An entry from my old Marvel bog concerning the specific joy of watching somebody who is absolutely excellent at what they do doing that thing. Excel October 19, 2009 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General There's something pretty magical about watching somebody who's about the best there is in their chosen field … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Excel
This was the second of three consecutive issues of STAR WARS that we got as a special 3-Bag set months after they had initially seen print. The early STAR WARS books were all reprinted and reissued in tremendous numbers, and it seemed as though every kid of a certain age had at least a few … Continue reading BHOC: STAR WARS #8
The Marvel revolution of the early Silver Age took those toiling in the field entirely by surprise. That's entirely due to the fact that, prior to 1961, Martin Goodman's publishing enterprise, whether it was known as Timely or Atlas or Marvel had been producers of enormous amounts of shlock. Goodman's professed publishing strategy was to … Continue reading The First Spider-Man Parody
A post from my old Marvel blog that touches on how the specific way we express certain ideas impacts on the way in which they are perceived and received. Semantics October 21, 2009 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General One day every week I head up a regular Reading Circle for the … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Semantics
The popularity of STAR WARS hadn't even slightly begun to abate, and so even after the run of issues of the Marvel comic that adapted the entirety of the film over six issues had been reprinted as special 3-Bags, the program continued on beyond that, with the next STAR WARS 3-Bag containing issues #7-9. These … Continue reading BHOC: STAR WARS #7
Here's another vintage newspaper article about comic books from the dawn of the Silver Age. This is the earliest such piece that we've run, and it's interesting to see the writer's attitude towards comic books--both the titles that he clearly remembers from his own youth and their scarcity in the present moment--that moment being August … Continue reading Vanishing Art Form…
A post from my Marvel blog of years ago in which I talk about the tipping point at which a particular series becomes popular. Popular October 26, 2009 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General Before I start in on today's topic, let the record show that it was Jim McCann who at … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Popular
It would have been at about this time that I read the Pete Hamill column in the New York Daily News that is reproduced at the link below, which had a huge impact on me. As I describe in that piece, while Hamill's writing about his friend Casey was intended to underscore the emptiness and … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #327
This was another wonderful issue of MYSTERY IN SPACE that I got in my Windfall Comics purchase of 1988. Just looking at the book, you can get a sense as to how much more invested editor Julie Schwartz was when working on science fiction material. He'd started out as an SF fan, and eventually found … Continue reading WC: MYSTERY IN SPACE #68
An entry from my old Marvel blog speaking about the spirit of the comic book fan community. Community November 6, 2009 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General One of the aspects of the comic book business that I don't think gets talked about enough is the sense of community that exists among … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Community
