Charlton Comics - the Forgotten Comic Book Publisher
You may not have known it, but if you have ever read Alan Moore’s The Watchmen, you have been introduced to Charlton Comics. Well, you’ve been introduced…sort of. When Alan Moore wrote The Watchmen, he originally intended on using superheroes from the Charlton universe. But Charlton had sold those characters to DC Comics a couple of years before: a list of characters including Blue Beetle, The Peacemaker and The Question. Moore was forced to redesign his heroes. Blue Beetle and his Beetleship became Night Owl and his Owlship; The Peacemaker became The Comedian; The Question became Rorschach. The rest was comics history.
Charlton Comics was in business for 40 years, an eternity in the comics industry. Selling comics between 1946 and 1986, Charlton spanned a variety of different genres. In the early days, Charlton specialized in crime comics, science fiction tales and that wonderful ole funny animals genre. It existed in this form until the middle of the 1960’s until it lured Steve Ditko away from Marvel. This was at a time when Ditko was famous for his part in the Marvel Comics revolution of the sixties. Charlton began to create whole new superhero titles, including the aforementioned characters which were later sold to DC Comics. Captain Atom was another of the characters sold in the 1980’s.
During the 1970’s, Charlton began looking in other directions to increase its readership. It made comics based on popular television shows like The Six Million Dollar Man. It also sold Hannah-Barbera comics. These kept Charlton in business for a few more years, but by the 1980’s, Charlton was no longer solvent. In 1983, it sold its heroes line to DC, but this did not stave off its final demise. Charlton shut down its presses for good in 1986.
The ghost of Charlton will make an appearance from time to time. In 2001, Shanda Fantasy Arts licensed Atomic Mouse, one of the most successful of Charlton’s creations. Of course, Charlton characters are seen every month in DC Comics. And don’t forget the influence Charlton had on the most important and revolutionary series in the history of the comics industry. So let’s give a nod to the legacy of some comic entrepreneurs who were able to give the big boys of comics some competition for the better part of four decades.See also: Comic Book Boxes
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