Deep Dish Radio with Tim Powers

The Charlton Comic Group, part of Capital Distributing Company (CDC), was notable for printing music and pop culture magazines such as “Song Hits”, “Hit Parader” “Tiger Beat”, and “Hustler” alongside a list of comic book titles spanning the genres of horror, westerns, romance, comedy, adventure, action, war and superheroes. Unlike its rivals Marvel and DC, Charlton's comic book line of printing was given little to no managerial oversight. “They didn’t care much about what was coming off the presses. They were just interested in keeping their presses rolling 24hours a day. So that is how they got into comics in the first place, just as a way to keep those presses going.” explains Paul Kupperberg, accomplished writer and editor of comics. What is unknown to most, is the long list of renowned comic book talent that once produced content for Charlton. Such names include Marvel and DC Comics legends: Denny O’Neil, Steve Ditko, Dick Giordano, Bob Layton, Paul Kupperberg, Joe Sinnott, Roy Thomas, Frank McLaughlin, Neal Adams and more. These writers and artists went on to fame creating mainstay comics book characters such as Spider-Man, Batman, and Iron Man to name a few. “You know their names. You know their work. What you don’t know is how they got their start. Our film tells the humorous, tragic and simply amazing story of Charlton. It’s a story that anyone who loves comics must see and hear.” says the film’s Co-Producer Keith Larsen. “We heard these stories at a convention panel and immediately wanted to share them on a global scale by making a movie about it.” he added.