The development of the New Universe line had been a haphazard process. After several months had been spent in pursuit of high-minded goals in terms of creative innovation and the pedigree of those who would innovate said titles, in the end there was a mad dash to the finish line in terms of launching the … Continue reading Brand Echh: JUSTICE #1
There was really no disguising the fact that, for most of its long run, PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was at best a secondary title, and often a series that wasn't being given A-list resources to succeed with. While there were some bright spots along the way, the series was constantly operating under the handicap … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #33
At the time of my family's move to Delaware in 1981, there was only one comic book shop in the area, and it was in far-off Wilmington. This was Xanadu Comics, best remembered as the store that AMERICAN SPLENDOR cartoonist Harvey Pekar's future wife Joyce Brabner once worked at. It was too far off to … Continue reading FSC: 2000 AD #122
I continued to make my way through the complete run of SHAZAM that i had borrowed from my grade school friend Donald Sims one week. While it's taking us months to go over these books, I read them all in two, maybe three days when I first borrowed them. This next issue was a return … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #12
SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANOS wasn't a war comic, not in the way that i understood that term. It wasn't at all attempting to get across the true horror and cost or warfare. Instead, it was a war movie, a big, grand, fun adventure where the enemy were clowns and caricatures and nobody really … Continue reading BHOC: SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS #153
On the surface of things, KICKERS INC should have been one of the more stable and solidly-crafted of the titles launching as part of Marvel's 1986 anniversary initiative, the New Universe. It had a creative team with an established track record on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, writer Tom DeFalco and artists Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema. But … Continue reading Brand Echh: KICKERS INC. #1
MARVEL PREMIERE was something of a mixed bag as a comic book purchase. While early on it had been dedicated to the adventures of Iron Fist, and before that Doctor Strange, it had turned over time into a SHOWCASE-style try-out series for new concepts (and occasionally a place to wrap up outstanding plotlines from a … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL PREMIERE #49
I've mentioned before just how gung-ho I was about the initial offerings from Pacific Comics, one of the fist of the new independent publishers who cropped up in the nascent Direct Sales marketplace of comic book specialty shops once it had been shown that it was possible to turn a profit there. While my enthusiasm … Continue reading FSC: ROG 2000
I'm not 100% certain who I borrowed this issue of BATMAN from. it might have been my grade school friend Donald Sims as with most of the books that we've been looking at recently. But I suspect that it was actually my next-door-neighbor Johnny Rantinella. Johnny was a year younger than I was and a … Continue reading BC: BATMAN #257
These next two issues of IRON MAN were somewhat defining for the era, in that they separated Tony Stark from his armor and caused him to have to deal with life-threatening situations on his own without the aid of advanced ordinance and head-to-toe protection. In essence, it was a full steer into the style of … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #125
The Tom Brevoort Experience 