Saturday, July 31, 2021

POP-A-LOOZA: THE EVERLASTING FIRST: Charlton Comics

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is a look back at my first exposure to Charlton Comics.

As the article's preface notes, the appearance of the former Charlton character the Peacemaker in next week's new DC Comics movie The Suicide Squad marks the first time a Charlton hero has ever appeared in live action. One could stretch the parameters and say that the Question appeared on the Gotham TV series, which featured the Question's alter ego Renee Montoya. A different version of Montoya also appeared on The CW's Arrow. But Montoya is a post-Charlton DC character, taking up the faceless role of the Question after original Charlton-era Question Vic Sage, and she doesn't appear as the Question in either of those shows. I heard somewhere that the Question will be used in the next season of Batwoman, but the Peacemaker made it to the screen first. (It's possible that some Charlton bad guys appeared on Gotham or one of the CW shows, but Peacemaker's the first title figure to make the transition.)

This blog has occasionally featured other references to Charlton and its varied delights. Chief among these was my Everlasting First reminiscence about Charlton's E-Man. Charlton played a role in my Everlasting First pieces about the Shadow and Flash Gordon, in my 1980s Amazing Heroes article "Who's...WHO?!," and in a bunch of my Comics And LP Cover Cavalcades (here, herehere, here, and here).

Charlton material provided frequent content for my 100-Page FAKES!, a series of imaginary issues of DC's fondly-remembered 1970s 100-Page Super Spectaculars. There are too many of those to list here, but there were a handful of 100-Page FAKES! that were specifically Charlton-related: The Phantom # 67, E-Man # 11, The Six Million Dollar Man # 1, and The Phantom # 68. You can find the rest by following the Charlton Comics link in this blog's list o' labels.

But my story with Charlton Comics had to start somewhere. Action-Heroes? Charlton had 'em! And they weren't half bad. My introduction to Charlton Comics is the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.


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