The early 1980s was a wild time to be a comic book reader, in that the establishment of the Direct Sales marketplace as a viable alternative to mainstream Newsstand distribution for comic books opened up the floodgates, with all sort of publishers with big dreams of finding success pouring through. On any given visit to … Continue reading FSC: SPECTRUM COMICS PREVIEWS #1
As I've mentioned before, my friend David Steckel had inherited a chunk of his comic book collection from older cousins who had outgrown comics, so he owned a handful of issues that dated back to the 1960s. He didn't have many of them, and they were a bit scattered, but they represented a bit of … Continue reading BC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #67
One of the immediate benefits of having switched my shopping for new comics to the recently-opened Stationery store was that I once again had access to Marvel's upsized titles and Annuals. The 7-11 that I had been getting most of my comics from had long since stopped carrying any non-regulation formatted comic books, and so … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE ANNUAL #4
Marvel veteran Larry Lieber has been divesting himself of portions of his collection, and the bounty, listed at Heritage Auctions, has uncovered some amazingly wonderful things. Most recently, a heretofore-undiscovered third penciled page for Jack Kirby's pitch story for what became the NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. strip in STRANGE TALES. The first two pages … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Steranko & Lieber: The Birth of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Man Called D.E.A.T.H.
Quietly and without fanfare, IRON MAN had become one of the most reliably entertaining comics in the Marvel line. This was all down to the efforts of the creative team, writer David Michelinie, penciler John Romita Jr., and inker and co-plotter Bob Layton. It was also a reflection of the changing times; Micheline and Layton … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #126
One of the new mainstay players in the emerging Direct Sales market comprised of comic book specialty stories in the 1980s was First Comics. An outfit out of Chicago, First boasted an initial eclectic line-up but slowly and surely crystalized into a reliable player in the field. Debuting in 1982, among the series First published … Continue reading FSC: E-MAN #2
Now this next issue of SHAZAM was something of a shock to the system, and one that was only slightly blunted by the fact that I'd seen this cover in contemporaneous house ads when it had come out. This was right towards the end of the complete run of SHAZAM that I had borrowed from … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #34
It was at some point around this time that my local postal carrier delivered my subscription copy of the latest issue of FANTASTIC FOUR--though not before it had already gone on sale and was available at my local outlet. Not buying the book and waiting for my copy proved to be difficult, especially after other … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #210
The last two series launched by Jim Shooter's new company DEFIANT were both direct spin-off of the firm's inaugural title WARRIORS OF PLASM. Which seems to me like a strange choice. At this point, was there any indication that WARRIORS OF PLASM was so popular that it could support multiple projects/ In any event, Shooter … Continue reading Brand Echh: DOGS OF WAR #1
My family were big fans of the Muppet Show every since it first premiered in 1976. We watched it with alarming regularity every Sunday evening at 7:30. So when Jim Henson and company brought their chaotic creations to the big screen, we were sure to be there. And so we were when The Muppet Movie … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #75
The Tom Brevoort Experience 