As we've done in the past, here is a collection of vintage photographs gathered from hither and yon, each one depicting either the often-young readers of the past reading the comic books of their native era or else comic books on sale in magazine stands and wire racks back when they were brand new. And … Continue reading Comics in the Wild 22
This next issue of UNCANNY X-MEN was a bit of a favorite of mine, possibly down to the fact that the central villain of the piece, Arcade, was a bit closer in tone and spirit to the Flash's rogues gallery members than most Marvel villains. The series had been steadily rising in my estimation, and … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #123
As I mentioned previously, my grade school friend Donald Sims possessed a complete 35 issue run of SHAZAM, the DC Comics revival of the original Captain Marvel of the Golden Age of Comics published in the 1970s. At one point, I convinced Don to let me borrow the run so that I could read it … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #2
I continued to make MARVEL TALES a regular purchase, it being one of the few remaining reprint titles at this point. My circle of comic book reading friends looked down our noses at reprint books, the understood belief was that they were "worthless" because they wouldn't accrue in value as back issues, something that we … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #105
It cannot be overstated just how amazing an impact was made by writer Alan Moore on comic books. He came along at exactly the right time, just as the Direct Sales Market was making it possible to do comic book stories with greater sophistication for a somewhat older audience. It was a rare thing for … Continue reading Perfect Game – SUPERMAN #423
This issue of INCREDIBLE HULK was another comic book that my household owned two copies of growing up. As had happened in the past, for some reason my younger brother Ken bought himself a copy of this issue at some point after I'd gotten mine. This may have simply been an opportunistic purchase on his … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #237
Among the other comic books that I borrowed from my grade school friend Donald Sims in order to read them was WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #200. I was interested in it mostly due to my understanding of how centennial issues were managed: they always contained a seminal story for the series involved, and so they were … Continue reading BC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #200
I wasn't used to Marvel titles wrapping up their runs cleanly. In my experience, when a Marvel book would come to an end--such as CHAMPIONS or NOVA--the series would be left in a cliffhanger state with outstanding business left to be wrapped up. That business would generally get tied off in some other Marvel book … Continue reading BHOC: GODZILLA #24
In the early pre-Superman days of comic books, the medium was trying to figure itself out. The young and often ill-trained creators who toiled in the early comic books were mostly talented novices with a desire to tell stories in pictures and put some food on the table. Accordingly, much of the common wisdom of … Continue reading The Second Slam Bradley Story
This was the last regular issue of CONAN THE BARBARIAN that my younger brother Ken bought, his short-term interest in the character waning a bit at this point. I was never either a CONAN fan r regular reader, but I was interested in this double-sized issue #100 simply because it was a centennial issue. Already … Continue reading BHOC: CONAN #100
The Tom Brevoort Experience 