Jon B. Cooke

An all-new definitive history of Connecticut's notorious all-in-one comic book company! Often disparaged as a second-rate funny-book outfit, Charlton produced a vast array of titles that span from the 1940s Golden Age to the Bronze Age of the '70s in many genres, from Hot Rods to Haunted Love. The imprint experienced explosive bursts of creativity, most memorably the "Action Hero Line" edited by Dick Giordano in the 1960s, which featured the renowned talents of Steve Ditko and a stellar team of creators, as well as the unforgettable '70s "Bullseye" era that spawned E-Man and Doomsday +1, all helmed by veteran masters and talented newcomers--and serving as a training ground for an entire generation of comics creators thriving in an environment of complete creative freedom. From its beginnings with a handshake deal consummated in county jail, to the company's accomplishments beyond comics, woven into this prose narrative are interviews with dozens of talented participants, including Giordano, DENNIS O'Neil, Alex Toth, Sanho Kim, Tom Sutton, Pat Boyette, Nick Cuti, John Byrne, Mike Zeck, Joe Staton, Sam Glanzman, Neal Adams, Joe Gill, and even some Derby residents who recall working in the sprawling company plant. Though it gave up the ghost over three decades ago, Charlton's influence continues today with its Action Heroes serving as inspiration for Alan Moore's cross-media graphic novel hit, Watchmen. By Jon B. Cooke with Michael Ambrose & Frank Motler.

The Charlton Companion

SWAMPMEN: MUCK-MONSTERS AND THEIR MAKERS examines those creepy man-critters that crawled out of the bayou back in the 1970s, through the memories of the artists and writers who created them! A stunning line-up of interviews discuss Swamp Thing, Man-Thing, The Heap, Lurker of the Swamp, It, Bog Beast, and even Marvin the Dead Thing: BERNIE WRIGHTSON, ALAN MOORE, MIKE PLOOG, LEN WEIN, STEVE GERBER, STEPHEN R. BISSETTE, RICK VEITCH, VAL MAYERIK, JIM MOONEY, JOHN TOTLEBEN, and the remembrances of many others. Behind the chilling FRANK CHO cover, there's also these astounding stories: "It Started with 'It': The THEODORE STURGEON Connection"; "The Romance of 'Swamp Thing': Heartbreak Inside the House of Secrets"; "With the Helping of the Heap: Alan Moore's Anatomy Lesson"; "Jesus is Not Alright with DC: Rick Veitch and Cancelled Comics of Calvary"; and "The Lost Bernie Wrightson Swamp Thing Graphic Novel." Over ten years in the making, this is the definitive look at that ground-breaking horror comics sub-genre, so jump into the muck 'n' mire!

Swampmen: Muck-Monsters and their Makers

John Morrow

For its 80th issue, the Jack Kirby Collector magazine presents a double-sized 50th anniversary examination of Kirby's magnum opus! Spanning the pages of four different comics starting in 1970 (New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle, and Jimmy Olsen), th

A Companion to Jack Kirby's Fourth World

Old Gods and New

The party starts here! TwoMorrows and the Jack Kirby Collector magazine celebrate Jack Kirby’s 100th birthday in style with the release of KIRBY100, a full-color visual holiday for the King of comics! It features an all-star line-up of 100 comics pros who critique key images from Kirby’s 50-year career, admiring his page layouts, dramatics, and storytelling skills, and lovingly reminiscing about their favorite characters and stories. Featured are Bruce Timm, Alex Ross, Walter Simonson, John Byrne, Alan Davis, Joe Sinnott, Steve Rude, Adam Hughes, Wendy Pini, John Romita Sr., Dave Gibbons, P. Craig Russell, and dozens more of the top names in comics. Their essays serve to honor Jack’s place in comics history, and prove (as if there’s any doubt) that Kirby is King! This double-length book is edited by John Morrow and Jon B. Cooke, with a Kirby cover inked by Mike Royer.

100 Top Creators Celebrate Jack Kirby’s Greatest Work

Kirby100

This is the authorized — and definitive — book on the history of such memorable characters as Dynamo, No-Man, Lightning, Andor, the Iron Maiden, and all the other super-heroes and super-villains created by the late, great Wallace Wood and company! Included are interviews with Woody’s creative team, as well as those superb writers and artists involved in the various Thunder Agents resurrections over the decades, and a detailed examination of the origins and exploits of the characters themselves, including the shocking truth behind the first super-hero to ever be “killed,” Menthor, the master of mental force! This exclusive book also features reams of rarely-seen or previous unpublished artwork, including a rare 28-page T-Agents story drawn by Paul Gulacy, unpublished stories by Gulacy, Paris Cullins, and others, all behind a Jerry Ordway cover. Edited by Jon B. Cooke.

The Thunder Agents Companion

This is the definitive - and hugely entertaining - history of Weirdo magazine, the legendary Robert Crumb humour comics anthology from the 1980s. Weirdo took risks, broke barriers, and seriously offended the faint hearted. Ground-breaking and iconoclastic, it was an antidote to the times, a cult favourite show case for the counterculture.

A Retrospective of R. Crumb's Legendary Humor Comics Anthology

The Book of Weirdo

In 1994, amidst the boom-&-bust of comic book speculators, The Jack Kirby Collector #1 was published for true fans of the medium. That modest labor of love spawned TwoMorrows Publishing, today's premier purveyor of publications about comics and pop culture. Celebrate their 25th anniversary with this special retrospective look at the company that changed fandom forever! Co-edited by and featuring publisher John Morrow and Comic Book Artist/Comic Book Creator magazine's Jon B. Cooke, it gives the inside story and behind-the-scenes details of a quarter-century of looking at the past in a whole new way. Also included are Back Issue magazine's Michael Eury, Alter Ego's Roy Thomas, George Khoury (author of Kimota!, Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, and other books), Mike Manley (Draw! magazine), Eric Nolen-Weathington (Modern Masters), and a host of other comics luminaries who've contributed to TwoMorrows' output over the years. From their Eisner Award-winning Streetwise book, through their BrickJournal Lego magazine, up to today's RetroFan magazine, every major TwoMorrows publication and contributor is covered with the same detail and affection the company gives to its books and magazines. With an Introduction by Mark Evanier, Foreword by Alex Ross, Afterword by Paul Levitz, and a new cover by Tom McWeeney!

Celebrating 25 Years of the Future of Fandom

The World of Twomorrows

COMIC BOOK ARTIST BULLPEN collects all seven issues of the little-seen labor of love fanzine published in the early 2000s by JON B. COOKE (editor of today's Comic Book Creator magazine), just after the original CBA ended its TwoMorrows run. Featured are in-depth interviews with some of comics' major league players, including GEORGE TUSKA, FRED HEMBECK, TERRY BEATTY, and FRANK BOLLE--and an amazing all-star tribute to Silver Age great JACK ABEL by the Marvel Comics Bullpen and others. That previously unpublished all-comics Abel appreciation (assembled by RICK PARKER) includes strips by JOE KUBERT, WALTER SIMONSON, KYLE BAKER, MARIE SEVERIN, GRAY MORROW, ALAN WEISS, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, MORT TODD, DICK AYERS, and many more! Plus a new bonus feature on JACK KIRBY's unknown 1960s baseball card art, and a 16-page full-color section, all behind a Jack Kirby cover!

Comic Book Artist Bullpen

Ronald E. Turner

A revival of the legendary underground horror comix anthology, this one-shot 50th anniversary edition includes all-new comix by 33 writers and artists, with one classic reprint by R. Crumb, 28 stories and pin-ups to chill the bones in our temperature-rising age of global warming. Inspired by the ecological advocacy of the original title, which debuted on the very first Earth Day in 1970, this edition features horrifying tales depicting the environmental calamity facing our world in this time of climate change. The book is headlined by a savage depiction of the implications of the melting polar ice cap in Antarctica, by award-winning cartoonist/illustrator William Stout, who provides the cover. Also included is work by Richard Corben, Rick Veitch, Drew Friedman, Bryan Talbot, Hunt Emerson, Peter Kuper, and many more, as well as unseen work by the late, great Greg Irons.

The Comix Anthology of Ecological Horror

Slow Death Zero

CBC #21 joins ERIC POWELL in celebrating 20 years of his signature character, The Goon! In a comprehensive career-spanning interview, the creator shares about his background, development of the two-fisted character, and plans for the next quarter-century—including a mouth-watering gallery of rarely seen artwork. Plus CBC editor and author of the new retrospective The Book of Weirdo, Jon B. Cooke, conducts a rare new interview with perhaps the greatest cartoonist of all time, R. CRUMB, about the artist's work on that legendary humor comics anthology. Ye Ed also details the Book of Weirdo book tour; starting his first podcast, Subterranean Dispatch; and future plans about a history of alternative comix. Plus JOHN ROMITA SR. shares his appreciation for the work of the great comic strip artist MILTON CANIFF. Also look for our usual excellent features by our regular gang of contributors, including another "Dateline" installment by Our Man Hembeck!

Comic Book Creator #21

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #18 features a career-spanning and downright philosophical discussion with STEVE "THE DUDE" RUDE, the Eisner Award-winning artist who got his start back in 1981 as co-creator of intergalactic executioner Nexus. The "eternal art student" (heavily influenced by Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Russ Manning, and legendary art instructor Andrew Loomis) shares his real-life psychological struggles, the challenges of freelance subsistence, and his creative aspirations. Also: The jungle art of NEAL ADAMS (whose artistry has graced many a TARZAN cover)! Cartoonist MARY FLEENER talks about her forthcoming graphic novel Billie the Bee and her comix career! Part Three of Michael Aushenker's enormous RICH BUCKLER interview! A comprehensive chat with the late Golden Age artist FRANK BORTH about his long friendship with Reed Crandall and his work at Quality and Treasure Chest Comics, and syndicated comic strip work. Plus HEMBECK and other fun features, all in our new full-color 100-page format. NOTE: Contains mild nudity for figure-drawing demonstration; suggested for Mature Readers Only.

Comic Book Creator #18

“Not Your Average Joes” is the theme of CBC #20, headlined by an exhaustive interview with JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his signature creation Cry for Dawn, discussing his many years as a comics professional, and current work on Vampirella. (We also talk with Joe’s significant other, KRISTINA DEAK-LINSNER, about the distinction of being Vampi’s first female artist!) Then CBC spends Sunday Brunch with the great JOE SINNOTT, catching up with the legendary artist to discuss his years at Marvel, inking Jack Kirby’s work, and his nearly forgotten masterworks produced for Treasure Chest. Plus JOE JUSKO returns to our pages to talk about his early exposure to the Marvel Age of Comics and his fabulous “Corner Box Collection,” which honor the great ’60s cover design element produced by the House of Ideas! We also track down the elusive artists behind the Topps bubble gum BAZOOKA JOE comic strips, and visit with a guy named “Yoe,” CRAIG YOE, the creative force behind Yoe Books. Plus, we showcase another installment of our RICH BUCKLER interview and, of course, HEMBECK!

Comic Book Creator #20

Celebrating the greatest fantasy artist of all time, FRANK FRAZETTA! From THUN’DA and EC COMICS to CREEPY, EERIE, and VAMPIRELLA, Steve Ringgenberg and CBC’s editor present an historical retrospective, including insights by current creators and associates, and memories of the man himself. PLUS: Frazetta-inspired artists JOE JUSKO, and TOM GRINDBERG, who contributes our Death Dealer cover painting!

Comic Book Creator #19

CBC #22 travels to the studio of P. Craig Russell, whose career stretches from Killraven and Elric, to his Oscar Wilde adaptations and The Sandman, to the present day with American Gods, for a career-spanning, intimate interview (complete with photos and a gallery of PCR’s finest artwork). Also, we look at an almost completely unknown work of Frank Quitely, renowned artist on All-Star Superman and The Authority: his awesome artwork decorating the walls of a Radisson hotel in Scotland! We also talk with Derf Backderf about his forthcoming graphic novel commemorating the 50th anniversary of the tragic killing of college students, Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio. Jeff Gelb says goodbye to his best friend and frequent CBC contributor Bill Schelly. And we finally make that visit to the great Joe Sinnott to discuss his Treasure Chest work, as well as get revealing answers from Jay Leisten from our probing 10 Questions. Oh, and lest we forget, Fred Hembeck shares a new strip! Edited by Jon B. Cooke.

Comic Book Creator #22

In 1994, amidst the boom-&-bust of comic book speculators, The Jack Kirby Collector #1 was published for true fans of the medium. That modest labor of love spawned TwoMorrows Publishing, today’s premier purveyor of publications about comics and pop culture. Celebrate our 25th anniversary with this special retrospective look at the company that changed fandom forever! Co-edited by and featuring publisher John Morrow and Comic Book Artist/Comic Book Creator magazine’s Jon B. Cooke, it gives the inside story and behind-the-scenes details of a quarter-century of looking at the past in a whole new way. Also included are Back Issue magazine’s Michael Eury, Alter Ego’s Roy Thomas, George Khoury (author of Kimota!, Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, and other books), Mike Manley (Draw! magazine), Eric Nolen-Weathington (Modern Masters), and a host of other comics luminaries who’ve contributed to TwoMorrows’ output over the years. From their first Eisner Award-winning book Streetwise, through their BrickJournal Lego® magazine, up to today’s RetroFan magazine, every major TwoMorrows publication and contributor is covered with the same detail and affection the company gives to its books and magazines. With an Introduction by Mark Evanier, Foreword by Alex Ross, Afterword by Paul Levitz, and a new cover by Tom McWeeney!

The World of TwoMorrows

Paul Castiglia

Rik Offenberger

THE MLJ COMPANION documents the complete history of Archie Comics’ super-hero characters known as the “Mighty Crusaders”—The Shield, Black Hood, Steel Sterling, Hangman, Mr. Justice, The Fly, and many others. It features in-depth examinations of each era of the characters’ extensive history: The Golden Age (beginning with the Shield, the first patriotic super-hero, who pre-dated Captain America by a full year), the Silver Age (spotlighting those offbeat, campy Mighty Comics issues, and The Fly and Jaguar), the Bronze Age (with the Red Circle line, and the !mpact imprint published by DC Comics), up to the Modern Age, with its Dark Circle imprint (featuring such fan-favorites series as “The Fox” by Mark Waid and Dean Haspiel). Plus: Learn what “MLJ” stands for! Uncover such rarities as the Mighty Crusaders board game, and the Shadow’s short-lived career as a spandex-clad superhero! Discover the ill-fated Spectrum line of comics, that was abruptly halted due to its violent content! See where the super-heroes crossed over into Archie, Betty, and Veronica’s world! And read interviews with Irv Novick, Dick Ayers, Rich Buckler, Bill DuBay, Steve Englehart, Jim Valentino, Jimmy Palmiotti, Kelly Jones, Michael Uslan, and others who chronicled the Mighty Crusaders’ exploits from the 1940s to today! By Rik Offenberger, Paul Castiglia, and Jon B. Cooke,with a cover by Rich Buckler and Joe Rubinstein. INCLUDES 60 FULL-COLOR PAGES OF KEY MLJ STORIES!

The complete history of the Archie Comics super-heroes

The MLJ Companion

COMIC BOOK CREATOR magazine—the new voice of the comics medium—pays tribute to the late, great JOE KUBERT in a 160-page double-size BOOK extravaganza! Squeezed between Kubert homage covers by SERGIO CARIELLO and TIM TRUMAN, this Summer Special is entirely devoted to the legendary comics creator who passed away in 2012. Included are comprehensive examinations of each facet of Joe's career: Golden Age fan favorite artist, 3-D comics pioneer, pre-eminent war delineator, top artist-as-editor, incomparable Tarzan writer and artist, founder of the Kubert School, graphic novelist, P*S magazine helmsman, father to a comics creator dynasty, and inspiration to generations of aspiring artists—replete with interviews with the master from over the years, plus rarely-seen artwork and artifacts. Editor Jon B. Cooke (of the Eisner Award-winning Comic Book Artist magazine) has also assembled testimonials, remembrances, portraits, anecdotes, pin-ups and mini-interviews by peers, faculty, students, fans, friends and family, with special emphasis on a history of the Kubert School, its illustrious alumni, and Joe's impact as instructor.

Joe Kubert: A Tribute to the Creator & Mentor

COMIC BOOK ARTIST SPECIAL EDITION is an ALL-NEW 68-page comic book-size extravaganza—with a new full-color BRUCE TIMM cover—focusing on the great DC Comics of the ’70s! It features new interviews and plenty of unpublished art, plus: Interviews with Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman on JACK KIRBY’s Fourth World! ALEX TOTH on his mystery work! NEAL ADAMS on his Superman vs. Muhammad Ali! RUSS HEATH on his Sgt. Rock work! Writer BRUCE JONES discussing BERNIE WRIGHTSON (plus a WRIGHTSON PORTFOLIO)! And a special BRUCE TIMM interview and art gallery!

Comic Book Artist Special Edition #1

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #23 showcases a remarkable and revealing interview with comics pioneer and the artist extraordinaire of ElfQuest, WENDY PINI, about her difficult early years and escape to a creative life through fantasy fiction, adventure cartoons, Marvel Comics, and dance. We discuss her years as the quintessential Red Sonja cosplayer and 40+ years of ElfQuest, one of the first creator-owned titles that ushered in the new age of alternative comics, and much more about her amazing career, in a jaw-droppingly candid Q+A. We also talk to RICHARD PINI, ElfQuest co-creator, about their nearly 48-year marriage and their even-older creative partnership! Delayed from last issue, we present the final segment of our interview with CRAIG YOE, as we visit his New York abode to talk about his work on The Muppets and friendship with legendary Jim Henson, his career-changing book, The Art of Mickey Mouse, and current Yoe Books imprint. We also talk with LARRY KOSTER, onetime Gil Kane boyhood friend and business partner, about publishing His Name Is… Savage and other adventures with the raconteur comic book artist. Plus Michael Aushenker chats with the great PABLO MARCOS about his awesome Marvel horror work and so much more! Oh, and not to forget the wonderful FRED HEMBECK to round things up!

Comic Book Creator #23

Presents collections of articles that cover the history of comic books along with interviews with notable cartoonists.

Jon B. Cooke

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