Here's a great example of the fact that you never know what's going to become a successful property over time. This issue of Charlton's FIGHTIN' 5 comic--a series that featured the adventures of a group of Blackhawk-like non-powered adventurers--also showcased, unheralded, the first appearance of a character who remained a footnote in comic book history … Continue reading Brand Echh – Fightin’ 5 #40
The fourth issue of FantaCo's short-lived CHRONCILES series carried with it a new logo for the title--things were perhaps already growing dicey between the company and Marvel, whose output they were reviewing and indexing in these publications. And interview they had run in their FANTASTIC FOUR edition, #2, had earned them the ire of Marvel's … Continue reading Brand Echh – Avengers Chronicles #4
By 1969, with comic book sales beginning to fall as the 60s fad for super heroes ran its course, enterprising creators began to look for greener pastures, to get out from under the thumb of often-unscrupulous publishers and to be their own bosses and make their own way. One of these creators was Wally Wood, … Continue reading Brand Echh – Heroes, Inc. #1
Picking up from last week's theme, the creative and editorial team of Denny O'Neil, Jim Aparo and Dick Giordano created another lost gem series in the back pages of the final issue of THUNDERBOLT. It was this strip which replaced the Sentinels, about whom we've spoken before. Unfortunately, there was only a single story ever … Continue reading Brand Echh – Thunderbolt #60
As we've spoken about in the past, Charlton went through a tiny and short-lived creative renaissance in the mid-late 1960s under the editorial auspices of Dick Giordano. While the outfit that he was working for continued to crank out comic books merely as to keep their big in-house printing presses operating, Giordano actually possessed some … Continue reading Brand Echh – Cheyenne Kid #66
We've spoken in the past about Harvey's short-lived attempt to jump on board the super hero bandwagon of the mid-1960s, and how despite hiring industry legend Joe Simon to put together a slew of new titles for them, the work was ultimately underwhelming and swiftly vanished with a scant track. Well, among that short batch … Continue reading Brand Echh – Fighting American #1
If there's ever an award given for the most tone-deaf comic book of the 1960s, then TOD HOLTON, SUPER GREEN BERET stands a pretty good chance of winning. It was published in the opening days of 1967 and attempted to introduce a new wartime super hero soldier character. Unfortunately for its creators, the war was … Continue reading Brand Echh – Tod Holton, Super Green Beret #1
A short-lived publication from the early 1980s, FantaCo's CHRONICLES series of fanzines devoted each issue to a specific Marvel title (until their final annual, in which every comic book series published up to that time was reviewed.) These fanzines were pretty great, chock full of interesting information and articles as well as checklists and indexes--and … Continue reading Brand Echh – Fantastic Four Chronicles #2
It's well-known that Steve Ditko, the formative Marvel creator, left that company in 1966 after broken promises and worsening relationships with the people at the outfit, notably editor Stan Lee. It's also well-known that, for all that Ditko's most popular and lasting creation for Marvel is Spider-Man, his work on the mystic series Doctor Strange … Continue reading Brand Echh – The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves #12
People seemed to like (or were horrified and transfixed by) the selection I ran last week from the British MARVEL STORY BOOK ANNUAL for 1967. So what the hay, let's do another one. Above is a reproduction of the end papers from the hardcover volume, on which one of the volume's three illustrators swipes the … Continue reading Marvel Story Book Annual 1967 – The Origin of Spider-Man and The Fire Raisers
The Tom Brevoort Experience 