From DINO # 20 (Charlton Comics, Cover Date: January, 1977)...
...Here's the kind of one-page gag that ONLY Charlton would have done!
What more could I possibly say!
Ya just gotta love Charlton for what they were! 'Nuff Said!
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10 comments:
Did Ray Dirgo not draw this issue? I don't see his signature on the cover.
Count on Charlton to bring out the sexy side of Dino!
Face it, there is no way Dino is going to copy Fred's techniques. He's a dinosaur with his own natural ability. He didn't need any coaching in the Mr. Loudrock episode to start a dalliance with Loudrock's girl dinosaur. And he also knew when to leave Sassie alone!
And of course Dino doesn't talk...with the exception of the camping trip episode, but I insist that even though the name was the same, that Dino was a different Dino from the "real" Dino! Then in the comic strip he "spoke" in thought balloons like Snoopy. But full-on talking like in this one? Come on!
But it's fun all the same, and even appealing in its own strange way. I enjoy the Charlton one-pagers. They can be bizarre, even somewhat "adult" in content like this one, but they are amusing, managing to be funny in spite of sometimes not being very funny. (Don't worry, this one is!!!)
Sergio:
No, Ray Dirgo did not draw this issue. He tended to do the main FLINTSTONES title for Charlton.
By the time the ancillary titles came along, each one had its own primary artist – though they all switched on and off among the titles.
Fred Himes largely did the BARNEY AND BETTY RUBBLE title, as we showed HERE!
Ditto for Tony DiPreta on the GREAT GAZOO series.
And the DINO title, as with this post’s featured gag, was primarily done by Frank Roberge, who seemed to have something of a “Gene Hazelton look” to his work.
For what it’s worth, I feel all three of those artists drew better Flintstones comics than Ray Dirgo, but even Mr. Dirgo improved quite a bit as he went on. Look at his final Flintstones cover HERE!
Scarecrow:
Charlton was indeed “one-of-a-kind”, and we’ll probably never see anything like them ever again! Decide for yourself if that’s a good thing, or a bad thing. Personally, I’ve actually grown fonder of them as the years have passed. One thing’s certain, they make for some very interesting Blog posts – and what more could I ask!
By the way, Dino was “full-on talking” to ANOTHER DINOSAUR, presumably in whatever language such dinosaurs speak. Even in Charlton comics, where almost anything could happen, he didn’t speak directly to Fred or any other human. At least not that I can recall… but remember, it’s Charlton!
And, as long as you brought up Snoopy, didn’t that last panel have a distinct “Lucy and Charlie Brown” vibe to it? Not the gag itself (far from it), but the complete staging of that panel! …I thought so, when I first read it.
Interesting. I was under the impression that Ray Dirgo did all of Charlton's H-B comics. I mean, I know he also did their "Yogi Bear" and "Jetsons" titles, so I assumed he would done the ancillary titles, too.
The Great Gazoo actually had his own series at one point? That must have been something...
There is a "Lucy and Charlie Brown" vibe to the last panel. I can certainly imagine Lucy telling Charlie Brown he is "sick" (or something to that effect), leaving Charlie Brown with a facial expression much like Dino's. Another "Peanuts" analogy for the last panel, though, could be Lucy and Schroeder, with Sassie in the role of Schroeder and Dino in the role of Lucy.
Finally, thanks for pointing me to Ray Dirgo's last Flintstones cover. I liked it so much I updated one of my own blog posts to feature it. It just seems appropriate for the subject of the post, don't you think?: https://greatsqueak.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-necessity-of-stories.html
Yes, the whole staging of the gag page is reminiscent of classic Peanuts. What it particularly puts me in mind of is the comic book gags, some of which were done by Schulz himself and others which were done by different artists. As you said, not the gag itself, but the way it is set up and delivered.
On that note, I recall that my mother, whose interest in comic books lay chiefly in the fact that I was such an avid fan, once remarked that it was too bad there wasn't a comic book of Peanuts, as opposed to the comic strip reprint books that abounded. At that time neither one of us was aware that there actually had been a Peanuts comic book during the late Dell and early Gold Key days. Naturally, that comment has made it even more delightful for me to have discovered in later years that such a comic book did exist...and of which I now own a handful of copies. Knowing she would have approved of them makes them all the more special.
Sergio:
I would imagine that, prolific as he was, even Ray Dirgo could only be stretched just so far. Though, if you had to associate just ONE artist as being representative of the Charlton Hanna-Barbera line, it would very definitely be Mr. Dirgo.
As I mentioned, there were others who regularly made contributions, but it will always be Ray Dirgo who first comes to mind, when we think of Charlton Hanna-Barbera comics.
Others not mentioned above included Frank Johnson of the (now, unfortunately named) comic strip “Boner’s Ark”, who did the Huckleberry Hound comics. I’ve never felt totally comfortable in disparaging Frank Johnson’s work, because it was “just right” for a comic strip like “Boner’s Ark”. But I’ve also not been hesitant to do exactly that because his style was totally wrong for Huckleberry Hound, making the stories look more like a “King Features stable” comic strip than anything resembling a creation of the Hanna-Barbera studios.
There was also Phil Mendez, whose wild (yet, somehow enjoyable) art style made Gold Key’s Jack Manning (who ALSO did “wild yet, somehow enjoyable”) work look like Carl Barks or Harvey Eisenberg! Mendez did some Top Cat, Magilla Gorilla, and others – never The Flintstones or The Jetsons, as I recall – and his stuff really needs to be seen to be believed… and appreciated! (Yes, that’s a compliment!)
But that brings me to the larger point about the Charlton Hanna-Barbera comics… And this includes everyone involved who produced original H-B art for Charlton – and excludes the frequently used H-B material that was (presumably) prepared for the overseas market, and looked “kinda good” but was printed with “generic-for-easy-translation” English dialogue …
…None of the Charlton original Hanna-Barbera art LOOKED LIKE IT WAS DONE IN THE HANNA-BARBERA STYLE! Not Ray Dirgo, not Frank Johnson, not Phil Mendez… though some of those later Flintstones ancillary title artists came a little closer. And, although I’ve since come to appreciate it for its… its… its… um, “startling originality”, as a younger reader I found that very off-putting!
Having grown up on artists like Pete Alvarado, Phil DeLara, and especially Harvey Eisenberg, who so nicely recreated the Hanna-Barbera style for the comic book pages, it’s easy to see why Charlton is an “acquired taste” – but it can, at times, be a rewarding one!
Yes, that Ray Dirgo FLINTSTONES cover image is PERFECT for that particular Blog post!
HERE’S the link! Everyone, go read it NOW! …And, while you’re there, seek out Sergio’s wonderful post on Vic Lockman! I expect to be linking to it in conjunction with an upcoming post, but you might as well get a head start!
Scarecrow:
I’m glad to see that both you and Sergio notice that same “Peanuts influence” in the DINO gag as I did! I wonder what others think… let us know!
That’s a great story about your mother! I love it!
I had, and still have, many of those Peanuts paperback comic strip reprint book from the ‘60s – but, at the time I was reading those (and the contemporary strip), I also knew that Peanuts existed in comic book form… because THIS DELL COMIC was one of my original “Grandma Millie books”!
I also had one of two of the later Gold Key Peanuts reprint issues.
It may be my singular opinion, but I feel that, unlike the necessary brevity of the newspaper comic strip, the fuller potential of the characters was sometimes unlocked in those longer comic stories – even if they tended to max-out at eight pages.
Some real GEMS could be found in those comics… like the one where Charlie Brown feels sorry for the “generous Snicker Snack Cereal Company” for giving so many free premiums away to kids – and inadvertently brings about their bankruptcy with his efforts to help! That was in the Grandma Millie book pictured and, as I said a good twenty-or-so years ago, “If Carl Barks were ever to write a Peanuts story, this is what it would be like!”
Another great one concerned a new family with kids moving into the neighborhood, and the gang’s obsessive curiosity about the newcomers – which ends up driving them away! And, in true Peanuts style, you NEVER SEE the “new family”! The gang’s annoying interactions with them all take place off-panel!
If Debbie is reading this, I know she will have something to add as a Peanuts devotee who has also read the comic book stories in collected editions. How, ‘bout it, Deb?
Peanuts has actually been in comic books twice. In the Dell/Gold Key days, they appeared in Tip-Top Comics, Nancy, Nancy and Sluggo and Fritzi Ritz as well as getting their own Dell title (which was reprinted by Gold Key). From 2011 until 2019, Boom Studios and the Schulz family’s own staff created new Peanuts comic book material, including seven “graphic novels”, beginning with an adaptation of the direct-to-video special “Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown”. They also did a tribute book for the strip’s 65th anniversary with other artists creating tributes to Schulz’s work.
The Dino gag is cute, but a bit unusual. I don’t think that licensed comics now would have such a hands-off editorial approach that would allow things like that to get through the system unedited.
Deb:
I was aware of some of the Peanuts comic book appearances beyond the 13 Dell original issues and the 4 Gold Key reprints – but not exactly all of them. Thanks for the information! It’s always welcome around here!
As one who has had to regularly navigate the jagged-rock-filled, hungry-shark-infested waters of “licensed comics”, and their often-over-cautious editorial edicts, I can safely say that the likes of that Dino gag would NEVER appear today!
…Or, even earlier! Could you imagine seeing that gag in a Gold Key Flintstones comic? I couldn’t!
Of course, what I believe you’re getting at is “editorial control from the license holder” – which is far tighter today than perhaps it ever was! In Western’s Dell and Gold Key comics, Western themselves would have regulated such things… “Dell Comics are Good Comics”, remember?
But, Charlton was a unique chapter in comic book history and, as I said above, “we’ll probably never see anything like them ever again!” …Certainly not from any entity regarded as a “mainstream publisher” – which Charlton definitely was!
To digress… Consider how different the landscape was at the time… The “mainstream publishers” were DC, Marvel, Archie, Gold Key, Harvey, and Charlton! You could throw Fawcett in there if you wish, I kinda put them on the bubble, as they didn’t exactly unleash a roaring stable of titles by that time, and I don’t really count “Post-Western Dell” for similar reasons! …And FOUR of those SIX (or eight, if you prefer) did not concentrate on superhero comics!
Each of the other publishers had a “SPECIALTY” that they were known for, while Charlton did a smattering of EVERYTHING (…and, one might say, was “master of none”) romance, funny/funny animal, mystery, horror, war, TV adaptations, superhero, hot rod/race car… If it was in comics, they probably did it at some point!
Perhaps it was that very “lack of identity” that kept them afloat for so long. If one area or genre declined, another one would peak – and Charlton had a lineup that may have responded well to those changes.
What did them in was the same set of circumstances that also brought about the end if Western (formerly “Gold Key, now “Whitman”) and Harvey (at least in its original incarnation) – failure to successfully navigate the burgeoning “Direct Market” of comic book shop distribution (rather than newsstands), which became the dominant force as we moved into the 1980s… and, alas, is virtually the ONLY source of comic book retailing today.
Whatever one might think of the actual material, one must admire Charlton for its… “individuality”!
(Boy! I *do* get carried away in some of these replies, don’t I? Hopefully, that’s why you all keep coming back!)
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