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 Publications, which published magazines (most notably song-lyric magazines), puzzle books and, briefly, books (under the Monarch and Gold Star imprints). It had its own distribution company (Capital Distribution).

Charlton Comics published a wide variety of genres including; crime, science fiction, Western, horror, war and romance comics, as well as talking animal and superhero titles. The company was known for its low-budget practices, often using unpublished material acquired from defunct companies and paying comics creators among the lowest rates in the industry. Charlton was also the last of the American comics publishers still operating to raise its cover prices from ten cents to 12 cents in 1962.

It was unique among comic book companies in that it controlled all areas of publishing – from editorial to printing to distribution – rather than working with outside printers and distributors as did most other publishers. It did so under one roof at its Derby headquarters.Duncan, Randy and Smith, Matthew J.
"The Charlton Comics Story,"
''The Power of Comics: History, Form & Culture'' (Continuum, 2009).

The company was formed by John Santangelo Sr. and Ed Levy in 1940 as T.W.O. Charles Company, named after the co-founders' two sons, both named Charles, and became Charlton Publications in 1945.

History

Early years

In 1931, Italian immigrant John Santangelo Sr., a bricklayer who had started a construction business in White Plains, New York, five years earlier, began what became a highly successful business publishing song-lyric magazines out of nearby Yonkers, New York. Operating in violation of copyright laws, however, he was sentenced in 1934 to a year and a day at New Haven County Jail in New Haven, Connecticut, near Derby, Connecticut, where he and his wife by then lived. In jail, he met Waterbury, Connecticut, attorney Ed Levy, with whom he began legitimate publishing in 1935, acquiring permissions to reproduce lyrics in such magazines as ''Hit Parade'' and ''Big Song Magazine''. Santangelo and Levy opened a printing plant in Waterbury the following year, and in 1940 founded the T.W.O. Charles Company, eventually moving its headquarters to Derby.Archive o
"Charlton Comics: A Brief History"
The Connecticut Historical Society

Charlton purchased the company Song Lyrics, Inc., which published ''Song Hits'' magazine and was owned by Lyle Engel in 1949.

After deciding to publish comics in order to keep their presses active, the company's first comic book was ''Yellowjacket'', an anthology of superhero and horror stories launched September 1944 under the imprint Frank Comunale Publications, with Ed Levy listed as publisher. ''Zoo Funnies'' was published under the imprint Children Comics Publishing; ''Jack in the Box'', under Frank Comunale; and ''TNT Comics'', under Charles Publishing Co.. Another imprint was Frank Publications.

Following the adoption of the Charlton Comics name in 1946, the company over the next five years acquired material from freelance editor and comics packager Al Fago (brother of former Timely Comics editor Vincent Fago). Charlton additionally published ''Merry Comics'', ''Cowboy Western'', the Western title ''Tim McCoy'', and ''Pictorial Love Stories''.

In 1951, when Al Fago began as an in-house editor, Charlton hired a staff of artists that included its future managing editor, Dick Giordano. Others (staff or freelance) who would eventually work with Charlton included; Vince Alascia