By the early fifties westerns outsold superheroes on American newsstands. Most publishers that survived the decade did it on cowboys rather than capes, and Charlton printed them faster and cheaper than anyone.

Sepia and red do not fight with wood or warm paint. Kitchen, hallway or beside a shelf. Black frame, thin mount. S to M.

Rocco ‚Rocke‘ Mastroserio (1927–1968) broke into comics at seventeen, studied at the School of Industrial Art and took night classes under Burne Hogarth.

He is remembered above all as an inker: a crisp, detailed line and bold black-and-white contrast, working in the tradition of Wally Wood, Jack Davis and especially John Severin. From 1954 until his death he was a Charlton workhorse, moving fluently between westerns, war, crime, science fiction and horror, and signing variously Rocke M., RM and RAM.

He died of a heart attack at forty, at the height of his output – part of the reason he is the least known of the Golden and Silver Age draftsmen despite being one of Charlton’s most reliable. His inking over Steve Ditko on Captain Atom is the work most likely to be recognised by collectors today.