Charlton Comics 1966
Written by Joe Gill
Illustrated by Rocco “Rocke” Mastroserio
I have to say I really been enjoying doing these older comics from back in the day. They don’t make them like this anymore and somewhere along the way I think comic creators got lost and the Art of Storytelling changed in ways that try to be a little more too realistic than they actually are. No longer are we treated to the fantasy or you know situations that just can’t possibly exist instead nowadays it’s more existential it’s more has to be as accurate as possible and I’m reminded by reading this set Comics used to be much more fun.
I do have to admit there’s something about these Fightin’ 5 where it’s really quite the amalgamation of what we see today. 5 men veteran’s specialists in their own field of Combat coming together to keep the world safe from the evil that men would do. I don’t know there’s something dare I say romantic about the idea and it why shows in the 60s were so popular and can remain as relevant today as they are. Also the way in that this is being told is phenomenal to me little chapters little segments you know perfect for the commercial break of the ads pages that just kind of like something’s up so the fact that the word count to page count and how many panels are needed varies but the story kind of benefits from this kind of layout.
I am a huge fan of the way this is told. The story and plot development that we see as seen through the sequence of events and how band followed as well as how the reader learns information is exquisitely done. With a larger cast and the Catalyst and everything else that we have to see the attention paid to their introduction throughout the story is brilliantly done. I’m sad the way we see the character development how they act and react to the situations they find themselves in the dialogue, which it’s a lot less cheesy than the blah ha-ha’s or anything else you can think of in your head that was done back then, also how they react and act to be situations and circumstances speaks volumes about them that is just so nice to see. I do like the pacing that we see and the breakups with the adverts and how each one is told in their little segments actually enhances the storytelling tenfold. So how is the revelations twists and turns in the story they all happen naturally and with a purpose.
The interior is here Blow Me Away. The line work is exquisitely laid down and how the varying weight and the various techniques that we see really make a difference and how we see this come to life. Today they might do fine realism kind of stuff but honestly, I’ll take this kind of work over that any day of the week There’s a motion there’s the feeling there is Magic behind what we see in this granted there’s no nipples are navels but that was the era. The creativity and Imagination that we see on display here is just marvelous and the backgrounds and how they are Incorporated and how they are used for the depth perception and scale not to mention that overall sense of size and scope to the story itself or just utilized correctly. The utilization of the page layout and how we see the Angles and perspective in the panel’s show such a marvellous I for storytelling and I’m in it’s just so nice. The color work we see is beautifully done Unfortunately they don’t have the same range of colors yet they still manage to create marvelous shading highlights and Shadow work so that we still get the impact of the depth perception and as such being so real.
The fighting five are just that band of soldiers who save the world from ner do Wells and you know what it works it works on so many levels in so many ways and for so many reasons. I wish we had more like this that didn’t take the technology and feel like they had to use everything that was up to spec you know it could be imagination it doesn’t have to be real and I like that these guys don’t run around with ray guns. This is one of the best series around and of course if you read this you'll notice many of it's influences in today's comics.