94 CHARLTON COMICS
composed the essay “ Tangents,” a multi-part discourse on his thoughts about women, to
be published in the backmatter of Cerebus #265, an essay that has since been republished
on the Web site of Th e Comics Journal. Th ese controversies resulted in alienating Sim
from the creative community he had once been at the center of, including his proof-
reader, respected comics editor Diana Schutz. Sim published the last few issues and
collections of Cerebus largely without fanfare, although many fans and readers have con-
tinued their interest in Sim’s work.
Regardless of its fl aws, Cerebus the Aardvark remains Dave Sim’s masterwork, which
he brags is the longest sustained narrative in human history.
Robert O’Nale
CHARLTON COMICS. Charlton Publications added comic books to its line-up in the
mid-1940s as a way to keep the expensive printing presses from sitting idle in-between
runs of much more profi table magazines, such as Hit Parader and Song Hits. Yellowjacket
Comics, an anthology of superhero and adventure tales, was published under the Frank
Comunale Publishing imprint in 1944 and Zoo Funnies appeared as a children’s com-
ics publication in 1945. By the following year, the Charlton Comics, Inc., name was in
place. Funny animal, We s t e r n, and romance books were the core of Charlton’s early
comics publishing eff orts, but they also followed the industry trends of the late 1940s
and early 1950s with their own derivative crime (Racket Squad in Action), horror (Th e
Th ing), and science fi ction (Space Adventures) comic books.
In the mid-to-late 1950s, as other publishers went out of business or curtailed their
production, Charlton aggressively recruited talent and acquired titles, mostly romance,
Western, and horror from a number of defunct publishers, including Fawcett Publica-
tions, Superior Comics, and Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Crestwood/Mainline Comics.
Th e most signifi cant acquisition was the Blue Beetle character from Fox Features Syn-
dicate. Charlton was never able to capitalize on the character, as none of the three Blue
Beetle titles issued over the next 10 years lasted more than 5 issues, but ownership of
the name allowed Charlton to create an original Blue Beetle character as part of their
1960s emphasis on action heroes.
Noting the success of DC Comics’ superhero revivals in the late 1950s, Charlton
introduced a new superhero, Captain Atom, in 1960. When Dick Giordano took over
as editor-in-chief in 1965, Charlton’s action hero era began in earnest. Aside from the
incredibly powerful Captain Atom, the emphasis at Charlton was on costumed heroes
without super powers. In 1966 Steve Ditko created a new Blue Beetle with no powers,
but plenty of cool gadgets. Other notables in Charlton’s 1960s action hero line-up in-
clude Th e Question, Judomaster, Th e Fighting Five, and Peter Cannon—Th underbolt.
By the mid-1960s a rejuvenated DC and an emerging Marvel enticed most of the
major talent away from Charlton. Th e action hero titles were cancelled by the end of
the 1960s, although a few were briefl y revived in the 1970’s. Th e 1973 appearance of
E-Man, whose tongue-in-cheek adventures were reminiscent of Jack Cole’s Plastic Man,
sparked some fan interest, but the title only lasted 10 issues. What success Charlton
