Midnight Tales

    (Charlton, 1972-1976)
Charlton

In the early 1970s, Charlton comics were sold in polybagged three-packs at airports, so that Mom and Pop could give junior his comics fix to keep him quiet on the plane ride to visit the grandparents in Florida. This was shrewd marketing because it assumed that, to parents, a comic book was a comic book (“Spider-Man, E-Man, what’s the difference?”), even if every kid knew that Charltons were the airplane food of the comics cafeteria. Midnight Tales is a typical 1970s Charlton horror/mystery anthology title “hosted” by voluptuous young Arachne and her mentor, the Midnight Philosopher. Creator Wayne Howard blatantly imitated the style of comic art great Wally Wood right down to his gothic signature, but at least he aimed high in his plagiarism. Consequently, Midnight Tales had the look of a seedy, off-register knock-off of an EC horror comic—putting it at the top of Charlton’s quality spectrum.
Jump to issue:
  • 1
    #1
    Dec 1972
    Cover: $0.20
    W: Nicola Cuti  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Jack Abel, Joe Staton
    3 copies from $1.24
  • 2
    #2
    Feb 1973
    Cover: $0.20
    W: Nicola Cuti  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Joe Staton, Tom Sutton
    8 copies from $5.00
  • 4
    #4
    Jul 1973
    Cover: $0.20
    W: Nicola Cuti  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Tom Sutton, Joe Staton
    2 copies from $6.50
  • 5
    #5
    Sep 1973
    Cover: $0.20
    W: Nicola Cuti, Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Tom Sutton, Joe Staton
    2 copies from $13.50
  • 6
    #6
    Nov 1973
    Cover: $0.20
    W: Nicola Cuti, Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Tom Sutton, Joe Staton
    2 copies from $9.99
  • 9
    #9
    Oct 1974
    Cover: $0.25
    W: Nicola Cuti, Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Tom Sutton, Joe Staton
    2 copies from $5.50
  • 11
    #11
    Feb 1975
    Cover: $0.25
    W: Nicola Cuti, Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Don Newton, Joe Staton
    1 copy for $6.98
  • 12
    #12
    Apr 1975
    Cover: $0.25
    W: Nicola Cuti, Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Steve Ditko, Don Newton
    Reprints
    1 copy for $7.98
  • 12-2
    #12 - 2nd printing
    Apr 1975
    Cover: $0.35
    W: Nicola Cuti, Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Steve Ditko, Don Newton
    3 copies from $1.99
  • 13
    #13
    Jun 1975
    Cover: $0.25
    W: Nicola Cuti, Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Don Newton, Joe Staton
    2 copies from $16.00
  • 14
    #14
    Sep 1975
    Cover: $0.25
    W: Nicola Cuti, Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Joe Staton, Don Newton
    1 copy for $5.00
  • 15
    #15
    Nov 1975
    Cover: $0.25
    W: Nicola Cuti, Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard, Tom Sutton, Richard Larson
    1 copy for $6.98
  • 16
    #16
    Jan 1976
    Cover: $0.25
    W: Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard
    2 copies from $120.00
  • 17
    #17
    Mar 1976
    Cover: $0.25
    W: Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard
    1 copy for $30.00
  • 17-2
    #17 - 2nd printing
    Cover: $0.35
    W: Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard
    Modern Comics Reprint
    3 copies from $5.85
  • 18
    #18
    May 1976
    Cover: $0.30
    W: Wayne Howard  ·  A: Wayne Howard
    1 copy for $5.98