When it was first launched, there was a veneer of respectability about the MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL line. Based on the format of European albums, these books were a place where creators could tell stories that were a bit more sophisticated and adult-oriented than the typical Comics Code-approved fare that filled the pages of the monthly … Continue reading FSC: MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #4
I continued to read through the stack of the complete run of SHAZAM that my grade school buddy Donald Sims had lent to me--it took a lot less time than these assorted issue reviews have been taking. The next issue was the final reprint issue in the run. As you'll recall, with its sales flagging … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #24
Here's another book that I picked up on my post-grade school graduation trip to Bush's Hobbies in Ronkonkoma. I had been slowly filling in a complete run of MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS, the title that eventually changed its name to MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS and in which the earliest FANTASTIC FOUR stories were reprinted. I wanted … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL COLLECTORS’ ITEM CLASSICS #19
The next series that Valiant released was launched as a part of the UNITY crossover. Labeled as Chapter Two, it really wasn't such a thing, as the only connective tissue to the crossover storyline is a short epilogue at the end that repurposes panels from UNITY #0 to bring Gilad as well as Archer and … Continue reading Brand Echh: ETERNAL WARRIOR #1
On that selfsame trip to Bush's Hobbies following my graduation from grade school, I indulged in my interest in golden age comics by picking up this issue of FANTASY MASTERPIECES, which reprinted the first battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner, a story I had read about previously in Jim Steranko's HISTORY OF COMICS. … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASY MASTERPIECES #8
I seem to remember picking up this issue of DC COMICS PRESENTS at some non-traditional outlet that my family had visited rather than one of my regular haunts for new comics. I was reading the book on a semi-regular basis, and even if I hadn't been, the appearance of the Doom Patrol in this issue … Continue reading FSC: DC COMICS PRESENTS #52
As I've spoken about numerous times on this page, I was relatively limited in what I was looking for in my comic books. I was a super hero guy, and so none of the other genres which were then still readily available when I started reading the books in the 1970s were of any real … Continue reading BC: GIANT-SIZE SPIDER-MAN #1
I always preferred buying original books to reprints, in part because many of the reprints of the times were cut down to fit shorter page counts. But this didn't really become a major issue for me for another year or so yet. At the time that I made this post-grade-school-graduation trip to Bush's Hobbies, I … Continue reading BHOC: GIANT-SIZE FANTASTIC FOUR #5
Having been publishing super hero comic books for about a year, Valiant editor in chief Jim Shooter was about to unveil his master stroke. Jim had scored massive numbers writing MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS years before, the very first company-wide crossover series, and its success must have been top of mind as he and … Continue reading Brand Echh: UNITY #0
Not being satisfied with my haul from Ed's Coins and Stamps and still having a bit of grade school graduation in my pocket, later on that week I embarked on a long bike ride into Ronkonkoma, to Bush's Hobbies, another back issue outlet that was within riding distance from my home. As it turned out, … Continue reading BHOC: TALES TO ASTONISH #54
The Tom Brevoort Experience 