Comments on: Scott’s Classic Comics Corner: Tom Sutton’s Top 13 Horror Covers

By: Richard Gagnon

Richard Gagnon — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:12:32 +0000

Uhm, you get to pick one more to make Sutton’s 13 top horror covers: Haunted 8 is the work of Jack Abel, not Sutton.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:08:13 +0000

I posted a Sutton horror comic on my blog!
http://comicbooksareinteresting.blogspot.com/2009/10/you-gotta-love-killer-teddy-bearsand.html

By: omni-man

omni-man — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:33:19 +0000

One of many under-rated artists that people should seek out. Always good to see someone shine the spotlight on guys like this!

By: "O" the Humanatee!

"O" the Humanatee! — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:30:52 +0000

@Scott: Sutton did draw one issue of Swamp Thing (#98), but he was inked by Alfredo Alcala, and so didn’t look much like himself.

And I agree with you totally about Sutton being a very special, under-rated artist.

By: joecab

joecab — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:07:55 +0000

One of my favorite Tom comics was a non-horror one: What If? #18: What if Dr. Strange were a disciple of Dormammu? It was a terrific story and the art was an absolute knockout, written by Peter B. Gillis and inked by Bruce Patterson.

By: Kirbydotter

Kirbydotter — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:03:39 +0000

OMG! I didnt even know of Tom Sutton passing away!

Thats a great case you build here Scott for recognizing this great talent, certainly one of the top artist in the horror genre.

The idea of a best of Charlton horror stories would be great.
Aside from the Ditko superhero stuff collected in DC’S Action Heroes Archives, Theres a lot of good Charlton stuff that has yet to be collected. Ditko was probably the best artist/creator that was part of Charlton’s stable, but Pat Boyette and Pete Morisi also deserve some love.

And i am with Edo on Sutton’s Starlord, it’s my favorite work from his pen.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:10:37 +0000

Tom – dan is just talking about artists in the Charlton stable during the 70s, so Wrightson would be included.

Dan – Newton, Howard and Morisi are all responsible for some fine, fine horror work for Charlton. A “Best of Charlton Horror” series would be lots of fun.

By: Tom Fitzpatrick

Tom Fitzpatrick — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:45:32 +0000

What about Berni Wrightson? He did some outstanding covers too, I believe.

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:17:53 +0000

And Pete Morisi. My god, how in hell could I forget Pete Morisi, even for a couple of minutes?

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:13:20 +0000

>>which ones have Ditko, Sutton, Zeck, Staton, Boyette, Byrne etc.

Just wanted to make sure that danar knows that “etc.” also definitely includes Don Newton & Wayne Howard!

By: Edo Bosnar

Edo Bosnar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:57:58 +0000

Personally, I would put no. 10 and 5 at 1 & 2, respectively – by a long shot. But agreed, all of these covers are great, and Sutton in general was an outstanding, and largely underrated, artist (and I did not know he had died – how sad!)
Personally, I really enjoyed Sutton’s SF work – i.e. the various Starlord stories he drew for Marvel, and those stories in DC’s Time Warp (which often definitely leaned toward horror).

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:25:28 +0000

Gary – you got me thinking that Sutton would have been a great Swamp Thing artist.

danar – just do a bit of research on these old Charltons before you buy – some are much better than others. More and more have been indexed on the Grand Comics Database, so you’ll know which ones have Ditko, Sutton, Zeck, Staton, Boyette, Byrne etc… and which ones have mainly Sanho Kim. You’re right, the covers can be deceptive – but they are often in the dollar bin, so it’s worth the gamble IMHO.

By: danar

danar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:40:15 +0000

I really like your choices, though I think #4 (Ghostly Manor #23) is the best and I like #13 (Haunted #25) more than most of the others. I really should pick up some of the old horror comics. Sadly, I usually find the insides just can’t keep up the intensity of these covers.

By: GarBut

GarBut — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:03:55 +0000

Monster Hunters #3: a Moore-era SWAMP THING cover, but ten years ahead of its time! Wow, just, wow.

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:42:15 +0000

I do now — what a wonderfully Lovecraftian issue that was!

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:43:34 +0000

Dan, I’m sure you’ll recall that I listed Haunted #20 as one of the top 5 horror comics last Halloween.

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:39:25 +0000

Sutton is one of the two Charlton mainstays — Pat Boyette is the other — whose work I initially found off-putting when I first encountered it at the spinner-racks in the late ’60s, but who eventually became real favorites of mine.

Both had very idiosyncratic approaches that took awhile to grow on me, but some 3 1/2 decades later, I can still pinpoint my “road to Damascus” moments with both artists: Charlton’s HAUNTED #20 for Sutton, Atlas Seaboard’s WEIRD SUSPENSE #1 for Boyette.