DC Archive Editions. The Action Heroes #2

Plot

This is an excellent collection of some of the best work Ditko did for Charlton Comics in the 1960s. While it was not quite in the same class as what Marvel and DC were publishing at the time, these stories were better than earlier Charlton attempts to break into the superhero market. This volume picks up with the Captain Atom stories, where volume 1 left off: the transition to the "new" Captain Atom. It includes Captain Atom's team-up with Nightshade and the origin of the new Blue Beetle, which started out as a backup series in the Captain Atom comic before graduating to his own comic. Blue Beetle's solo comics are also included here, which of course leads to the inclusion of The Question, who got his start as a backup feature in Blue Beetle comics.

I bought this primarily for the Blue Beetle stories, he was my favorite of all the Charlton superheroes. He was a cross between Spider-Man and Batman, he would come swinging into battle similar to Spider-Man, but did not have real super powers like Batman, he depended on superior fighting skills and gadgets to fight the bad guys. While I bought this for Blue Beetle, I enjoyed the Captain Atom / Nightshade and Question stories as well, especially Captain Atom. It does include previously unpublished black and white stories for Blue Beetle and Question. I would have liked to have seen those comics finished and colored as they would have been done. But it is still great that those stories were included.

This collection is a must for fans of Ditko's work or Silver Age comics! It brought back some fond memories of simpler days.

Here's hoping that DC will publish a volume 3 to include some of Charlton's other heroes like Judo Master, Thunderbolt, and Peacemaker. On a side note, I think DC was shortsighted not to allow Moore to use the Charlton heroes for the Watchmen as he had wanted to do. It would have led to a renaissance of these characters, which I think have been under utilized by DC.