Thursday, March 12, 2015

Thank You, Thing: More Memling

The Thing is Charlton's first horror book. They shortly pick up This Magazine Is Haunted from Fawcett, but after that their weird-story titles fall under the Comics Code and can't be called horror.

The Thing 17 'Bad Blood'--signed Dick Ayers

The Thing starts as a showcase for artists Bob Forgione, John Belfi, and the like, but about two-thirds along in its run becomes more the Charlton we recognize with the coming of Dick Ayers, Bill Molno, and most importantly Steve Ditko. Carl Memling starts writing before the change in the artists' lineup, and from then on has at least one story in every issue through the final one. He may have written more stories than those here, but these are the ones of which I can be positive. There are two Memling tells in the final balloon above.

The Thing
Written by Carl Memling

May/53 A Grave Situation


Death Has Deep Roots
Jul/      Mardu's Masterpiece
The Road to Madness


Operation Massacre
The Dead Man's Hand
Sep/     10  Flower of Evil

Into the Fire


Death Has Three Fingers
N-D/     11  Hansel and Gretel
The Glitter of Evil

Deep Freeze


Blind Vengeance
Feb/54 12  Melvin Comes Home
Apr/     13  Poor Fish
June/     14  The Evil Eye

Doom in the Air


Blind Vengeance
J-A/     15  Day of Reckoning
Sep/     16  Death of a Gambler

Picture of the Future


Mental Wizard
     The Crusher
Nov/     17  Bad Blood

3 comments:

  1. While I usually think of Charlton has the bottom of the barrel for payment to contributors, anyone know how their pay was (in comparison) before the 1955 flood?

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  2. Maybe I'm thinking of Joe Sinnott, but didn't Dick Ayers keep records books--and did they show payments?

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  3. Dick Ayers did keep a record book - and you're right, that would be a good source of pay rates.

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