A bit of a treasure trove came up for auction not too long ago: a full set of stats of the pencils to a golden age Human Torch story from this issue, HUMAN TORCH COMICS #33 from 1948. So I thought it was worth both saving a set of those stats and comparing them to … Continue reading The Golden Age Pencils of Bill Walton – The Human Torch
As I mentioned earlier, my first trip to an actual comic book store, a Heroes World outlet in Levittown, was a huge game-changing event for me. On the way there, I had intended to purchase the earliest issue of FANTASTIC FOUR that they had. This plan was foiled when the oldest FF issue they had … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #51
After fifteen issues in which other artists illustrated his stories, Matt Wagner returned to both write and draw this and the following three issues, a flashback tale to the time of the original Grendel, Hunter Rose. Besting WATCHMEN, Wagner subdivided each page into 25 panel areas, carrying out his story with masterful syncopation. The back-up … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1988
The Ghost Rider was a popular character in the later days of the Golden Age of Comics. He successfully combined several genres--super hero, western, supernatural--in a single series. It was an outgrowth of another strip entirely, the Calico Kid--at a certain point, Rex Hart (later Rex Fury) abandoned his guise as the Calico Kid in … Continue reading The Last Ghost Rider Story
A post from my old Marvel bog concerning the development of the SECRET INVASION crossover. Invasion Planning July 7, 2009 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General As I like to do from time to time, here's a bit of the behind-the-scenes planning for the SECRET INVASION crossover, now that sufficient time has … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Invasion Planning
We have reached a seminal moment in my development as a comic book reader. That Friday, my father told me about a new store that he'd head about--he pointedly didn't tell me that it was opening in the same mall where the branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank he was stationed at was located, which … Continue reading BHOC: OFFICIAL MARVEL INDEX #4
The third issue of Steve Gerber, Steven grant and Frank Miller's short-lived 1988 freelancer newsletter.
As interest in super heroes became a full-blown fad in the mid-1960s, driven in large part by the premiere of the Batman television series, just about everybody got into the act, trying to capture some portion of that marketplace for themselves. One of the more oddball entries was the Fab 4, who were the headliners … Continue reading Brand Echh – Super Heroes #1
A post from my old Marvel blog on Mark Gruenwald on the anniversary of his passing. That date, August 12th, has in more recent years become known as M-Day, as in later years both artist Mike Wieringo and legendary creator Joe Kubert also happened to pass on that date. G-Day 2009 August 11, 2009 | … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – G-Day 2009
This was another book that I got out of the local drug store's Big Bin of Slightly Older Comics. I'd had no idea that there had even been a HUMAN TORCH series--and in truth, it turned out to have been a short-lived reprint title. Still, it was another Fantastic Four-related book--and as the Torch was … Continue reading BHOC: HUMAN TORCH #7
