EXCLUSIVE! IMAGES FROM A PLANNED LINE OF 1960s ‘NUDIE COMICS’ FROM CHARLTON!

Charlton released a wide range of publications from the 1940s to the 1980s. Perhaps most well-known for their comics line, they also published everything from music lyrics and paperbacks to what the industry termed “men’s magazines,” or to their customers, “nudie mags.” While they were risqué for the era, they never featured full nudity, and compared to content readily available on the web today, the periodicals were quite tame.

    What was not known about Charlton is that they had considered publishing a range of nudie comic books, featuring talent from their comics line. Historically, there had been many racy comics printed before, some called ‘Tijuana Bibles’ or ‘8 pagers,’ where the crude titles featured comic characters and celebrities in compromising positions, being sold ‘under the counter’ and not publicly displayed on newsstands.

NAKED KISS

NAKED KISS

    With the success of their men’s magazines and ribald cartoon books, Charlton planned to release a variety of black-and-white men’s comic books, utilizing their regular creators (much like Martin Goodman's Marvel Comics and their 'adult' Humorama magazines) and in-house distribution resources that disseminated all their other publications. Their color comics at the time were priced at 12¢ yet these were 50¢, conceivably to discourage kids from affording them. Whether they actually printed any of these books has not been verified and nothing about this line can be found anywhere in print or on the web.

SOME OF CHARLTON'S POPULAR RACY CARTOON BOOKS

GOOD HUMOR #39 CAMPUS HUMOR #1 BEST OF GOOD HUMOR #2 150 NEW CARTOONS #2
GOOD HUMOR #39 (July 1956) CAMPUS HUMOR #1 (1957) BEST OF GOOD HUMOR #2 (1960) 150 NEW CARTOONS #2 (1962)

 

NAKED ROMANTIC SECRETS

NAKED ROMANTIC SECRETS

    However, among a stack of silver prints (shot from original art and used to print the publications), were found prototypical covers for some of the titles, all drawn by cartoonist Dick Giordano. It is likely that because of the then-recent controversy about comic books being detrimental to children, which led to the establishment of the Comics Code, Charlton dropped the idea. Always cost conscious, Charlton repurposed the cover art (with clothes added) for their regular line of romance comics. Note that these silver prints are tagged with the comic title and issue number that they were ultimately published under Charlton's romance line.

NUDIST CAMP LOVE DIARY

NUDIST CAMP LOVE DIARY

    Mort Todd, has recently colored these covers for your enjoyment.

SKINNY-DIPPIN' TEEN-AGE CONFIDENTIAL CONFESSIONS

SKINNY-DIPPIN' TEEN-AGE CONFIDENTIAL CONFESSIONS

    Now that the public is aware of these titles, perhaps some of the interior contents will turn up, and maybe even some printed copies or ‘ash can’ editions, which would prove incredibly valuable.

 

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

 

For a LIMITED TIME get 11" x 17" color cardstock prints of the infamous CHARLTON NUDIE COVERS! One for $10 or ALL Four for $25 (includes shipping and handling; orders outside the US, please include an extra $5). Paypal total to morttodd@yahoo.com

All titles, characters, images and related devices © and ™ their respective creators and owners. No infringement of existing trademarks or copyrights is intended or inferred, and any use is for historic and educational purposes under “fair use” terms of U.S. Code: Title 17, Sec. 107, or for satiric intent.

CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO SEE MORE CHARLTON FUN!

The CHARLTON ARROW #1 The Charlton Arrow #2, Volume 2 The CHARLTON ARROW #2 Steve Ditko's WEIRD Comics #1 The Charlton Arrow #3, Volume 2
CHARLTON ARROW #1 CHARLTON ARROW #2 V.2 CHARLTON ARROW #2 Ditko's WEIRD Comics CHARLTON ARROW #3 V.2

Contact: charlton@morttodd.com