BHOC: MARVEL TEAM-UP #25

And here's another issue that landed in my lap through swapping with my grade school comics reading buddy Donald Sims. I remember really liking this issue, possibly because it was the closest thing to a typical DC/Julie Schwartz-edited story that I experienced at Marvel at the time. It was complete in a single issue, had … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TEAM-UP #25

Captain America after Pearl Harbor

Behind this excellent Alex Schomburg cover (rife though it is with unfortunate racial stereotypes) lay not only a pair of adventures of the Young Allies, the kid gang team led by Captain America's young pal Bucky and his rival, Toro the Flaming Kid, but an after-the-fact account of Captain America's experiences after the bombing of … Continue reading Captain America after Pearl Harbor

Brand Echh – Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #1

By the very beginning of the 1980s, what we now know as the Direct Market for comic books--specialty shops devoted to the product who would buy new issues on a non-returnable basis, thus eliminating the enormous amount of waste the Newsstand consignment system generated--had grown to the point where it looked as though there might … Continue reading Brand Echh – Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #1

Blah Blah Blog – Civil War Memorial

An entry from my old Marvel blog featuring Mark Millar's initial outline for CIVIL WAR. Civil War Memorial April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General As I mentioned on Friday, this week I'm planning on posting a series of documents from the making of CIVIL WAR, since people seem to … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Civil War Memorial

BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #44

Continuing on with the review of books that I acquired in trade with my grade school friend Donald Sims, that's how I laid hands on this issue of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES. I've mentioned this fact before, but just to reiterate: Don and I were friends for a few years, from the start of 5th Grade to … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #44

Your Comics Code at Work: Fantasy Masterpieces #6

In the mid-1960s, Joe Simon began legal action to try to reclaim the copyright to the Captain America stories he and Jack Kirby had written and drawn twenty years earlier, and by extension the rights to the character. In a move apparently made to help re-establish his ownership of the material, Marvel publisher Martin Goodman … Continue reading Your Comics Code at Work: Fantasy Masterpieces #6

Blah Blah Blog – What An Inker Does

An old entry from my Marvel blog of the 2000s concerning the role played by the inker. What an Inker does April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General People often ask what an inker does. Back in the days before comic book credits became so complete, most people assumed that … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – What An Inker Does

BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #70

Here's another issue of MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS that I got in trade with the one and only other person I knew at this point who liked and collected comic books, by school friend Donald Sims. As the years went by, it became more and more socially dangerous to be overt about one's interest in such … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #70

Brand Echh: Mighty Crusaders #4

The combination of the super hero fad and a bit of an overlapping nostalgia boom led to the creation of this issue of Archie/Mighty Comics' MIGHTY CRUSADERS #4, one of the best-remembered bad comic books of its era. For in its pages, having brought back a couple of its golden age heroes in prior adventures, … Continue reading Brand Echh: Mighty Crusaders #4

Blah Blah Blog – Crank File

A post from my Marvel blog of days gone by relating the story of a bit of unusual mail that we had received. Crank File April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General I think that most anybody who's been in this business for any amount of time maintains a crank … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Crank File