Without the television show, I doubt any of the Wyatt Earp books would have been printed, much like the syndicated British television series, "The Adventures of Robin Hood," starring Richard Greene which ran from 1955 to 1960 gave birth to books featuring Robin Hood from Charlton, Quality, Magazine Enterprises, and giveaway books from Browns Shoe Company. The Quality books were basically based on the television show, but the others weren't. Being legendary, Robin Hood was a public domain character who could be adapted a lot of different ways, much like Wyatt Earp had been presented as the stuff of western myths for so many decades he was fair game to be fictionalized for television, movies, and comic books.
I like the Charlton issues of Wyatt Earp simply because I grew up in a small town and was familiar with the comics before the area finally had a television station that included us in its broadcast range. I did see the final year of Wyatt Earp, enjoyed its version of the Gunfight near the O.K. Corral, and was sorry to see the program leave the air, but I never cared much for the Dell books despite their photo covers and obvious licensing deals.
