CPL Gang
The CPL Gang was a group of
History
CPL
Layton and Stern began publishing the CPL fanzine out of Layton's Indianapolis apartment.[2] Stern recalls that "CPL started out as Bob's sale catalog. Bob was drawing the covers and including little reviews written by some of his customers".[3]
By issue #5, CPL "... turned into a small 'zine with a catalog insert, and [Stern] started writing short articles for it. [He] eventually became an editor of sorts".[3] CPL featured a mix of articles, interviews, columns, art, and comics strips. In addition to CPL Gang members, contributors included established industry professionals like Gil Kane, Alex Toth, Paul Gulacy, Mike Vosburg, Dan Adkins, P. Craig Russell, and Joe Sinnott. Rog-2000, the John Byrne-created CPL "mascot", went on to become a character in the Charlton Comics universe.
CPL rapidly became a popular fan publication, and led to Layton and Stern forming an alliance with
Twelve issues of CPL were published. An issue #13 was promised, but was never published.
Charlton Bullseye
The success of Charlton Portfolio convinced Charlton of the merits of a "fan" publication. During the mid-1970s, both Marvel and DC were publishing in-house fan publications (
Charlton gave Layton and Stern "access to unpublished material from their vaults by the likes of
Professional springboard
Layton's association with Charlton (and the company's production manager
By 1976, Layton, Stern, and most of the other members were full-fledged comics professionals, and the CPL Gang disbanded to pursue their burgeoning careers.
Titles published
- Contemporary Pictorial Literature (CPL) #1–12 (c. 1973–1975)
- Charlton Bullseye #1–5 (1975–1976)
- Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon #2 (Wally Wood, 1976)
- witzend #10 (co-published with Bill Pearson's Wonderful Publishing Company, 1976)
References
- NMP, Apr. 1982), pp. 24–25.
- ^ a b c d Vasseur, Richard (May 30, 2006). "Bob Layton Legendary Comic Book Writer and Artist". Jazma Online. Archived from the original on April 8, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
- ^ a b Cooke, Jon B. (March 2001). "Rog-2001: Sterno Speaks! Writer Roger Stern on the CPL/Gang-Charlton Connection". Comic Book Artist. TwoMorrows Publishing. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
- All-Star Comics#66 (May/June 1977).