Charlton Fools Day: SINISTRO: BOY FIEND "Too Many Happy Endings"

He could've been the typical All-American boy hero...

...but a cruel fate intervened to make him just the opposite!

The Boy Fiend's battle against all that is good and decent will continue in the near future.

Easily one of the weirdest strips to come out of the Silver Age of Comics, this never-reprinted tale from Charlton Premiere #3 (1968) by Grass Green (writer/layouts) and Henry Scarpelli (pencils and inks) could've been the Ambush Bug or Forbush Man of Charlton.
The highly under-appreciated Richard "Grass" Green was one of the first wave of fanboys-turned-pros which included Roy Thomas, Bernie Wrightson, and Barry Smith, and the only Black member of that august group of pioneers.
Though he did a lot of work for various fanzines in the 60s and 70s, Grass' mainstream professional work was limited to Charlton's Go-Go humor title and two issues of Charlton Premiere.
Green found a niche in underground comics in the 70s and 80s, creating Super Soul Comix and WildMan & RubberRoy.
He passed away from cancer in 2002.
HERE'S an extensive profile about Grass Green on the CBDLF website.

This post is part of an informal blogathon entitled

Charlton Fools Day

conceived and organized by Kracalactaka to bring attention to Charlton Comics, often considered the "runt" of the Silver Age comics litter.

Visit his blog HERE and see a list of other participants as well as his own contributions

Reading Room: VOODAH "Monster Fish"

One of the first Lords of the Jungle was Black...

...and illustrated by a Black artist!

Illustrated by Matt Baker (who most fans know was one of the premiere Good Girl artists of the '40s-'50s, but don't know was one of the few African-American comic artists of the era), the idea of a non-White jungle hero seems obvious today, but was extremely-daring in the 1940s!
In fact, it was so daring that Voodah slowly became paler over the next few issues, eventually becoming just another White guy bossing the locals around!
Compare Voodah here with his first appearance in the previous issue of McCombs' Crown Comics HERE!
BTW, the "Clarence Ramon" credit at top is a house pseudonym.
Baker is the artist.
The writer is unknown.

Dracula the SuperHero "Dracula Finds His Specialty"

The final issue of Dracula's superheroic Silver Age incarnation...

This scene does not appear in the comic!

...provided a number of high points, including the only Monster SuperHero crossover...

Dracula and Fleeta didn't see any of those "more deadly" threats, since Dell's Dracula #4 (1967) was the last issue of their run!
But it wasn't their last trip to the newsstands...
After the Comics Code loosened the restraints on using horror-based characters in 1971, both Marvel and DC filled their lines with vampires, werewolves, mummies, and variations of the Frankenstein Monster.
Marvel launched Tomb of Dracula, which became a monster (pun intended) hit.
Dell was on its' last legs, and decided to "test the waters" in 1972 by reprinting the three issues of Dracula it previously-published with the intention of doing new material if it sold well.
They didn't do any better than back in '66-67, so the plans for reviving Dracula and the rest of the Monster SuperHeroes went back into the coffin, and Dell's final death rattle was less than a year later.
BTW, you can read the Frankenstein tale "Silence is Golden", referenced in this story, HERE.
We hope you've enjoyed our month-long contribution to Countdown to Halloween 2015.

Check out the other blogs who participated in this kool blogathon HERE.

Dracula the SuperHero "Origin of Fleeta"

Yesterday, we saw the Original "Bat-Man" finally get a "Bat-Cave"...

...and today he acquires a costumed partner!

Tell you the truth, Fleeta's costume is one of the lamest outfits I've ever seen in comics!
And that includes losers like the X-Men's Angel's 1968 outfit (X-Men #39)...

...which I thought was the dumbest (and least appropriate) costume design in history!

And what the hell is that thing on her head?
How is it supposed to conceal her identity?
Ah, well, what's long done (like 49 years ago) is done.
Can't really blame writer DJ Arneson and artists Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico for events in this story from Dell's Dracula #4 (1967).
But we can (and will) continue to make snarky comments about it!
Be here tomorrow for the final Dracula the SuperHero tale...featuring a surprise cameo!

Dracula the SuperHero "Secret Cave"

What's a "Bat-Man" without a Bat-Cave?

Luckily for the super-hero named "Dracula", the problem's about to be solved...

The final issue of Dell's Dracula begins with the hero finally getting a base of operations.
Writer DJ Arneson and artists Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico were probably hoping for a decent run of a year or two, but 'twas not to be.
Tomorrow, you'll see the Original "Bat-Man" get a costumed sidekick...