Scans donated by Michael T. Gilbert, Roger Hill, and George Hagenauer. Thanks guys!
This scan was made from a George Hagenauer comic.
Lev Gleason (Known for his top seller 'Crime Does Not Pay' and the golden age 'Daredevil') started this short lived tabloid sized comic magazine in 1949. The 25 cent title was aimed at more mature, upscale buyers Gleason would utilize top talent like Charles Biro, Reed Crandall, George Tuska, Bob Lubbers, Bob Fuji, Fred Kida and a story written by Dick Briefer but drawn by Tuska!
These are not your typical comic books. Tops tried to cover all the genre bases. Crime of course gets it's spotlight but Tops also includes humour, celebrity profiles and opinion pieces. It's an unusual combination that seemingly never caught on.
It's with hearty thanks to Michael T. Gilbert and his fellow comic historians Roger Hill, and George Hagenauer who have generously donated their raw scans for us to do a mild edit for size and sharing on the site.
But we can only share the original Tops magazine. For their Tops archive book, Michael and gang have cleaned up the damaged original books and included a ton of background information and opinions on Tops, Lev Gleason and the comics talents involved in making the title.
Tops magazine failed after just two issues and would be most likely completely forgotten were it not for Michael T. Gilbert and his fellow comic historians efforts to reprint both in an archive collection called ‘Tops: The Complete Collection of Charles Biro’s Visionary 1949 Comic Book Series’ published by Fantagraphics at full size (11 x 14") and on a paper stock Gleason could only dream of having.
‘Tops: The Complete Collection of Charles Biro’s Visionary 1949 Comic Book Series’ is sold by Amazon and other book sellers.
Michael is also selling a limited number of signed copies directly. He can be contacted at: mgilbert00@comcast.net for pricing.
Online reviews in the above links.
-DCM Staff |
