Timmy the Timid Ghost v2 #01 - #17 (1959 - 1963) Charlton - Promotional Comics - Blue Bird Comics (Complete Series) [Charlton Comics Collection]

 Publisher : Charlton

Publication Dates: 1959 - 1963

Number of Issues Published: 17 (#01 - #17)

Color: Color

Dimensions: Standard Silver Age US

Paper Stock: glossy cover; newsprint interior

Binding: Saddle-stitched

Publishing Format: giveaways

Publication Type:  magazine

Pages: 36       Indicia Frequency: bimonthly

Publisher's Brand: Blue Bird Comics

Authors:

Script:

Joe Gill ?

Pencils:

George Wildman, Jon D'Agostino (signed), Pat Masulli (signed), 

George Wildman,

Inks:

George Wildman, Jon D'Agostino (signed), 

ColorsPat Masulli (signed), George Wildman,

Letters:

Jon D'Agostino (signed)

#12 Courtesy of Jens Terje

Wild Bill Hickok 01 - 05. Charlton - Promotional Comics - Blue Bird [Charlton Comics Collection]

 Wild Bill Hickok

Charlton, 1959 Series  

Published in English (United States) United States

Publication Dates:  1959 

Number of Issues Published: 5 (#1 - #5)

Color: Color

Dimensions: Standard Silver Age US

Paper Stock: Glossy cover; Newsprint interior

Binding: Saddle-stitched

Publishing Format: Giveaway

Publication Type: magazine

Price: 0.10 USD   Pages: 36 Publisher's Age Guidelines: Approved by the Comics Code Authority

Indicia / Colophon Publisher: Charlton Press, Inc. Brand: Blue Bird Comics

17 Stories   -   108 pages

Authors: 

Script

Joe Gill ?

Pencils

Maurice Whitman ?, Tony Tallarico ?; Bill Fraccio ?, Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio, Charles Nicholas,

Inks

Maurice Whitman ?, Sal Trapani (signed), Vince Alascia, Tony Tallarico ?,

Letters

Jon D'Agostino

James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement in many famous gunfights. He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales he told about himself. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation.

Hickok was born and raised on a farm in northern Illinois at a time when lawlessness and vigilante activity was rampant because of the influence of the "Banditti of the Prairie". Drawn to this ruffian lifestyle, he headed west at age 18 as a fugitive from justice, working as a stagecoach driver and later as a lawman in the frontier territories of Kansas and Nebraska. He fought and spied for the Union Army during the American Civil War and gained publicity after the war as a scout, marksman, actor, and professional gambler. He was involved in several notable shootouts during the course of his life.

In 1876, Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory (present-day South Dakota) by Jack McCall, an unsuccessful gambler. The hand of cards which he supposedly held at the time of his death has become known as the dead man's hand: two pairs; black aces and eights.

Hickok remains a popular figure of frontier history. Many historic sites and monuments commemorate his life, and he has been depicted numerous times in literature, film, and television. He is chiefly portrayed as a protagonist, although historical accounts of his actions are often controversial, and much of his career is known to have been exaggerated both by himself and by contemporary mythmakers. While Hickok claimed to have killed numerous named and unnamed gunmen in his lifetime, his career as a gunfighter only lasted from 1865 to 1871. According to Joseph G. Rosa, Hickok's biographer and the foremost authority on Wild Bill, Hickok killed only six or seven men in gunfights

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok

Charlton - Promotional Comics: Blue Bird [Charlton Comics Collection]

Introduction

These are almost exact reprints of the originals.  The cover art has been cropped to accommodate the top bar where the store name is placed and the lower bar where the typical Blue Bird bullets are placed.

The following stores are known to have participated: R&S Shoe Store, Blue Bird Shoes, Big Shoe Store, GallenKamp's and Schiff's Shoes.

TITLES: 

Atomic Mouse #11-1961

Atomic Mouse #12 - 1961

Atomic Mouse #14 - 12c - 1962
Atomic Mouse #16- 12c - 1962

Black Fury #1 - 10c - 1959

Black Fury #3 - 10c - 1959

Black Fury #4 - 10c - 1959

Black Fury #5 - 10c - 1959 (also Wild Bill Hickok & Jingles)

Black Fury #6 - 10c - 1959 

Black Fury #8 - 10c - 1959 

Black Fury #9 - 10c - 1959

Black Fury #10 - 10c - 1961

Black Fury #12- 10c - 1961

Black Fury #14- 10c - 1962
Black Fury #15- 10c - 1962

Freddy #1 - 10c - 1960

        Freddy #2  Blue_Bird_1959

Freddy #3 - 10c - 1960

Freddy #4 - 10c - 1960

Freddy #5 - 10c - 1959
Freddy #6 - 10c - 1959

Freddy #8 - 10c - 1960

Freddy #10 - 10c - 1961 (also My Little Margie)
Freddy #11 - 10c - 1961
Freddy #12 - 10c - 1961

Freddy #13 - 10c - 1961

Freddy #14 - 12c - 1962

Freddy #15 - 12c - 1962

Li'l Genius #1 -10c - 1959

Li'l Genius #3 -10c - 1959
Li'l Genius #4-10c - 1959
Li'l Genius #6 -10c - 1959

Li'l Genius #7 -10c - 1960 (also Goofy Rabbit, Timmy the Timid Ghost)

Li'l Genius #8 - 10c - 1960 (also Atomic Bunny)

Li'l Genius #9 - 10c - 1960

Li'l Genius #10 - 10c - 1960

Li'l Genius #11 - 10c - 1960
Li'l Genius #12- 10c - 1960

Li'l Genius #13- 10c - 1960

Li'l Genius #14 - 10c - 1960

Li'l Genius #15 - 10c - 1960

Li'l Genius #16- 10c - 1962

Li'l Genius #17 - 10c - 1963

Masked Raider #1 - 10c - 1959

Masked Raider #2 - 10c - 1959

Masked Raider #3 - 10c - 1959

Masked Raider #4 -10c - 1959

Masked Raider #5 - 10c - 1960?

Masked Raider #6 - 10c - 1960

Masked Raider #7 - 10c - 1960

Masked Raider #8 - 10c - 1960

Masked Raider #9 - 10c - 1960

Masked Raider #10 - 10c - 1961

Masked Raider #1 - 10c - 1959

Masked Raider #2 - 10c - 1959

Masked Raider #3 - 10c - 1959

Masked Raider #4 - 10c - 1959

Masked Raider #2 - 10c - 1960

Masked Raider #6 - 10c - 1960 (also Rocky Lane)

Masked Raider #7 - 10c - 1960 (also Rocky Lane)

Masked Raider #8 - 10c - 1960 (also Tex Ritter)

Masked Raider #9 - 10c - 1959

Masked Raider #10 - 10c - 1961 (also Wild Bill Hickok)

My_Little_Margie_017  -  1963

Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #18 - 12c - ???

Peter_Paul_s_4_in_1_Jumbo_Comic_Book_pt._1

Peter_Paul_s_4_in_1_Jumbo_Comic_Book_pt._2

Silly_Pilly_Comics_001_Children_s_Comics_Inc._1950_36p_c2c

Six-Gun Heroes #6 - 10c - 1960 (Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, Rocky Lane, Annie Oakley, Lash LaRue)

Six-Gun Heroes #7 - 10c - 1960?

Six-Gun Heroes #8 - 10c - 1960 (Wyatt Earp, Lash LaRue, Wild Bill Hickok, Annie Oakley)

Six-Gun Heroes #9 - 10c -

Six-Gun Heroes #10 - 10c - 1961

Six Gun Heroes #15

Six-Gun Heroes #16 - 12c? - 1962

Teenage Hotrodders #18 - 12c - 1964

Texas_Rangers_in_Action #15 - 12c - 1962

Texas_Rangers_in_Action #16 - 12c - 1962

Texas Rangers #17 - 12c - 1962

Timmy the Timid Ghost #1? - 10c - ???

Timmy the Timid Ghost #2__1959_

Timmy the Timid Ghost #3

Timmy the Timid Ghost #4

Timmy the Timid Ghost #6

Timmy the Timid Ghost #7 -10c - 1960

Timmy the Timid Ghost #8 - 10c - 1960

Timmy the Timid Ghost #9 - 10c - 1960

Timmy the Timid Ghost #2__1959_

Timmy the Timid Ghost #10

Timmy the Timid Ghost #11

Timmy the Timid Ghost #13

Timmy the Timid Ghost #14

Timmy the Timid Ghost #15

Timmy the Timid Ghost #16

Timmy the Timid Ghost #17

War_Heroes_018__1964___Charlton_Blue_Bird_Shoes___c2c_

Wild Bill Hickok #1 - 10c - 1959

Wild Bill Hickok #2 - 10c - 1959

Wild Bill Hickok #3 - 10c - 1959

Wild Bill Hickok #4- 10c - 1959

Wild Bill Hickok #5 - 10c - 1959

Wyatt Earp #12 -10c - 1961

Wyatt Earp #13 -10c - 1961

Wyatt Earp #14 - 12c - 1962

Wyatt Earp #18 - 12c - 1962

I have not used Overstreet's listing, because they come across as very vague and open to interpretation.

No doubt there were many more than this handful. But apparently none of the other genres Charlton excelled in (romance, war) were used, just humor, western and the odd hot rod.

The theory

My prolimenary hypothesis is that Charlton published two groups of giveaway comics for Blue Bird, which sold its shoes in stores with various names. One group was  brought out in 1959-1961, the other some years later, around 1964. The comics were sold over the counter or given to kids by the shop assistants, much to the appreciation of parents, who would be guaranteed their half hour of undisturbed shopping.

The comics still had "10c" or "12c" on them, to make them look like real comics rather than illustrated advertisement for the store. Typically, shoe ads only appeared on the inside and back covers.

Created by and © Ramon Schenk 2006. Additional data provided by Mike Ambrose and others.