Editing Charlton Comics (section)

===Early years===
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2010}}
{{multiple image
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   | footer    = Charlton published a wide variety of [[genres]], including [[romance comics|romance]], [[crime fiction|crime]],  [[Humor magazine|satire]] and [[horror (genre)|horror]].
   | image1    = Sweetheart Diary No 33 Charlton, 1956 SA.jpg
   | image2    = Lawbreakers Suspense Stories 11.jpg
   | image3    = The Thing 15.jpg
   | image4    = EhNo2.jpg
   | image5    = The Thing 09.jpg 
}}
In 1931, Italian immigrant John Santangelo Sr., a bricklayer who had started a construction business in [[White Plains, New York]], five years earlier, began what became a highly successful business publishing song-lyric magazines out of nearby [[Yonkers, New York]]. Operating in violation of [[copyright]] laws, however, he was sentenced in 1934 to a year and a day at New Haven County Jail in [[New Haven, Connecticut]], near Derby, where his wife and he by then lived. In jail, he met [[Waterbury, Connecticut]] attorney Ed Levy, with whom he began legitimate publishing in 1935, acquiring permissions to reproduce lyrics in such magazines as ''Hit Parade'' and ''Big Song Magazine''. Santangelo and Levy opened a printing plant in Waterbury the following year, and in 1940, founded the T.W.O. Charles Company, eventually moving its headquarters to Derby.<ref name=chs>Archive of [https://web.archive.org/web/20080412061537/http://www.chs.org/comics/charlton.htm "Charlton Comics: A Brief History"],  The Connecticut Historical Society. [http://www.chs.org/comics/charlton.htm Original site]. [http://web.archive.org/web/20080412061537/http://www.chs.org/comics/charlton.htm WebCitation archive].</ref> Charlton purchased the company Song Lyrics, Inc., which published ''Song Hits'' magazine and was owned by [[Lyle Engel]] in 1949.<ref>{{cite magazine | magazine=Billboard | date=December 24, 1949 | title=Charlton Acquires Engel's Lyric Mags, Marking End of an Era | page=20 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20 }}</ref>

Following the adoption of the Charlton Comics name in 1946,<ref name="Power" /> the company over the next five years acquired material from freelance [[editing|editor]] and [[comics packager]] Al Fago (brother of former [[Timely Comics]] editor [[Vincent Fago]]). Charlton additionally published ''Merry Comics'', ''Cowboy Western'', the Western title ''Tim McCoy'', and ''Pictorial Love Stories''.

The company used a second-hand press originally used for printing cereal boxes.<ref>[https://centralrecorder.org/423/arts-and-entertainment/watchmen-comic-has-roots-in-connecticut/ Watchmen Comic Has Roots in Connecticut - Central Recorder]</ref> These large presses were very costly to both stop and start, which only happened twice a year when they had to be cleaned, and so they started publishing comics as a mean to keep the presses going.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2-ZnEAAAQBAJ&dq=charlton+comics+presses+two+times+a+year+going&pg=PA20 The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz]</ref> After the entry into the comic business, the company's first comic book was ''[[Yellowjacket (Charlton Comics)|Yellowjacket]]'', an anthology of superhero and horror stories launched September 1944 under the imprint Frank Comunale Publications, with Ed Levy listed as publisher.<ref name="Power" /> ''Zoo Funnies'' was published under the imprint Children Comics Publishing; ''Jack in the Box'', under Frank Comunale; and ''TNT Comics'', under Charles Publishing Co. Another imprint was Frank Publications.

In 1951, when Al Fago began as an in-house editor, Charlton hired a staff of artists who included its future managing editor, [[Dick Giordano]]. Others (staff or freelance) who eventually worked with Charlton included [[Vince Alascia]], [[Jon D'Agostino]], [[Sam Glanzman]], [[Rocke Mastroserio|Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio]], Bill Molno, [[Charles Nicholas]], and [[Sal Trapani]]. The primary writer was the remarkably prolific [[Joe Gill]]. The same year the company created an in-house comics department, where comics would make up 25% of Charlton.<ref>[https://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/09empire.html The Charlton Empire - Comic Book Artist #9]</ref>

The company began a wide expansion of its comics line, which included notoriously gory{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} horror comics (the principal title being [[Steve Ditko]]'s ''[[The Thing!]]''). In 1954–55, it acquired a stable of comic-book properties from the defunct Superior Comics, [[Mainline Publications]], [[St. John Publications]], and most significantly, [[Fawcett Publications]],<ref name="Power" /> which was shutting down its [[Fawcett Comics]] division. Charlton continued publishing two of Fawcett's horror books—''[[This Magazine Is Haunted]]'' and ''[[Strange Suspense Stories]]''—initially using unpublished material from Fawcett's inventory.<ref>[http://www.toonopedia.com/charlton.htm ''Charlton Comics''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]] notes that Charlton's acquisition included unused artwork from a number of Fawcett titles. [https://archive.today/20120913072305/http://www.toonopedia.com/charlton.htm Archived] from the original December 6, 2011.</ref> Artistic chores were then handed to Ditko, whose moody, individualistic touch came to dominate Charlton's supernatural line. Beset by the circulation slump that swept the industry towards the end of the 1950s,{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}} ''Haunted'' struggled for another two years, published bimonthly until May 1958. ''Strange Suspense Stories'' ran longer, lasting well into the 1960s before "giving up the ghost" in 1965.

Charlton published a wide line of [[Romance comics|romance]] titles, particularly after it acquired the Fawcett line, which included the romance comics  ''[[Sweethearts (comics)|Sweethearts]]'', ''Romantic Secrets'', and ''Romantic Story''. ''Sweethearts'' was the comic world's first monthly romance title<ref>Nolan, Michelle (2008). ''Love on the Racks: A History of American Romance Comics''. McFarland & Company, Inc.. pp. 30, 210. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3519-7}}.</ref> (debuting in 1948), and Charlton continued publishing it until 1973. Charlton had launched its first original romance title in 1951, ''True Life Secrets'', but that series only lasted until 1956. Charlton also picked up a number of [[Western comics|Western]] titles from the defunct Fawcett Comics line, including ''[[Gabby Hayes|Gabby Hayes Western]]'', ''[[Lash LaRue|Lash LaRue Western]]'', ''[[Monte Hale|Monte Hale Western]]'', ''[[Rocky Lane|Rocky Lane Western]]''.
''Six-Gun Heroes'', ''[[Tex Ritter|Tex Ritter Western]]'', ''[[Tom Mix|Tom Mix Western]]'', and ''Western Hero''.

Seeking to save money on second-class postage permits, Charlton, like many comic-book publishers of the era, frequently changed the titles of their comics, rather than start new ones at number 1 (a new publication required a new postal permit, while an existing publication that just changed its name could use its existing permit).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://brewminate.com/americas-postwar-fling-with-romance-comics/ |title=America’s Postwar Fling with Romance Comics |author=Michael C. Weisenburg |date=February 19, 2020 |work=Brewminate |accessdate=July 12, 2023}}</ref> Notable examples of this practice include the titles ''[[Billy the Kid (Charlton Comics)|Billy the Kid]]'' (originally ''Masked Raider''), ''[[Blue Beetle (comic book)|Blue Beetle]]'' vol. 2 (originally ''[[The Thing!]]''), ''[[Blue Beetle (comic book)|Blue Beetle]]'' vol. 3 (originally ''Unusual Tales''), ''[[Fightin' Air Force]]'' (originally ''Never Again''), ''[[Fightin' Army]]'' (originally ''Soldier and Marine Comics''), ''[[Fightin' Marines]]'' (originally ''The Texan''), ''[[Fightin' Navy]]'' (originally ''[[Don Winslow of the Navy (comic strip)|Don Winslow of the Navy]]''), ''[[Ghostly Haunts]]'' (originally ''[[Ghost Manor (comics)|Ghost Manor]]''), ''[[Ghostly Tales]]'' (originally ''[[Blue Beetle (comic book)|Blue Beetle]]'' vol. 3), ''[[I Love You (comics)|I Love You]]'' (originally ''In Love''), and ''[[Sweethearts (comics)|Sweethearts]]'' (originally [[Fawcett Publications|Fawcett]]'s ''[[Captain Midnight]]'').

Al Fago left in the mid-1950s, and was succeeded by his assistant, [[Pat Masulli]], who remained in the position for 10 years. Masulli oversaw a plethora of new romance titles, including the long-running ''[[I Love You (comics)|I Love You]]'', ''Sweetheart Diary'', ''[[Brides in Love]]'', ''My Secret Life'', and ''[[Just Married (comics)|Just Married]]''; and the teen-oriented romance comics ''Teen-Age Love'', ''Teen Confessions'', and ''Teen-Age Confidential Confessions''.

On August 19, 1955, the company was hit hard by a [[1955 Connecticut floods|flood]]. The water was rising so fast that vital office records was all that could be saved. $300,000 in paper inventory, plates, mats and original comics artwork were lost, including the artwork the company had bought from [[Fawcett Comics]], in addition to printing presses and typesetting machines. Several issues of comics were destroyed, and some titles abandoned completely.<ref>[https://issuu.com/twomorrows/docs/charltoncompanionpreview/s/16610196 The Coming of Charlton Comics - Issuu]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jLR5ounf1k&t=2544s Charlton Neo Media/Charlton Comics: The Movie Panel at CT ComiCONN]</ref> Due to the shutdown following the flood, the comics were outsourced to outside presses for some months.<ref>[https://www.cbr.com/marvel-comics-steve-ditko-charlton-comics-hurricane/ Learn How a 1955 Hurricane Changed Marvel Comics History Forever]</ref>

Superheroes were a minor part of the company. At the beginning, Charlton's main  characters were [[Yellowjacket (Charlton Comics)|Yellowjacket]], not to be confused with the later Marvel character, and Diana the Huntress. In the mid-1950s, Charlton briefly published a ''Blue Beetle'' title with new and reprinted stories, and in 1956, several short-lived titles written by [[Superman]] co-creator [[Jerry Siegel]], such as ''[[Mr. Muscles]]'', ''Zaza the Mystic'', and ''[[Nature Boy (comics)|Nature Boy]]'' (the latter with artist Mastroserio).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bails |first1=Jerry |title=SIEGEL, JERRY |url=http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=SIEGEL%2c+JERRY |website=Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 |access-date=6 April 2021}}</ref>