BHOC: SUB-MARINER #71

This issue of SUB-MARINER was yet another comic that I got in trade with my friend Don Sims in grade school. It was right at the end of the run, at the point where Namor was about to go from a mainstay of the line to a frequent guest-star and antagonist, no longer quite able … Continue reading BHOC: SUB-MARINER #71

Great Covers: SINISTER HOUSE OF SECRET LOVE #2

First off, what a great name for a comic magazine. I can't help but thinking to myself, "As opposed to the SECRET HOUSE OF SINISTER LOVE", which may have been down the block. Anyway, in attempting to cash in on a corner of the growing marketplace for gothic romance stories in the early 1970s, DC … Continue reading Great Covers: SINISTER HOUSE OF SECRET LOVE #2

Lee & Kirby & Simon: Captain America Before and After 1

As the Marvel line began to grow in the 1960s, editor Stan Lee decided that he had a problem. He based this supposition on some of the fan mail that he'd been receiving no doubt--mail that would ask questions about how a given Marvel character could be in the midst of life-or-death jeopardy in one … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Simon: Captain America Before and After 1

Blah Blah Blog – Many Thanks

A post from my vintage Marvel blog of yesteryear about an artist sending a drawing to me. Many Thanks April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General I make it a general policy not to buy or collect original art—not because it isn't beautiful or worthwhile, but because it can lead … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Many Thanks

BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #164

Hey, we were just talking about this issue while discussing PETER PARKER, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #2 last week. This was another book that came my way from my school friend Don Sims, who no doubt purchased them both at around the same time. Now that i was starting to follow the character, it was I suppose … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #164

Brand Echh – Sick #42

Joe Simon was the editor of SICK magazine, one of the assorted knock-offs of the extremely popular MAD that crowded the newsstands in the late 1950s and 1960s. Simon had largely moved away from his involvement in the comic book field, though around the time this issue was being worked on, he had been drafted … Continue reading Brand Echh – Sick #42

Great Covers – HOUSE OF SECRETS #91

Starting in the late 1960s, DC maintained a whole line of "mystery" title, the inspiration of editor Joe Orlando, who saw an opportunity in the marketplace for books that would approximate the thrills of the long-dead EC line and their brethren. Individually, any of the issues within this line would be hit-or-miss, depending on which … Continue reading Great Covers – HOUSE OF SECRETS #91

Blah Blah Blog – The Doctor Is In

A post from my now-vanished Marvel blog concerning my history with Doctor Who. The Doctor is In April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General I'm a big fan of the British series Doctor Who. The old show, the new show. I've been watching it since the very early '80s, and … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – The Doctor Is In

BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #2

Here's another book that came into my hands through parlay with my grade school friend Donald Sims. And boy, you can't imagine a cover on a comic today having such an overt plug for a film not connected in any way with the publisher. But in the 1970s, it was fine, all part of the … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #2

The Last Quicksilver Story

We've talked about Quicksilver in the past, and how this perennial back-page filler for Quality Comics' NATIONAL COMICS was brought back decades later by writer Mark Waid in the pages of FLASH and transformed into a virtually new character, Max Mercury. Quicksilver had never been a headliner, but he was a reliable supporting player, and … Continue reading The Last Quicksilver Story