bronze Age of comics. Sutton's career in comics was an off and on again affair for many years before he finally began to submit work to Warren Magazines. There Nicola Cuti became aware of him since he illustrated some of Cuti's scripts and when Charlton needed talent during the expansion of the early 70's he tagged Sutton and the "Bear" as Cuti called him found a home.
(Tom Sutton's first Charlton cover art -- not included in this collection.)
This volume showcases many of Sutton's outstanding covers for the little Derby company, notorious for its small by reliable payments and also some of his best stories. Some are written by the old pro Joe Gill and many are penned by Cuti. But more than a few of these are written and drawn by Sutton himself. Among them are masterpieces like "Terrible Teddy" and "Bones" from Ghost Manor, "Journey to Lost Rlaak" from Haunted Love, "Grave Story" from Midnight Tales, "Subway Stop" from Haunted, "The Game Keeper" from Ghostly Haunts, "The Kukulkaton" from Monster Hunters, "The Well" from Creepy Things, and "Through a Glass Darkly" from Ghostly Tales. Many of the stories were written by Cuti and drawn by Sutton for Midnight Tales, the stellar anthology overseen by Wayne Howard -- among those are "Lost in Transit", "The Kilgore Monster", "Goo", and "The Tower Maiden". And there are more stories such as "The Weirdest Character I've Ever Known", "Mother's Boy", and "Where's Cyrus Bull?" written by Joe Gill. Great stuff.
(Sutton in the Charlton years.)
The volume also features a number of pages derived from original artwork when possible from the collections of editor Michael Ambrose (of Charlton Spotlight fame and a friend of the Dojo in times past) and Bryan Fowler. These pages really allow you to see with startling clarity the potency of Sutton's art. This volume is a gem for any Charlton fan and a must for any fan of Tom Sutton.
Here are most of the covers featured in this tome.
Beautiful. Thanks to Michael Ambrose and the folks at Yoe Books for giving us this tome dedicated to a real master.
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Hercules - The Bull Of Minos! Hercules #7 is dated November 1968. ...

2026-10-16T05:21:36Z

Hercules - The Bull Of Minos!

Hercules #7 is dated November 1968. The cover is by Sam Glanzman. The comic was edited by Sal Gentile. The lead story is titled "The Bull of Minos" and was written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Sam Glanzman.
The first story begins with King Eurystheus being confronted by Hera who demands he find a task that will frustrate Hercules in his attempt to ascend to Olympus as a full-fledged god. She suggest he be sent to get the Bull of Minos. Eurystheus commands it so and Hercules heads off, but not before Hera afflicts him with a magic spell that robs him of his strength. Hercules is smacked to the ground by a girl and robbed as he was helpless on the ground. Hercules at last through sheer will overcomes the spell and gets aboard a ship and heads to Minos with the blessing of Poseidon. Before they get to Minos the ship has to make land for repairs and Hercules goes for a stroll. He meets up with Anteus, a giant warrior who challenges the Man-God. Hercules battles the giant only to discover that Anteus only grows stronger and larger when he makes contact with the ground. Finally Hercules knocks him out with a giant column to the noggin and then throws him into the sea. He joins up again with his mates and heads to Minos. King Minos hears of Hercules and sends the Minotaur to intercept him. After making landfall Hercules encounters the Minotaur but defeats him and makes the monster take him to the Bull of Minos. The Minotaur complies and Hercules then confronts the giant bull. He finds he cannot defeat the beast by hand but digs a pit, fills it with water and then gets the Bull into it where he at last can bind it and drag it back to the ship. He takes the Bull to Eurytheus and unleashes the brute to rampage through his court. The story ends with Hercules and Zeus exchanging warm thoughts.
There are three letters in "Letters to the Editor -- Hercules", and ironcially one of them comments on the text stories that have been running in the series. The editors say they are necessary to meet postal regulations, but ironically there is no such story in this issue. One strange comment though is elicited from the editors in response to a criticism that Charlton had cancelled many of their hero books. The comment suggests that matters other than sales had to do with the cancellations. I can only assume the departure of Dick Giordano is the reason, but that's speculation. Another letter objects to the design of Herc's eyes by Glanzman, and after a very politically correct response about Asians, they editors seem to agree that Hercules should not have "slanted" eyes, though based on the comic Glanzman does what he wants in that regard.
Thane of Bagarth is titled "Chapter Seven: The Captive" and it is written by Steve Skeates and drawn by Jim Aparo. The story begins with Freahulf being captured by raiding Swedes as they kill the royal envoy from Beowulf sent to fetch her. We then cut to Hrothelac in a dungeon in England for a moment before cutting back to the Swedes who ride past Garmscio, Thane of Rothfor who hides from the raiders. The scene changes to the castle of King Beowulf who orders an attack on the Swedes to revenge their raids, but before he can make the order specific he collapses in agony. He's not dead, but sorely ill. Meanwhile the scholar Daeghred, father of Freahulf, finds the dead envoy and discovers his daughter is missing. He goes to the Thane of Bagarth, Eowanda but is summarily rebuffed. Eowanda then gets news of Beowulf's illness and begins to plot. The scent shifts again to Beowulf's castle where the sickened King has recovered but cannot lead his soldiers and so orders his First Councilman Eadstan to do so and to also be wary of Eowanda. We are reminded of Beowulf's vision that Eowanda would lead his troops in battle. Eadstan heads off with warriors to complete his mission.
This is a solid issue. The Hercules story has plenty of action in it and some neat humor involving the gods as they look down on Hercules.
The stories do have a certain predictability to them at this point, though the addition of the battle with Anteus was unexpected. Hera's spell was a neat touch and offered up some surprises. The Thane of Bagarth story is rich with plot, but Hrothelac is barely seen. The complexity of the story only grows.
The lead story was reprinted in Charlton Classics #7.
More to come.
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Hercules -The Boar! Hercules #8 is in many ways the most peculiar ...

2026-10-16T04:38:31Z

Hercules -The Boar!

Hercules #8 is in many ways the most peculiar of the run. The issue is dated December 1968 and the cover is by Sam Glanzman. The comic is edited by Sal Gentile.
The lead story is titled "The Boar" and was written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Sam Glanzman. Hercules goes to Hera's agent on Earth King Eurystheus for his next task and is instructed that he must bring back the giant Boar of Mount Erymanthus and return the beast to the court of Eurytheus, and further Hercules is only allowed to use the strength of his own hands to subdue the the monster. Hercules heads off on this task and climbs into the mountains. There he is attacked by giant monster birds with poisonous talons, creations of Hera, but these disappear when Zeus orders her to cease her attack. High in the snowy mountains Hercules comes across an encampment of warriors, one of whom calls him a fool for taking on the Boar. Hercules cuffs the mocker and then heads higher still to seek the Boar, which he is told will be easy since the monster will be hunting him. He finds the tracks but after following them for a while he gets concerned when it appears the beast is circling around behind. Almost immediately the giant Boar attacks and Hercules wrestles it, finally getting atop its back. Sliding up and down the mountainside Hercules rides the Boar bareback for a week until he at last tames the monster. This newly trained creature he rides back to Eurytheus in triumph.
This lead story is shorter than usual coming in at twelve pages.
Next is the letters page "Letters to the Editor -- Hercules". It features two letters, one asking for original artwork. The response indicates either it's policy not to release the originals or there's a legal liability for doing it, the editors seem confused on that point. One letter writer makes note that Dick Giordano is gone on the DC.
"The Legend of Hercules" is a one-shot feature this issue. It's presumably written by Joe Gill and is certainly illustrated by Sam Glanzman. It relates the classic origin of Herucles, telling the story of how he killed serpents in his crib and how he was trained by the centaurs in warcraft. There's a spectacular full-page shot of Hercules in battle alongside Zeus and Hera against the Titans. Also it says that Hercules was on the voyage with Jason and his Argonauts for the Golden Fleece. It is after this that Hercules seeks atonement, but it's unclear why, save that he seems ashamed he's human at all and not a full god. He goes to the Oracle of Delphi who sends him to Eurytheus. The six-page feature concludes with a summary of the previous seven tasks Hercules had performed (Lion of Nemea, Gerion the Giant, Cerebus the Hound of Hades, Apples of Hesperides alongside Atlas, Amazons, Stymphalian Birds, and the Bull of Minos).
Thane of Bagarth is written by Steve Skeates and illustrated by Jim Aparo. This installment is titled "Chapter Eight: Escape". It begins with the alchemist Mordwain administering a drug to Hrothelac to give him strength, which promptly knocks him out. The scene cuts to Beowulf's man Eadstan who leads the Geats agains the Swedes in battle. The battle is brutal and at last Eadstan is struck down, but is found by a Swedish servant girl. Back in England in the dungeon Hrothelac is awake and full of furious energy as he attacks the door to his jail. The guards enter and Hrothelac attacks them escaping. Mordwain escapes too. Hrothelac heads to the shore where another Viking ship approaches. But he collapses and is found by a band of Celtic villagers.
The lead story was reprinted in Charlton Classics #8.
Now Hercules #8 is unique. In addition to the four-color version I've detailed above, there was issued presumably at the same time a magazine-size black and white version of the comic. It's similar but not identical to the color version. It's also dated December 1968. The cover is developed from a panel by Sam Glanzman inside the story, and added is a figure of Hrothelac Thane of Bagarth by Jim Aparo. (This is the only cover appearance by Thane of Bagarth in its orignal run.) The lead story is titled "The Fantastic Giant Boar" and is largely the same story written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Sam Glanzman from the color comic. The story though is reformatted and the twelve page story is expanded to twenty. This is done by blowing up certain panels and suchlike.
The rest of the contents are comprised of reprinted material from early issues of Hercules. Next is the first Thane of Bagarth chapter followed by the first Hercules story from Hercules #1. Then two additional chapters of Thane of Bagarth (Chapters Two and Three) close out the magazine.
I don't really know what Charlton was trying to do here. I presume they were exploring to see if Hercules would sell in other venues using the material they'd developed. 1968 saw Marvel experiment with magazines, specifically the Spectacular Spider-Man books. And of course there was the relatively ongoing success of Warren's line of books. There is not editorial in the magazine to explain it. Charlton already had a reasonably strong cadre of magazines and perhaps simply wanted to add to that line-up. One small note though is that Sal Gentile is listed as the editor, despite the fact that most of the material in the magazine was produced when Dick Giordano was editor of the line.
I didn't get a copy of this magazine until many years after the fact, though I have a vague recollection of seeing it on stands at the time. It's a curiosity for sure, a real oddball relic from Charlton's oddball history.
More to come.
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