As we've spoken about before in the past, the opening up of the Direct Sales marketplace in the 1980s inspired a whole lot of different companies to enter the field with their own wares, competing for a piece of this lucrative non-returnable sales market. One of these was Archie Comics, who were persuaded to take … Continue reading Brand Echh: Mighty Crusaders #1
There was a hot moment in the mid-1990s when this issue of COMICO PRIMER was momentarily a highly sought-after back issue. That time coincided with when MTV turned Sam Kieth's Image series THE MAXX into a short-lived but well-remembered animated series. This issue of PRIMER featured Kieth's first published work, and there was a lot … Continue reading Brand Echh: Comico Primer #5
For a hot moment in the mid-1970s, it seemed as though funny animal comics were poised to make a comeback. A lot of this interest stemmed from the huge demand for HOWARD THE DUCK #1, which drove up the back issue prices of that issue. Nobody yet entirely realized how manipulation at the distributor level … Continue reading Brand Echh: Quack #1
Comic books attracted the attention of some pretty colorful people, especially when it came to the ranks of would-be publishers. One of the most colorful was David Singer, who for a short period of time in the mid-1980s presided over both Deluxe Comics and Lodestone Comics, and operated as a publisher looking to carve out … Continue reading Brand Echh: Codename: Danger #1
Here's another example of the wasted potential of the short-lived ATLAS COMICS line of the mid-1970s and how they unsuccessfully attempted to compete with Marvel Comics head-to-head, in the worst way possible. As we've talked about before, ATLAS was founded by Martin Goodman and his son Chip following the latter's ouster from Marvel. When Martin … Continue reading Brand Echh: John Targitt…Man-Stalker #2
It strikes me that it's been a while since we checked in on the doings of my favorite of the Archie/Mighty Comics campy super heroes of the mid-1960s, the Web! As you already know if you've read our earlier features on this line of comics, at teh height of Batmania in America and the huge … Continue reading Brand Echh: Mighty Comics #40 Part 2
The potential of the burgeoning Direct Market in the early 1980s was the ability for publishers to expand the content of their wares. No longer stuck in the Newsstand, where comic books were considered the pastime of intellectual inferiors and children, creators would be able to produce more meaningful, more adult stories. Stories that didn't … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Guardian #1
The comic book business was once again facing a period of change as the 1960s drew to a close. The super hero fad that had driven sales for most of the decade was winding down, and there was a sense that, as the marketplaces where comic books had been traditionally sold began to dry up … Continue reading Brand Echh: His Name is Savage #1
Super heroes were becoming big business as the Silver Age of Comics kicked off at the beginning of the 1960s. As the decade progressed, all sorts of companies developed and launched their own costumed characters in an attempt to find success and profit. Some of these characters have been long forgotten by this point. One … Continue reading Brand Echh: Space Adventures #44
It's time for another look at one of the short-lived wonders of the 1975 Atlas Comics line. For those who are unfamiliar, Atlas was a company started up by former Marvel Comics founder and owner Martin Goodman after his son Chip was ousted from Marvel in favor of promoting Stan Lee. Goodman wanted revenge, he … Continue reading Brand Echh: Tiger-Man #1
The Tom Brevoort Experience 