It was a sad reality of the 1970s that for most of that decade, IRON MAN was a book that just wasn't very good. Today he's at the forefront of worldwide consciousness about Marvel thanks to Robert Downey Jr's performance as Tony Stark in the films--but in the 1970s, his series trundled along, a lower-middle … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #81
It was one of the great, mythic misfires of the Marvel Age of Comics. Looking for ways in which he could spread his wings and move from being just a comic book editor and writer, Marvel's Stan Lee presided over a one-night-only event at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan on Wednesday, January 5th 1972. Reportedly, the … Continue reading A Marvel-ous Evening with Stan Lee
From the mid-1960s all the way through the earliest days of the 1980s, Warren Publications provided a bit of an alternative to the mainstream comic book marketplace dominated by Marvel and DC (as well as Archie and Harvey and Gold Key, etc.) Warren's particular forte was in doing horror magazines, very much influenced, at least … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: EERIE #32
A post from my Marvel blog of long ago, spotlighting Brian Bendis. Bendis April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General You know, I was thinking about yesterday's post, and it made me realize how little I write on this blog about Brian Bendis. I think it's just because he's easy … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Bendis
I dutifully picked up this next issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, one of my favorite titles when I was even younger than I was at its time of release. But since the departure of writer Steve Englehart, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA was going through something of a slump--new author Gerry Conway was crafting solid … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #156
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
The Tom Brevoort Experience 