Charlton Sport Library -- Professional Football

Sunday, November 12 2006 @ 06:00 PM PST

Hey, sports fans! When is an Oddball Comic not a comic book at all? When it’s the one and only issue of CHARLTON SPORT LIBRARY -- PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL, featuring tons of NFL football players -- from the 1969/1970 season -- their stats and schedules…but no comic stories! So it’s a good thing this one’s written and illustrated by one of fandom’s favorite Oddball cartoonists: the great Tony Tallarico, the man who brought us everything from BLUE BEETLE and LOBO to GREAT SOCIETY COMICS and HEE HAW!

[fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]Charlton Sport Library -- Professional Football[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]Vol. 1, No. 1[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]Winter, 1969 - 1970[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]Charlton Press, Inc.Tony Tallarico (signed)[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Tony Tallarico (signed)[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]Hey, sports fans! When is an Oddball Comic not a comic book at all? When it’s the one and only issue of CHARLTON SPORT LIBRARY -- PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL, featuring tons of NFL football players -- from the 1969/1970 season -- their stats and schedules…but no comic stories! So it’s a good thing this one’s written and illustrated by one of fandom’s favorite Oddball cartoonists: the great Tony Tallarico, the man who brought us everything from BLUE BEETLE and LOBO to GREAT SOCIETY COMICS and HEE HAW!
[introtext]

[fieldinserts] Tony Tallarico (signed)Tony Tallarico (signed)Sports-themed comic books have never enjoyed any particular success in comic books; for whatever reason – despite the fact that there are many fans of both comic books and sports – none of ‘em have ever really caught on in America. So, imagine that, in early 1970, you’re a fan of both comic books and football when you spot a copy of CHARLTON SPORT LIBRARY -- PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL Vol. 1, No. 1 on the funnybook spinner rack. You quickly plunk down your quarter – after all, this comic has 64 pages, plus covers – and rush home to read it. But as soon as you open the pages of this “comic book” – with the same dimensions, paper stork and cover-illustration as one -- you realize that this ain’t a comic book at all! Instead, it’s merely a collection of schedules, player biographies, veteran and rookie player rosters and even a quarter-by-quarter recap of the 1969 Super Bowl game but not a single comic book story – disguised as a comic book! I’d call that foul play! And perhaps that provides the explanation for why this one-shot is extremely rare – if not particularly sought-after on the collector’s market – it just didn’t sell very well in the first place!

Oddball cartoonist Tony Tallarico was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1933. He attended the School Of Industrial Arts, the Brooklyn Museum Art School and the School Of Visual Arts. Entering the funnybook field in 1953 with work for Trojan (BEWARE and CRIME SMASHERS) and Charlton (RACKET SQUAD IN ACTION). Since then, Tony has worked for a number of publishers, including Avalon Communications (COWBOY LOVE), Charlton (HANNA-BARBERA’S ABBOTT AND COSTELLO, ARMY ATTACK, ARMY WAR HEROES, BATTLEFIELD ACTION, BILLY THE KID, BLACK FURY, BLUE BEETLE (1964), BOBBY SHERMAN, BRIDES IN LOVE, CAREER GIRL ROMANCES, CHARLTON CLASSICS LIBRARY/1776, FIGHTIN’ ARMY, FIRST KISS, HANNA-BARBERA’S THE FLINTSTONES, FOR LOVERS ONLY, GERONIMO JONES, GHOST MANOR, GHOSTLY TALES, GUNMASTER, HAUNTED, HEE HAW, HOLI-DAY SURPRISE, JUNGLE JIM, JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN, JUST MARRIED, THE MANY GHOSTS OF DR. GRAVES, MYSTERIES OF UNEXPLORED WORLDS, OUTER SPACE, OUTLAWS OF THE WEST, SARGE STEEL, SIX-GUN HEROES, SON OF VULCAN, SPACE ADVENTURES, SUMMER LOVE, TEEN-AGE LOVE, TEX RITTER WESTERN, THUNDERBOLT, WILD BILL HICKOCK AND JINGLES, WYATT EARP -- FRONTIER MARSHAL and THE YOUNG DOCTORS), Comics U.S.A. (DAFFY QADDAFI), David C. Cook Publishing Company (SUNDAY PIX, a newspaper Sunday-supplement comic book similar to Will Eisner’s "SPIRIT Section"), Dell (BEWITCHED, CAR 54 -- WHERE ARE YOU?, DAVID LADD’S LIFE STORY, DRACULA, FOUR COLOR/Patrick McGoohan’s DANGER MAN, FRANKENSTEIN, HANNA-BARBERA’S SINBAD JR., THE LITTLEST SNOWMAN, LOBO, MOVIE CLASSICS – including adaptations of THE MOUSE ON THE MOON and THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET, ROOM 222, the great John Stanley’s TALES FROM THE TOMB, and THIRTEEN GOING ON 17, WEREWOLF and THE YOUNG LAWYERS), Gilberton (CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED and CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED JUNIOR), Lev Gleason Publishing (BLACK DIAMOND WESTERN), Gold Key (HANNA-BARBERA’S HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS), Harvey (JIGSAW and UNEARTHLY SPECTACULARS), I.W. Publishing/Super Comics (STRANGE MYSTERIES), Parallax Publishing Company, Inc./Simon & Schuster (the classic Oddball political satires THE ADVENTURES OF BOBMAN AND TEDDY and THE GREAT SOCIETY COMIC BOOK), George A. Pflaum (TREASURE CHEST OF FUN AND FACTS) and Warren Publishing (CREEPY, EERIE and VAMPIRELLA). (Even if you’re not a fan of Mr. Tallarico’s comic books, you’ve gotta admit that’s a pretty impressive – and frequently Oddball -- portfolio of projects!) Tony is also the illustrator and author of over 1,000 children’s books including the “Where Are They?” series that have sold over eleven million copies worldwide. Others children’s books include the “I Can Draw” series, the “Fun-Filled” series, the “Encyclopedia” series, the “Biography” series, the “Geography” series and the “Ultimate Hidden Pictures” series. Tony has also produced numerous puzzle and game books for such publishers as Kidsbooks, Tuffy Books, Modern, Simon & Schuster, Price Stern Sloan, Treasure Books, Concordia Publishing House, Putnam, and Little Simon. Tony currently lives in Valley Stream, N.Y. with his wife of 44 years, Elvira, with whom he created the TRIVIA TREAT comic strip. Their offspring include daughter Nina Reyes, son Tony John and grandchildren Maria and Christopher.

Included in this issue of CHARLTON SPORT LIBRARY -- PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL – of which: Patrick Masulli was Executive Editor, Sal Gentile was Managing Editor and Jim Wyckoff and Mark Konick were Research Editor and with artwork and a script by Tony Tallarico -- are these stories, features and advertisements:

• “Football Fans Are Crazy About This True To Life Football Game”, a black-and-white, inside-front-cover ad for “Strat-O-Matic Pro Football” -- a game for both kids and adults -- available through mail-order from the “Strat-O-Matic Game Co.”
  
  
• A table of contents page that bears the disclaimer, “All information in this issue is accurate at the time of printing. Player personnel changes may have been made after this magazine has gone to press.”
  
  
• “Atlanta Falcons”, featuring Randy Johnson, Claude Humphrey, Ray Ogden and Junior Coffey, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.

• A page featuring two ads: “These 3 Big Drafting Kits Given To You!…When You Train At Home With NASD For A High Pay Job In Drafting!”, for mail-order instructional courses from the “North America School Of Drafting”; and “Free Book Tells You How You Can Build A Rugged Body – Command Respect And Admiration – Fear No Man”, for mail-order bodybuilding courses from the “American Body Building Club”.
  
  
• “Baltimore Colts”, featuring [pic2]John “Johnny” Unitas[pic2], Earl Morral, Tom Matte, Willie Richardson and John Mackey, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “Chicago Bears”, featuring Jack Concannon, Virgil Carter, Mac Percival, future coach [pic3]Dick Butkus[pic3], [pic4]BRIAN’S SONG’s Gayle Sayers[pic4] and coach Jim Dooley, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “Cleveland Browns”, featuring Frank Ryan, Bill Nelson, Paul Warfield, Gene Hickerson, Dick Shrafrath, Jim Houston, Gary Collins, Leroy Kelly and coach Blanton Collier, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “Dallas Cowboys”, featuring future sportscaster Don Meredith, John Niland, Ralph Neely, Bob Lilly and Mel Renfro, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “Detroit Lions”, featuring Bill Munson, Earl McCullough, Nick Eddy, Mel Farr, [pic5]Alex Karras (“Mongo” in Mel Brooks’ BLAZING SADDLES)[pic5] and coach Joe Schmidt, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “Green Bay Packers”, featuring Donny Anderson, Jim Grabowski, Forrest Gregg, [pic6]Bart Starr[pic6], Elijah Pitts, Marv Fleming, Gale Gillingham, Willie Davis, Ron Kostelnik, Henry Jordan, Lionel Aldridge, Herb Adderly, Bob Jeter, Ray Nitschke, Tom Brown and Willie Wood, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players. (Judging by the number of players that writer/illustrator Tony Tallarico used here, I guess we have a pretty good notion as to which football team was Tony’s favorite!)
  
  
• “Los Angeles Rams”, featuring Roman Gabriel, Willie Ellison, Joe Scibelli and David Jones, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “Minnesota Vikings”, featuring Joe Kapp, Jim Lindsey, Mick Tingelhoff, Gene Washington, Carl Eller, Jim Marshall, Gary Larsen and Alan Page, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “New Orleans Saints”, featuring Bill Kilmer, Don McCall, Dan Abramowicz, Doug Atkins and David Rowe, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “New York Giants”, featuring [pic7]Fran Tarkenton[pic7], Pete Gogolak, Steve Wright, Pete Case, Greg Larson, Willie Young and coach Allie Sherman, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “Philadelphia Eagles”, featuring Norman Snead, Tom Woodeshick, Mel Tom, Tim Rossovich and Floyd Peters, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “Pittsburgh Steelers”, featuring Dick Shiner, Roy Jefferson, Dick Hoak, Ray May and Chuck Hinton, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “St. Louis Cardinals”, featuring Jim Hart, Willis Crenshaw, [pic8]John Roland (who must be terribly cross-eyed!)[pic8], Jackie Smith and Dave Williams, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “San Francisco 49ers”, featuring John Brodie, Gary Lewis, Ken Willard, Charlie Krueger and Elmer Collett, plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “Washington Redskins”, featuring Sunny Jurgenson, Sam Huff, Gary Beban, Tom Brown and [pic9]coach Vince Lombardi[pic9], plus complete rosters of the team’s veteran and rookie players.
  
  
• “The Unbelievable Super Bowl”, an illustrated, 8-page, quarter-by-quarter recounting of the 1969 Super Bowl game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Jets (and “youthful, colorful, outspoken Jet quarterback, Joe Namath”). It begins with the declaration, “Although the Super Bowl is a recent innovation in the history of professional football, it will be a long time before last year’s game will be out-done for dramatic impact.” (Here’s a rather strange illustration that attempts to visualize this “impact”, but it looks more like [pic10]these two football players are energetically dancing together!)[pic10]
  
  
• “NFL 1969 Regular Season Schedule”.
  
  
• “If You Missed This – Get This”, an ad for mail-order “programs of independent study leading to High School completion” from “International Correspondence Schools”.
  
  
• “The End Of The Skinny Body”, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover ad for a variety of mail-order bodybuilding courses, available from “Joe Weider”.
  
  
• “Now! The 4 Most Realistic Sports Games You’ve Ever Played!”, a black-and-white, back-cover ad for “Fran Tarkenton’s Pro Football”, “Rocky Graziano presents A Century Of Great Fights”, “Oscar Robertson’s Pro Basketball Strategy” and an unnamed baseball game, all available via mail-order from “Sports Games”.

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