It must be said that Jack Kirby's time at DC in the early 1970s was not without its difficulties. There are all sorts of theories for this, ranging from editorial fear to jealousy to a simple dislike for the King's work among portions of the staff. What he was doing definitely didn't fit in smoothly … Continue reading (Not So) Great Covers: FOREVER PEOPLE #3 and MISTER MIRACLE #3
I knew what would be coming up ahead of time in each issue of MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS, as I owned the George Olshevsky FANTASTIC FOUR INDEX https://tombrevoort.com/2019/11/24/bhoc-official-marvel-index-4/ So I knew that we were honing in on FANTASTIC FOUR #100, an issue that I was interested in entirely due to its centennial nature. Even then, the … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #80
By 1965, DETECTIVE COMICS had become something of a schizophrenic title. Editor Julie Schwartz's revamp of Batman had taken hold and increased sales, saving the series from possible termination. Yet, he was still limited by DC/National's deal with Batman's creator Bob Kane. Kane was to be provided a certain amount of work on the series … Continue reading WC: DETECTIVE COMICS #343
Another look at one of the features that was spiked and written off by DC Comics in the midst of the line contraction and round of layoffs that came to be known as the DC Implosion. THE DESERTER was a new western series created by writer Gerry Conway. It had originally been commissioned to run … Continue reading CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #1: THE DESERTER #1
This issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA turned up at the 7-11 the next time I visited there. The series had been somewhat shaky for months, ever since the departure of Jack Kirby. it was plagued with back-ups and fill-ins, and so its running storyline concerning Steve Rogers attempting to learn more about his past prior to … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #227
If there's one thing that's become apparent over the past 80 years of comic book publishing, it's that death sells. The demise of a beloved character can create great interest in a series, as well as potentially delivering an emotional impact that the audience will remember. The whole job of storytelling is to evoke a … Continue reading The First Marvel Fatality
Here is another example of the phenomenon that we looked at last time: a perfectly fine cover image by Jack Kirby that has been deliberately colored in such a way as to render it unattractive and unappealing. As I said last time, going to this sort of monochromatic color scheme was a last ditch move … Continue reading (Not So) Great Covers: FANTASTIC FOUR #81 (and MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #63)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #186 represented something of a turning point for the character, as new writer Marv Wolfman began charting out the direction he wanted to take the wall-crawler's life in next. Last issue saw Peter Parker graduate from college, which seemed monumental for a series so associated with that environment, and now he was ready … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #186
Now this is one of my favorite Justice League stories of all time. The fact that I read it as a reprint at a very young and impressionable age probably has something to do with that. But also, it played upon one of my personal fears as a child. Having watched an especially terrifying episode … Continue reading WC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #19
A further look at CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #1, the home-printed volume comprised of stories that DC Comics was writing off as their line was dramatically downsized in 1978 in what became known as the DC Implosion. CLAW THE UNCONQUERED, one of DC's more successful series in capturing a percentage of the market for barbarian sword … Continue reading CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #1: CLAW THE UNCONQUERED #14
The Tom Brevoort Experience 