As Charlton Comics‘ managing editor in the 1960s, Dick Giordano put together the Action Heroes line with talents that included Joe Gill, Steve Ditko, Pete Morisi, Pat Boyette, Frank McLaughlin and others. Charlton was petering out in the mid 80s, so DC bought the rights to those characters and presented them to Giordano – now DC’s executive editor – as a gift.
As my friends know, I have a strong archivist streak in me. A while back I came across a scan of Dick Giordano’s original art for Charlton Comics’ Out of This World #14 and coloured it up. And when I found most of the cover art, I thought it would be an interesting project to reconstruct the original 1950s colours, and then apply modern colouring techniques while respecting the intent of the original art.
We conclude the Out of This World run with another Steve Ditko cover. #16, December 1959, Charlton Comics. Colour reconstruction. Check out The Charlton Arrow and Ditkomania groups on facebook.
Bill Molno returns to the cover of Out of This World after starting off the series with numbers 1 and 2. Inked by Vince Alascia. #15, October 1959, Charlton Comics. Colour reconstruction. Check out The Charlton Arrow group on facebook.
In a switch from previous covers, Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia show three of the issue’s stories, a device used on the next two covers as well. Out of This World #13, May 1959, Charlton Comics. Colour reconstruction. Check out The Charlton Arrow group on facebook.
I felt bad for Steve Ditko on this one. His invaders from the Earth’s core are about to be crushed by a tan starburst. Maybe it was intended to float over the diver’s head. Out of This World #12, March 1959, Charlton Comics. Art and colour reconstruction. Check out The Charlton Arrow and Ditkomania groups on facebook.
Steve Ditko returns to Out of This World with this great cover for #11, January 1959, Charlton Comics. Colour reconstruction. Check out The Charlton Arrow and Ditkomania groups on facebook.
I like this cover. Just a little scene in an artist’s studio drawn by Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia for Out of This World 10, October 1958, Charlton Comics. Check out The Charlton Arrow group on facebook.
The next Out of This World cover. This is number 9, drawn by Pat Masulli and Rocke Mastroserio, August 1958, Charlton Comics. Check out The Charlton Arrow group on facebook.
Continuing the Out of This World cover series. This is number 8, drawn by Maurice Whitman, May 1958, Charlton Comics. Check out The Charlton Arrow group on facebook.
