Showcase Presents The Charlton Action Heroes!

[Cei-U!]

No, it hasn't been announced but wouldn't it be cool? One volume could cover the complete runs of Captain Atom, both Blue Beetles, The Question and Nightshade. If they leave out the early non-Ditko BB, they could squeeze in Peacemaker too.

Whaddayathink?

Cei-U!
I summon the groundswell of reader demand!

[scratchie]

Whaddayathink?I'd buy it!

[Aaron King]

Seconded. I'd pay the Showcase price for just the Question/Blue Beetle issues collected. Add in the others and it's a solid buy.

[Rob on the Job]

Oh man ...

When I was a kid in the 60s, Charlton were these creepy comics with almost a pulpish texture to their pages that gave it a yellow background ... very different from Marvel and DC.

But their characters ... they deserve a decent resurrection. They almost got it two decades ago with Alan Moore, but he decided to invent new characters for "Watchmen" instead.

http://www.supermanartists.comics.org/charlton/question-bluebeetle01.jpg

[Slam_Bradley]

Of course I'd buy it.

[Perry Holley]

No, it hasn't been announced but wouldn't it be cool? Damn you for getting my hopes up!

Damn you! ;)




Edited because I can't spell, it seems...

[Lone Ranger]

I second the Damn Yous, Kurt.

That was just cruel.

If we did it in two volumes, we could get Sarge Steel and Judomaster in there, too.

What about Wander - I don't know where it fits, but it needs to be reprinted.

Who owns Wander?

[Reptisaurus!]

One volume could cover the complete runs of Captain Atom, both Blue Beetles, The Question and Nightshade.


Maybe I'm misremembering, but didn't Captain Action go for a LONG TIME? I thought the Ditko material started in the # 70s.


But yeah. Totally. I'd be on board. The Question would look great in B & W.

[scratchie]

I'm a little surprised that DC hasn't done something like this already, given how much use they've gotten out of Blue Beetle and the Question recently. They should take a leaf from Marvel's book (since Marvel seems to reprint any character that has any connection to any currently ongoing story).

[DDM]

I'd buy them for Captain Atom, Nightshade, & Blue Beetle.

[Cei-U!]

Maybe I'm misremembering, but didn't Captain Action go for a LONG TIME? I thought the Ditko material started in the # 70s.

Captain Atom (not Action) appeared in Space Adventures #33-40 and 42 (in 10-12 page stories, not book-length) in the very early '60s. He was later revived in his own title which ran from #78-89. Both runs were drawn by Ditko, who was doing Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, etc, over at Marvel in the years between.

Cei-U!
I summon Gunner Goslin!

[Kan-Man]

Captain Atom (not Action) appeared in Space Adventures #33-40 and 42 (in 10-12 page stories, not book-length) in the very early '60s. He was later revived in his own title which ran from #78-89. Both runs were drawn by Ditko, who was doing Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, etc, over at Marvel in the years between.

Cei-U!
I summon Gunner Goslin!

Is that what was included in the DC Archives edition? And could the sales of that (or lack thereof) have an impact on their decision to reprint the rest of the Charlton material?

[MichikoS]

Maybe I'm misremembering, but didn't Captain Action go for a LONG TIME? I thought the Ditko material started in the # 70s.

But yeah. Totally. I'd be on board. The Question would look great in B & W.Rep, I'm assuming you meant to type "Captain Atom" instead of "Action."

Captain Atom has a somewhat convoluted publishing history, like many Charlton characters.

The first Captain Atom story was Space Adventures #33, March 1960. Space Adventures #33-42 (but not #41) all featured CA by Ditko.

Then Strange Suspense Stories #75 from June 1965 reprinted the first CA story from Space Adventures #33. #76-77 were likewise reprints from the original run in Space Adventures.

#78 inaugurated a title change, with new material, and the comic became simply Captain Atom through #89 (December 1967). The story that was intended for publication as Captain Atom #90 was only published many years later in black and white, in 1975, in Charlton Bullseye #1 and 2 with finishes by John Byrne.

"Modern Comics" reprinted issues 83-85 in 1977.

Charlton again reprinted the original Space Adventures CA stories in #9-13 of the stories in the third and final incarnation of the Space Adventures title, May 1978 to March 1979.

So there really weren't very many original Charlton Captain Atom stories at all -- less than two dozen, in fact. They were just reprinted rather frequently.

The only good news here is that every Charlton appearance of Captain Atom featured splendid work by Steve Ditko...except for the entirely forgettable one-shot revival in Charlton Bullseye #7, May 1982, drawn by Dan Reed.

Michi

[shyguy]

I'd buy this, but I'd be really surprised to ever see it published given that DC has done Archives for a lot of this material and I doubt there's a huge market for it to begin with.

I'll pick up both Archives once the second volume is released, tho.

[MWGallaher]

What about Wander - I don't know where it fits, but it needs to be reprinted.

Who owns Wander?
I'm not certain, but my best guess is that if anyone has ownership, it's Roger Broughton.
DC bought Captain Atom, Nightshade, Blue Beetle, Question, Judomaster & Tiger, Sarge Steel, Peacemaker, and Thunderbolt (who they relinquished to creator Pete Morisi).
Staton & Cuti re-obtained E-Man.
John Lustig bought "First Kiss" (and possibly some other romance material?). Steve Ditko either retained or regained the copyrights to a lot of his Charlton material or is reprinting it anyway; I'm pretty sure I saw Killjoy in one of his "Ditko Packages", and I recently read a collection of his stories from "The Thing!", but I recall the copyright info on that as being somewhat vague.
I have a collection of Konga stories that was collected in the 80's under the title "The Lonely One"; my impression is that these were simply orphaned, or else it was published below the radar of whoever owns Konga.
The licensed comics went back to King Features, Hanna Barbera, or whoever.
My recollection is that Broughton bought "everything else". He's reprinted a smattering, including parts of Aparo & Skeates' "Thane of Bagarth" backup series from Hercules, and some stories from Space Adventures.
It goes without saying that I wish whoever owned them would collect Wander, Thane, and Miss Bikini Luv.

[jam]

I gotta say : very cruel joke.

I'm sorry to hear the Captain Atom (really titled "Action Heroes") archives haven't sold well. Crumbs, even if I wasn't a Charlton fan I'd've bought it just for the Ditko art work.

I was kinda hoping we might see a Ditko Blue Beetle archive but I guess we can kiss that idea goodbye.

If DC ever did put out an Action Heroes Showcase, you'd better believe I'd buy it.

[jonahhex]

I gotta say : very cruel joke.

I'm sorry to hear the Captain Atom (really titled "Action Heroes") archives haven't sold well. Crumbs, even if I wasn't a Charlton fan I'd've bought it just for the Ditko art work.

I was kinda hoping we might see a Ditko Blue Beetle archive but I guess we can kiss that idea goodbye.

If DC ever did put out an Action Heroes Showcase, you'd better believe I'd buy it.

Good news. We ARE going to see another Action Heroes Archive. It is going to have all the rest of the Ditko stuff captain Atom, blue Beetle, and Question. It will be nearly 400 pages, and probably cost more. I don't have a link but I got word from the charlton yahoo group I am on. :)

[hondobrode]

Well, Cei-U, your threadline caught my eye too, dammit. A Charlton Showcase would be great. I've been wanting the archive but have been catching up on bills instead of spending big $ on comic collections lately.

I can't resist them much longer. They're calling me !

The older I get the more and more crazy I am about Ditko's work.

[jam]

Good news. We ARE going to see another Action Heroes Archive. It is going to have all the rest of the Ditko stuff captain Atom, blue Beetle, and Question. It will be nearly 400 pages, and probably cost more. I don't have a link but I got word from the charlton yahoo group I am on. :)

Well, if that's true, it's good news indeed. Will it really run to 400 pages? How many Captain Atom issues are left? There were only five Blue Beetles, I think? Plus the Blue Beetle backups, Question backups, and single issue of Mysterious Suspence (I think?)

Will it really run 400?

Isn't there a sixth Blue Beetle issue that eventually saw the light of day in a Charlton fanzine? Be great to have that included.

(I'd still like DC to run a Ditko Visionary series with his DC work collected ..)

[MichikoS]

Isn't there a sixth Blue Beetle issue that eventually saw the light of day in a Charlton fanzine? Be great to have that included.

CPL/Gang published a one-shot called "Charlton Portfolio" (aka CPL #9/10) which included the unpublished sixth issue of Blue Beetle.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/elbert_coalwell/bluebeetle6.gif

Michi

[MilkManX]

Damn I would love a Showcase of this stuff!!

[swinebread]

Count Me in! :D They deserve A showcase or two!

[Fred2]

Speaking of Charlton, whatever happened to Dr. Graves of "The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves"?

[Pól Rua]

No, it hasn't been announced
Meanie!

but wouldn't it be cool?
O yes indoodly. I would snap it up in a heartbeat. But yeah, I'm with the folks who'd prefer it be complete and in two volumes.

[scratchie]

Hm. I just saw this in DC's newest solicitations:


THE ACTION HEROES ARCHIVES VOL. 2 HC
Written by David Kaler, Roger Stern, Michael Uslan and various
Art by Steve Ditko, Alex Toth and various Cover by Ditko
Collecting classic stories by master artist Steve Ditko from the pages of CAPTAIN ATOM #83-89, BLUE BEETLE #1-5, MYSTERIOUS SUSPENSE #1 and CHARLTON BULLSEYE #1, 2 and 5, plus the title story intended for BLUE BEETLE #6 (published in CHARLTON PORTFOLIO #9-10) as well as an 8-page Question story by Alex Toth and a foreword by Charlton's then-editor Dick Giordano.
Advance-solicited; on sale May 23 o 384 pg, FC, $75.00 USNot as appealing as a $15 paperback, but still of possible interest to folks here. Does anyone have volume 1?

[jam]

Hm. I just saw this in DC's newest solicitations:

Not as appealing as a $15 paperback, but still of possible interest to folks here. Does anyone have volume 1?

Oh heck! $75!!!! That's well out of my price range. Does anyone know of a UK outlet that might offer this at a more affordable price??? It sounds unmissable for a Ditko fan like me but that's way too expensive!

While I'm on the topic of Book Discount Stores, there's something I've wondered about for a long time. Here in the UK we have several such chains, including one called "The Works". I'm sure elsewhere in the world there are similar stores. Do any of the DC Archives or Marvel Masterworks ever get sold in such stores "at low, low prices"??? (I'll be sick as a parrot if they do!)

Scratchie, I do have vol. 1, and I love it dearly. However, apart from the Ditko art, you have to bear in mind that the stories are a product of their time and therefore perhaps a bit "simplistic".

I will always love Captain Atom's original mostly-yellow costume; I will always love the way he left a vapour-trail of atoms when in flight. I managed to buy a couple of Captain Atoms when they first came out when I was but a nipper and I still remember being upset when they changed his costume!!! Grr!

[Agentum]

I have the first one so i will probably get this, they is usally a bit cheaper on Amazon or some place like that, i guess this will be able to buy for around $50.

I think a lot of the first volume is pretty bad storywise but with the reboot of Cap. Atom in the late 60s it's a bit better done, so i guess the best part i still to come.

[scratchie]

While I'm on the topic of Book Discount Stores, there's something I've wondered about for a long time. Here in the UK we have several such chains, including one called "The Works". I'm sure elsewhere in the world there are similar stores. Do any of the DC Archives or Marvel Masterworks ever get sold in such stores "at low, low prices"??? (I'll be sick as a parrot if they do!)Depends on what kind of store you're talking about. Archives and Masterworks get sold by Amazon, etc., at discounted prices. But the store you're talking about sounds like it might be more for books that didn't sell in the better stores and have been marked down even further (the equivalent in my part of the USA is "Buck-A-Book"). In that case, I don't think the Archives and Masterworks are likely to show up in such places since they seem to be fairly conservative with the print runs.

[Slam_Bradley]

Depends on what kind of store you're talking about. Archives and Masterworks get sold by Amazon, etc., at discounted prices. But the store you're talking about sounds like it might be more for books that didn't sell in the better stores and have been marked down even further (the equivalent in my part of the USA is "Buck-A-Book"). In that case, I don't think the Archives and Masterworks are likely to show up in such places since they seem to be fairly conservative with the print runs.



Archives have been known to show up at remainder book stores. I picked up Flash Archives vols. 1 & 2 and Superman vol. 5 at a remainder bookstore in Boise for $8 apiece a few years back. I've also picked up a couple of HC OGN's at the same store and a number of tpb's. It's well worth haunting them for discounts. Unfortunately I live so far away I can't get there regularly.

[jam]

Archives have been known to show up at remainder book stores. I picked up Flash Archives vols. 1 & 2 and Superman vol. 5 at a remainder bookstore in Boise for $8 apiece a few years back. I've also picked up a couple of HC OGN's at the same store and a number of tpb's. It's well worth haunting them for discounts. Unfortunately I live so far away I can't get there regularly.

Oh GAWD!!! I knew someone would have a story like this to tell .. 8 bucks a piece, for cryin' out loud!

I've never seen them in book discount centers here in the UK. *sigh*

I wasn't talking about Amazon or even Forbidden Planet type discounts. I was talking about *sob* EIGHT LOUSY BUCKS a piece...

[scratchie]

Archives have been known to show up at remainder book stores. That's good to know. I'll keep my eyes open.

Also, I think it's a good sign that DC is putting this out as an Archive; they've certainly demonstrated a willingness to re-release Archive material in budget-priced collections in the past (Challengers, Supes/Bats "Chronicles").


I picked up Flash Archives vols. 1 & 2 and Superman vol. 5 at a remainder bookstore in Boise for $8 apiece a few years back.Oh, sure, Boise. We're much more sophistimacated here in the Northeast. :D