Rocke Mastroserio Day!

I started this blog a year ago today. I began it as a lark, a whim, to pass the time and see if these toys were a much fun as they seemed to be. They are!

I have found a blogging community of folks, friendly by and large, who appear at least marginally interested in the blather that I put out.

Over the year there has been a lot of Charlton stuff. I adore Charlton and their assorted comics and characters, and there's much evidence here to demonstrate that fetish.

So when it came time to celebrate the one year anniversary, I thought what might be appropriate would be to look back, and after gleaning through past posts, one Charlton name kept cropping up -- Rocke Mastroserio.

Rocke Mastroserio was born in Italy, but grew up in the United States where he became one of a legion of comic book artists in the 50's looking for work. He found it all over, but eventually came to Derby and Charlton where he became a mainstay for many years. He churned out stories which are pretty decent, but it's his comic book covers that really stand out.

Working for Charlton meant an artist worked in all genres for the most part. And Mastroserio is no exception, doing work in westerns, war, science fiction, and superheroes. He worked for Warren magazines too, and is probably best remembered now for his inking on Steve Ditko in Captain Atom. But alas that overlooks much of the great work he did himself.

Sadly Rocke died in 1968, his last work in Ghost Manor #3. Rocke Mastroserio is not a name that modern comics fans know, sadly even fans of old comics don't discuss him much. But his ability to bring drama to a single cover image especially close up faces is amazingly good. He commanded your attention, and for me anyway, he made me want to buy that comic.


Enjoy this anniversary celebratory appreciation of the work of "Rocke"!

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