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Post by Defiant1 on Apr 14, 2007 10:35:33 GMT -5
Blue Bird Comics is a confusing nightmare to sort out. It appears each issue had 5 variants, but that was a guess based upon the info I could find online. Overstreet & CPG are incomplete and of very little help for creating a checklist. Titles adjacent to issue numbers are the ones I could confirm via price listing or guide listing. Not only that, the 1946 comics are listed as having Timely characters.   Defiant1 |
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Post by Defiant1 on Apr 14, 2007 12:46:26 GMT -5
I'm going to assume that this logo carried over eventually to Valiant.  Harbinger "Bluebird" edition Trade paperbacks?! C'mon?! Where else could it have come from. Bob Layton was part of the CPL gang which had the in-house Charlton fanzine. His connection is there.  If it wasn't done on purpose, it's a pretty uncanny coincidence. Defiant1 |
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Post by gowaltrip on Apr 14, 2007 20:42:18 GMT -5
I must agree. Neat stuff! Love how it looks like Valiant just modernized the logo. I never heard of Blue Bird, but I recognize a Charlton character or 2. Was this their promotional comics? Or Pre-Charlton? (like Timely's). This goes to show how little I know about Charltons and I hate that. I just buy them cause I like collecting them. But the history side of it pretty much escapes me.
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Quato
Level 14
a.k.a. Defiant1
Quato a.k.a. Defiant1
Posts: 1,669 
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Post by Quato on Apr 14, 2007 22:25:14 GMT -5
Evidently some shoe stores gave away free comics as advertising.
The 1946 Bluebird comics are listed as having Timely Characters. In the 50's it looks like they use Charlton to print their comics. From what I read today, Charlton had a huge advantage in the beginning. They did everything under one roof. They did their own printing and binding. As time progressed though, their printing equipment was slow and became outdated. Their technology stayed still while the other guys were pumping out the books with modern equipment and better paper.
Q
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Post by gowaltrip on Apr 14, 2007 22:37:18 GMT -5
Yeah, I kind of followed you around on some of those links this evening. Good reading. Their advantage in the beginning wound up being a major key factor of what did them in in the end. Also, I never knew of this CPL group until today. What did you get out of that info because I didnt get much out of it except they banded together in the mid to late 70s and helped Charlton have a last "good times" era that was done by time 1980 got here.
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Quato
Level 14
a.k.a. Defiant1
Quato a.k.a. Defiant1
Posts: 1,669
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Post by Quato on Apr 14, 2007 22:51:47 GMT -5
Yeah, I kind of followed you around on some of those links this evening. Good reading. Their advantage in the beginning wound up being a major key factor of what did them in in the end. Also, I never knew of this CPL group until today. What did you get out of that info because I didnt get much out of it except they banded together in the mid to late 70s and helped Charlton have a last "good times" era that was done by time 1980 got here. I think Charlton realized they were losing sales because the collectors were scorning their product. At the end, they were trying to get back in touch with the collectors. The CPL gang must have been an active group that promoted Charlton so it looks like they took them under their wing and started listening to suggestions. It was all too little too late. Pacific and everyone else was starting to enter the market. Charlton had a reputation of being cheap, and Pacific was most likely about to drive their production costs straight up. Pacific was starting to give incentives to the creators. Charlton wasn't making money as it was. Q |
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Post by Defiant1 on Apr 3, 2009 1:34:44 GMT -5
I've updated my Charlton Checklist to version 4.65.
Added some scans for Blue Bird Comics. As I review the list, I see the potential for there to be 5 times as many as I list. The following brands of shoes are listed on the covers...
Big
Blue Bird
GallenKamp's
Kirby's
R & S
Schiff's
Defiant1
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