Monday, March 28, 2016

The Golden Derby - March 1966!






This was a momentous month for Charlton exactly fifty years ago as they introduced a comic which proved quite successful and sturdy and inspired a gaggle of imitators from the little Derby publisher. The title which had started its days as Unusual Tales and then became Blue Beetle briefly only to became Ghostly Tales when Mr.Dedd took up residence. This title would inspire a spin-off in Dr.Graves and later many others as the scary story proved to to a reliable genre for Charlton. This debut cover by Rocke Mastroserio is a keeper. Along with ghosts Charlton wrapped up Fightin' Navy though the "Fightin'" brand would hang around for several years to come. Wyatt Earp had been a successful title for Charlton but the days of the western were quickly waning and it wouldn't be long before Wyatt joined his peers in the mists of oblivion. Charlton still cranked out Hot Rod comics, tapping an audience apparently no other comic book publisher knew existed. These feisty tales are typical Charlton with some rising above the pack in surprising ways. No company did genre with such gusto as Charlton and no other company did this genre at all.

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