Joe Maneely at Charlton

[OtherEric]

We have a few Charlton books that supposedly feature Joe Maneely art on site, and I'm scanning yet another one from my collection (Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal 21) at the moment.  But to me, the stories that are attributed to him (I'm going mostly by the GCD here for exact stories) don't look that much like any other work I've seen of his.  This has been commented on in some articles; I've seen one where Dr. Vassallo describes them as "Sparsely drawn Westerns".  Since I was scanning the book I wanted to throw the subject up for discussion, since I haven't heard much said about his (or other Atlas artists) work at Charlton after the Atlas implosion, other than brief mentions that it happened.

It is an interesting quick of the publishing history around then:  at least three artists (Williamson, Maneely, and Severin) worked on both Atlas's and Charlton's concurrently running Wyatt Earp series in the late 50's.

[darkmark (RIP)]

And a ton of EC artists ended up working at Marvel (Atlas) after the fall of Gaines's comics.  Al, of course, but also Reed Crandall, Angelo Torres, John Severin, even Wally Wood on occasion...Marvel's Westerns and war comics of the time were some of the best-drawn around.

[JVJ (RIP)]

FORTY YEARS ago, I wrote an article about this stuff. I guess it needs to see print again. Here is what appeared in Promethean Enterprises #2 in 1970:

http://www.bpib.com/test/GAC/dark%20ages.pdf

Remember, this was written pre-Price Guide.

still (c) 1970 Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[Yoc]

Very cool!
Thanks for sharing this Jim.

[builderboy]

A fantastic read, Jim. Not just where to find non-Atlas Maneely (a HUGE favorite of mine), but, more accurately, where to find EVERYONE between 1955 and 1961...the biggies, anyway.

I had read in a thread recently that OtherEric has a 100-page Giant Charleton featuring Maneely art, and that's why this thread caught my eye. Glad it did!  Now, I want to tear home and start digging out some countless issues. 

[JVJ (RIP)]

You can't find the scans here, Builderboy,
but the earliest Maneely can be found at Street & Smith in 1948 issues of Red Dragon and Supersnipe. GREAT stuff.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[Poztron]

Ulp. I started a separate thread on the Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal #21 before I read this thread. Perhaps some admin might want to fold that into this thread or...whatever. I suppose it works as a stand-alone thread as well.

The more I think about it, the supposedly Maneely art in this issue is obviously Maneely in some fashion, but if it was him doing both pencils and inks then he was beginning to approach an Alex Toth-like simplicity. More likely, it strikes me as Maneely pencils with someone else inking.

[JVJ (RIP)]

It's Maneely solo, Poz,
working fast and cheap for minimum wage. Charlton was the bottom of the barrel and Joe was whipping these out.

Wyatt Earp was an historical figure and in the public domain. Dell had a Wyatt Earp title, too. No connection here with Severin at Atlas. Atlas had imploded and all of their artists were struggling for survival.

The history of 1958 Charlton is based almost entirely on the Atlas Implosion of 1957. Truth is more interesting...

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[John C]

Wyatt Earp was an historical figure and in the public domain. Dell had a Wyatt Earp title, too. No connection here with Severin at Atlas. Atlas had imploded and all of their artists were struggling for survival.

While technically true, there would still be a trademark issue to deal with.  Without permission, the Atlas people could easily make the case that Charlton was trading on their reputation--especially with the same artists.  Either Charlton (rightly) guessed that nobody at Atlas would care or have the money, or they called over and asked permission.

But you can't, for example, publish a comic titled "Superman" adapting "Man and Superman" without hearing from Time-Warner, even though it "should be" in the public domain.

[OtherEric]

Atlas's Wyatt Earp first issue had a cover date of November 1955.  Charlton's Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal first issue (actually #12) had a cover date of January 1956.

Given how loose cover dates were back then, and the fact that Wyatt Earp was historical, I doubt any lawyer would say the lawsuit had enough of a chance to win to be worth the fight.

[John C]

Never mind.  I'm an idiot.  One series is "Wyatt Earp" and one is "Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshall."  Given that there's no Wyatt Earp estate defending its trademark, that's fair game.

I thought both books carried the same title.  If they had, then the odds wouldn't look good for the Charlton book.  "It's too soon" might limit the damages, but wouldn't keep the title in the market.

[JVJ (RIP)]

don't forget, Hugh O'Brian, Famous Marshal Wyatt Earp, from Dell, John C.

He was on TV and very popular.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[OtherEric]

And reviving a thread from nearly a year ago, I'm toying with putting together a "Maneely at Charlton" collection now that we have most of the stories I'm aware of- and I know at least two of the three I know we're missing are on the way.  With that in mind, I wanted to post a checklist of what stories he did for Charlton, pretty directly cribbed from the GCD.  I'm looking for any additions or corrections people know of.

Cowboy Western #67                         March 1958
   Trapped in the Badlands             Wild Bill Hickok and Jingles         8 pages    
   Marked Men!                                                                             4 pages    
   Showdown Street                       Wild Bill Hickok and Jingles         3 pages    
   At the Governor's Ball                 Wild Bill Hickok and Jingles         5 pages    
   The Giveaway!                           Wild Bill Hickok and Jingles         2 pages    

Rocky Lane's Black Jack  #22      March 1958
   Trouble At Sunrise!                                          4 pages    
   The Stagecoach Mystery                                       5 pages    

Six-Gun Heroes #45                 March 1958
   Gunfighter For Hire!                                          6 pages    

Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal #20      March 1958
   Depserado's Trail                                          4 pages    

Tex Ritter Western #40              April 1958
   Two Guns for Laredo                                          6 pages

Lash Larue Western #68              May 1958
   The Calamity Kid                                          5 pages    

Six-Gun Heroes #47                 July 1958
   The James Gang Strikes      Jesse James                       5 pages    

Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal #21      September 1958
   Double Doublecross         Wyatt Earp                              7 pages
   The Side of the Law         Wyatt Earp                              5 pages    
   Fight or…Crawl                 Wyatt Earp                              5 pages    

Tex Ritter Western #43              October 1958
   The Vanishing Herd                                          5 pages

Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal #22      November 1958
   Wyatt Earp's Six-Shooter Secrets   Wyatt Earp                       2 pages

Outlaws of the West #19                   April 1959    
   Cover                                                                         1 page

[Yoc]

I've put out the SOS on the Timely-Atlas group.

[josemas]

You can't find the scans here, Builderboy,
but the earliest Maneely can be found at Street & Smith in 1948 issues of Red Dragon and Supersnipe. GREAT stuff.

Jim,

Didn't Maneely also do some early work for Treasure Chest and Hillman?  I seem to remember Doc V mentioning that over at Timely-Atlas.  If so we may have some of those stories here at DCM.

Best

Joe