Uncle Charlie’s Fables

    (Lev Gleason, 1951-1952)
™ and ©1952 Lev Gleason Publications, Inc.

Uncle Charlie’s Fables features stories for kids set in the fantasy-medieval era of familiar legends like Cinderella. The “Uncle Charlie” of the title, however, is no innocent raconteur of children’s stories —he’s Charles Biro, the innovative editor, writer, and artist behind extremely sophisticated and hard-edged comics like Crime Does Not Pay and Daredevil (Lev Gleason).

Even as he tries his hand at fairy tales, Biro can’t (and probably doesn’t want to) keep his natural intelligence and feel for realistic human nature from infusing the stories with a stronger emotional impact than is common in children’s material. Even his artwork, self-consciously prettied up to fit the requirements of the genre, still betrays an edgy tension and sense of menace. This title is an interesting artifact from a singular talent.
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