Another collection of vintage photographs showing the comic books of yesteryear either on sale or being consumed by readers of the era. This vintage photo includes a boy reading MARVEL COMICS #1 26 May 1952 --- 1950s group of 5 children sitting on newsstand reading magazines comic books --- Image by © Camerique/ClassicStock/Corbis
The short mid-1970s history of Atlas Comics represents one of the great missed opportunities in the history of comics. For a brief, shining second, it seemed as though there would be another mainstream publisher in the field, one that would challenge Marvel and DC for supremacy in the marketplace and create greater competition, and by … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Scorpion #3 and the Marvelization of Atlas Comics
Another old post from my Marvel blog of a decade ago, in which I answer some questions from teh readership. Reader Questions 7 April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General All right, we're getting down to the end on Reader Questions, so we should have this all wrapped up by … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Reader Questions 7
Another week at my local 7-11 meant another flight of new release comics for me to buy and read. I was a regular purchaser of DAREDEVIL by this time, so I was right there when the next issue showed up. This issue represented the return of long-time series artist Gene Colan to its pages--a return … Continue reading BHOC: DAREDEVIL #153
An awful lot of the production work materials from the comic books created in the formative years of the industry are long gone, discarded as unimportant "work product" on the way to producing finished comic book issues, which were the goal point all along. Fortunately, a lot of the original artwork has survived (though far … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: The Pencils of FANTASTIC FOUR #49
There was no greater success story in the world of comic books in the 1950s as MAD Magazine. Even in the world of magazine publishing, the only thing that perhaps bettered it was the rise of PLAYBOY. When Harvey Kurtzman and Bill Gaines switched the dying EC line's breakout hit from a comic book to … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: LUNATICKLE #2
An entry from my defunct Marvel blog of the 00s, first of a series on bad comics that I worked on. Ran into some connectivity problems late yesterday, so our special series on Bad Comics I Had A Hand In is beginning a little bit later than planned. But we'll be running this exciting new … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Bad Comics I Had A Hand In, Part One
MS MARVEL was another title that I sampled out of the Big Bin of Somewhat Older Comic Books at my local drug store, and for the same reason: the need to hit a total of 5 purchases so as to be able to get them for a dollar, as opposed to risking the whims of … Continue reading BHOC: MS MARVEL #4
Yes, I know we covered a portion of this issue before, but there's still some fascinating stuff to look at in the other stories contained in FANTASY MASTERPIECES #6. To recap a bit; Marvel had begun reprinting the earliest Captain America adventures from 1941 within the book's pages. But, because the Comics Code had come … Continue reading Your Comics Code at Work: Fantasy Masterpieces #6
One of the more overlooked pioneers of what would come to be called the Direct Sales comic book market was Mike Friedrich. He'd started his career as a writer for DC and Marvel, among others, and eventually became first Marvel's first executive in charge of Direct Sales and thereafter an artists representative. But in-between, he … Continue reading Brand Echh: Star Reach #1
The Tom Brevoort Experience 