The CPL Gang was a group of

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

enthusiasts who published a number of

fanzines A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

in the mid-1970s, including ''Contemporary Pictorial Literature'' (''CPL'') and '' Charlton Bullseye''. Founded by

Roger Stern Roger Stern (born September 17, 1950) is an American comic book author and novelist. Biography Early career In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine ''CPL'' (''Contemporary Pictorial Literature''), one of the first platfor ...

and

Bob Layton Bob Layton (born 1953) is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for his work on Marvel Comics titles such as '' Iron Man'' and ''Hercules'', and for co-founding Valiant Comics with Jim Shooter. Early life Bob Layton ...

, the CPL Gang eventually included

Roger Slifer Roger Allen Slifer (; November 11, 1954 – March 30, 2015) was an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and television producer who co-created the character Lobo for DC Comics. Among the many comic-book series for which he wrote was DC's '' O ...

, Duffy Vohland,

Tony Isabella Tony Isabella (born December 22, 1951) is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath; DC Comics' first major African-American superhero, Black Lightning; and as ...

Don Maitz Don Maitz (born June 10, 1953) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and commercial artist. He has twice won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist, science fiction's highest honor for an artist. His peers in the Association of Science ...

Michael Uslan Michael E. Uslan (; born June 2, 1951) is an American lawyer and film producer. Uslan has also dabbled in writing and teaching, he is known for being the first instructor to teach an accredited course on comic book folklore at any university. Ear ...

, Steven Grant, and John Byrne, all of whom later became comics professionals.

History

''CPL''

Layton and Stern began publishing the CPL

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

out of Layton's

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

apartment. Stern recalls that "''CPL'' started out as Bob's sale catalog. Bob was drawing the covers and including little reviews written by some of his customers". By issue #5, ''CPL'' "... turned into a small 'zine with a catalog insert, and

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...

started writing short articles for it. eeventually became an editor of sorts". ''CPL'' featured a mix of articles, interviews, columns, art, and comics strips. In addition to CPL Gang members, contributors included established industry professionals like

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day versio ...

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...

Paul Gulacy Paul Gulacy (; born August 15, 1953) is an American comics artist best known for his work for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, and for drawing one of the first graphic novels, Eclipse Enterprises' 1978 '' Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species'', ...

Mike Vosburg Mike Vosburg (born July 23, 1947) is an American comic book artist primarily known for his work on the ''Tales from the Crypt'' TV series. Biography Mike Vosburg's comics career began in the 1960s, when as a 15-year-old teenager he started ''Mas ...

Dan Adkins Danny L. AdkinsDanny L. Adkins
at the

P. Craig Russell Philip Craig Russell (born October 30, 1951) is an American comics artist, writer, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards. Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay. Biography ...

, and

Joe Sinnott Joseph Leonard Sinnott (; October 16, 1926 June 25, 2020) was an American comic book artist. Working primarily as an inker, Sinnott is best known for his long stint on Marvel Comics' '' Fantastic Four'', from 1965 to 1981 (and briefly in the l ...

Rog-2000 Rog-2000 (pronounced "Rahj-two-thousand", and sometimes spelled "ROG 2000") is a fictional robot that was the first professional creation of comic book artist-writer John Byrne. Rog-2000 serves as the mascot of Byrne Robotics. Publication histor ...

, the John Byrne-created ''CPL'' "mascot", went on to become a character in the

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

universe. ''CPL'' rapidly became a popular fan publication, and led to Layton and Stern forming an alliance with

to produce and publish a one-shot called ''Charlton Portfolio'' (actually ''CPL'' #9/10) in 1974, which included the unpublished sixth issue of ''

Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes who appear in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the ri ...

'' vol. 5 (1967 series). Twelve issues of ''CPL'' were published. An issue #13 was promised, but was never published.

''Charlton Bullseye''

The success of ''Charlton Portfolio'' convinced Charlton of the merits of a "fan" publication. During the mid-1970s, both Marvel and DC were publishing in-house fan publications ('' F.O.O.M.'' and ''

The Amazing World of DC Comics ''The Amazing World of DC Comics'' was DC Comics' self-produced fan magazine of the mid-1970s. Running 17 issues, the fanzine featured DC characters and their creators, and was exclusively available through mail order. Primarily text articles, with ...

'' respectively), and Charlton wished to make inroads into the superhero market, as well as "establish a fan presence". Charlton gave Layton and Stern "access to unpublished material from their vaults by the likes of

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

, Jeff Jones and a host of others" for use in '' Charlton Bullseye'', which published five issues from 1975–1976.

Professional springboard

Layton's association with Charlton (and the company's production manager Bill Pearson) in turn led to him becoming acquainted with the legendary

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...

, with whom he apprenticed."All-Star Comments", ''

All-Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All St ...

'' #66 (May/June 1977). This apprenticeship led to work for Charlton (on anthology titles, but not working from the Charlton offices),

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

and

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, while still publishing fanzines. Along with Bill Pearson's Wonderful Publishing Company, the CPL Gang co-published issue #10 of the

-founded ''

witzend ''witzend'', published on an irregular schedule spanning decades, is an underground comic showcasing contributions by comic book professionals, leading illustrators and new artists. ''witzend'' was launched in 1966 by the writer-artist Wallace Wo ...

'' comics anthology in 1976. By 1976, Layton, Stern, and most of the other members were full-fledged comics professionals, and the CPL Gang disbanded to pursue their burgeoning careers.

Titles published

* ''Contemporary Pictorial Literature'' (''CPL'') #1–12 (c. 1973–1975) * ''Charlton Bullseye'' #1–5 (1975–1976) * '' Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon'' #2 (Wally Wood, 1976) * ''

'' #10 (co-published with Bill Pearson's Wonderful Publishing Company, 1976)

References

{{reflist

External links

Contemporary Pictorial Literature (CPL): A Look Back

BobLayton.com

Fanzines American artist groups and collectives Charlton Comics Comics by John Byrne (comics) Comics by Roger Stern