The next appearance of Beowulf is in 1967 in Charlton Comics’ Hercules #1, and is in a back-up feature titled “Thane of Bagarth.” The series is featured in all 13 issues of the series (plus the magazine-sized version of issue #8, which is the feature’s first cover appearance), then ran for two issues (#24-#25) of its own reprint title in 1985 and was later featured as reprints in A-Plus Comics’ Swords of Valor #1-4 in 1990. Written by Steve Skeates and featuring art by Jim Aparo, the story follows the exploits of a young noble who becomes a thane to King Beowulf. As described in the origin, after the death of Hygelac, Beowulf has become king, and the son of one of his thanes, Wigmenric, dies. As a result “his eldest son, the young but wise Hrothelac became thane of Bagarth and ruled his lands well” until the inevitable problems spring up.
These problems include a feud between Hrothelac and a neighboring thane, Garmscio, which leads to accusations of conspiracy to commit treason, siding with the Swedes against the Geats, which is the plot of the first storyline. King Beowulf appears a number of times, but the action of the series follows Hrothelac. The stories contain the moral messages that wrongs will be righted and that honesty will always pay off in the end, making Hrothelac into something of a hybrid between Robin Hood and Prince Valiant.