Head Soup: The iconic ad art for The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1959, unreleased until 1962) makes this my favorite of all the Charlton monster magazine covers. Hmmm, some major spillage going on from the chemical broth sustaining brain activity…
Among the many publications that poured out of the offices of Charlton in Derby, Connecticut during the latter decades of the 20th Century were the most cheaply produced of all the 1960s monster magazines, Mad Monsters and Horror Monsters.
Like all the Charlton newsstand magazines, the writing, production and printing on these rags were usually abysmal: there was no black ink in the interior pages, just a soup of varying shades of gray, and the articles were composed primarily of press releases and photos for current theatrical horror movies and TV packages.
In short, they sucked — but I still loved ‘em, primarily for their covers, and the first issue of Mad Monsters sported a Steve Ditko cover (and one completely whacked comic story, too).
These weren’t the only Charlton monster zines, a line that included curious one-shots like their Black Zoo sort-of fumetti, but they were the backbone of that spineless breed. The Charlton monster comics — primary among those Gorgo, Konga and Reptilicus / Reptisaurus were a lot more fun!
These Charlton monster magazines are better artifacts of that bygone era than they ever were reads; if you’re among those who wonder why we old-timers sing the praises of Forrest J. Ackerman’s Famous Monsters of Filmland and Calvin T. Beck’s Castle of Frankenstein, just check out one or two issues of the Charlton monster zines and you’ll see why we couldn’t get enough of Forry’s and Beck’s top-drawer offerings. By comparison, FM and CoF were class acts in every department, however lame the puns or juvenile the material at times.
Do you happen to know offhand what Ditko there is in HORROR MONSTERS #1? I don’t think I’ve seen it listed on any list of DItko’s work. Was there any original work, or was it artwork taken from his other Charlton comics?
I loved all of those old monster mags. Even the crappy ones. My all-time favorite cover was for the one that blared: WHO’S THE GREATEST HORROR HAG? BETTE DAVIS, OR JOAN CRAWFORD?
I used to wonder if either of those two saw that cover. I suspect it would have been far more depressing to Crawford than to Davis.
I don’t even recall the title of that particular zine. But I had a couple of issues of it.
I think Forry was responsible in large part for the whole monster craze among kids during the late 50s to the mid-60s. Ah, those were the days!
Bob, today’s post (and my email to you) should clear up the Ditko question — and James, I’ll see if I can sort out who was ballsy enough to ballyhoo the “horror hag” question.
For some reason, Michael Scott (who hosts the incredible monster magazine site linked in the June 30 post, and here, below) hasn’t been able to post a comment. He emailed it to me, and here ’tis:
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I tried, a couple of times, to reply to your Charlton post of the 29th, but it didn’t seem to take. The answer to the “Horror Hag” query is SHRIEK #1, the cover of which says “Bettie Davis, Joan Crawford, Tallulah Bankhead. Which is the best “Horror Hag?”"
See the cover here:
http://www.geocities.com/unifan2001/1965mags.html
I’m afraid those Charlton cover artist names may be lost to history, like so many movie poster artists, Castle Films box artists, etc. I keep asking, though.
Best,
Mike Scott
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Bob, I’ll also post that cover on the blog in the next day or so…