It really is something to look at the development of the Marvel line during the formative years between 1961 and 1965. It's pretty amazing how all of the key strips would take these sudden surges in quality, that the material kept getting better, stronger and more polished, and the ambition got greater and greater as … Continue reading WC: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #120
Another look at one of the stories written off by DC Comics in the wake of the DC Implosion of 1978 that resulted in a sharp and unexpected contraction of their publishing line and the loss of some of their staff members. When Gerry Conway came on staff at DC after being passed over for … Continue reading CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #1: FIRESTORM #6
Picked up this issue of INCREDIBLE HULK on that week's Thursday trip down to the 7-11 for the new comics, a trip I made like clockwork every week. While I was still a bit lukewarm on the character, the series as a whole had been growing stronger, mainly as new writer Roger Stern began to … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #229
In 1972, Marvel Comics entered its second phase. Editor Stan Lee had been promoted to Publisher and, momentarily, President, and Roy Thomas had been made his successor. What's more, former owner Martin Goodman was gone, as was the limitation on how many releases the company could put out which had been imposed upon them by … Continue reading THE CLAWS OF THE CAT #5: The Lost Issue
It's no secret that DC found itself with an enormous hit on its hands in CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, the anniversary limited series produced by Marv Wolfman and George Perez designed to restructure and streamline the DC continuity. It was that rare Event series that both left a lasting change upon the line in its … Continue reading Crisis on a Brave New Earth
With this latest issue of AVENGERS, the ten-month-long Korvac Saga came to an end. Unfortunately, artist George Perez, who had been instrumental in convincing writer Jim Shooter to pen a storyline featuring all of the Avengers past and present, fell off abut a third of the way into the storyline, and it was plagued by … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #177
It's maybe difficult to believe looking back on events from fifty years on, but the title above was one of the best-selling series of the 1960s. It handily outsold even the most popular Marvel books by far, and left more storied titles such as JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and GREEN LANTERN in the dust. Such … Continue reading WC: SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #75
Still one more story written off in the wake of the DC Implosion of 1978 and only ever circulated in CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE, a home-copied volume created for contributors and to secure teh copyright to the material. DOORWAY TO NIGHTMARE was a late-in-the-game mystery/suspense series edited by Joe Orlando, at least initially. DC was still … Continue reading CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #1: DOORWAY TO NIGHTMARE #6
Every year, the Smith Haven Mall near to where I lived held a week-long crafts fair. For seven days, assorted artists and craftspeople would set up little booths throughout the Mall and hock their wares. And every year, there wound up being two or three guys selling back issue comic books out of cardboard boxes. … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL COLLECTORS’ ITEM CLASSICS #1
As I spoke about last week, the early Marvel Comics was relatively consistent with the manner in which it dealt with death. As a general rule, when a character was genuinely killed (as opposed to suffering a "super villain death" at the climax of a story where they fell into the river or some such) … Continue reading The First Marvel Resurrection
The Tom Brevoort Experience 