The Mark of the Witch-Bill Everett-1953

One could easily argue that the great Bill Everett was at his artistic peak as a comics illustrator at Atlas in the mid-fifties. Certainly his most prolific period as well. Here we have a tidy little horror tale with some sci-fi added in. 

Love Today, Cry Tomorrow-Win Mortimer/Wallace Wood-1969

With his smooth style and his amazing skill at drawing pretty girls, Wally Wood would have seemed a natural for romance comics but he really never did many. There were a handful in the early fifties, almost always with a co-artist like Harrison or Orlando and then nothing until a very few for DC in the late sixties/early seventies, including this one with strong inks over romance regular Win Mortimer's pencils.

A Little Pain Never Hurt Anybody-Gil Kane-1953

Ol' Eli Katz was not yet the smooth Gil Kane we would come to know and love but he was getting there. Although mostly associated with DC even up to this point, here we see an Atlas horror story. Kane would return to Marvel in the mid sixties, again in the late sixties and later he would be their major cover artist in the seventies.

Attila the Hun-John Romita-1952

During the Korean War years, most war comics other than EC's tended to stick with that then-current conflict. Here. though, we see an exception. From Atlas's WAR ACTION comes the young John Romita with the supposedly true tale of Attila the Hun!

Captain Atom-Rocco Mastroserio-1961

Here's Rocco Mastroserio with a game attempt at Charlton's Captain Atom. a feature normally associated with the incomparable Steve Ditko. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that most people don't even realize that anyone besides Ditko EVER drew Charlton's version of the Captain!

Night of the Wanderer-Tom Sutton-1973 (1979 printing)

Since I first discovered his work at Marvel in the mid-sixties, I've been a big fan of Tom Sutton. It's particularly fun to watch his style develop and become just amazingly fluid when Charlton, especially, allowed him to just run wild with his art. This particular work reminds me a bit of Jerry Grandenetti, another artist whose work developed in bizarre ways over time.

What Is a Teenager?-Al Hartley-1957

Here's a genuinely sweet 4 page filler with some really cute art from Al Hartley. Hartley's art became rather bland over time although his original spark and charm still managed to show through every once in a while. This is a good example of that from an otherwise dull issue of PATSY & HEDY.