On this month fifty years ago it's probably safe to say that the Charlton Action Hero universe was mature. In The Peacemaker we take a tour down below the ocean thanks to artist Pat Boyette to confront a villain who wants to change the world and the people in it. Thunderbolt is once again up and at it taking on trained killers under a handsome Pete Morisi cover. But new on the superhero front is a new title called Charlton Premiere which showcases three new features. Each is distinctive and worthy of additional installments but alas all we ever got was these three. The Shape featuring art by Richard "Grass" Green is a naive creature who can alter his form into all sorts of useful and useless things. Many see an early variation of the same notion which would soon enough bring into the world the mighty E-Man. Also on hand in this issue is the Tyro Team about three stalwart young men who don masks and use their perfectly human talents to battle the crime around them. Finally we have a neat piece from Pat Boyette called Spookman about a supernatural "hero" who fights for mankind ultimately but who is himself still rather scary. (It is to noted that new Spookman stories have been cropping up in recent years from the folks at Charlton Neo.). In addition to these we have two more examples of Jack Keller's racing comics, this time both Grand Prix and Top Eliminator are featured. These comics were good sellers for Charlton and kept a steady presence for many many years.
More to come next month.
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I can recall (even at a young age) really liking the way Pat Boyette drew women in his stories and covers….Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves and the Peacemaker come to mind.
ReplyDeleteBoyette's women have a maturity to them which is not the commonplace in comics. Modern comics show us types and vintage artists like Boyette drew people.
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