BRONZE AGE MINUTE: The Charlton Bullseye #5

CPL/Gang Publications and Charlton; July-September 1976
Cover by Alex Toth

Title: Untitled
Synopsis: The Banshee returns to take revenge on the Question, but ends up falling to his doom instead.

Writer (plot): Roger Stern
Writer (script): Michael Uslan
Penciler: Alex Toth
Inker: Toth

Review: Roger Stern and future Batman movie producer Michael Uslan channel their best Randian Ditko for this fine done-in-one short story. The real joy, though, is seeing Alex Toth on the Question; the artist’s stark B&W work is perfect for this character. If only Charlton’s regular comics lineup were this strong.

------------

Title: “The Man From Elsewhen”
Synopsis: The heroes of Doomsday +1 team up with 40th century refugee Stinson Tempest to battle futuristic yeti.

Writer: John Byrne
Penciler: Byrne and Joe Brozowski (splash page)
Inker: Byrne and Terry Austin (splash page)

Review: The conclusion of this unpublished Doomsday +1 adventure is all John Byrne – and it’s already obvious he’d be a star.

Grade (for the whole issue): A

Cool factor: Previously unpublished Byrne Doomsday +1? Alex Toth on the Question? Why are we even having this discussion?
Not-so-cool factor: Sadly, this is the final issue of this incarnation of Charlton Bullseye (and the later version shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath).

Notable: This issue also contains news about the era’s Charlton comics, an interview with Don Newton, features on Flash Gordon and the Phantom, a Doomsday +1 back cover by Neal Adams, and pinups or illos by Byrne, Dave Cockrum, Mike Nasser and Jack Abel, Newton, Carl Potts, Joe Staton, and Walter Simonson.

Character quotable: “Not until the courts close the loopholes in prosecution and plea-bargaining laws, will Americans be safe from punks like you – !!” – The Question, ever the subtle Randian

Back to previous page