As super heroes began to take hold of the comic book marketplace at the beginning of the 1960s, all sorts of different publishers stepped up to provide their own take on series featuring costumed do-gooders. One of the best-remembered was MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER (though today most readers may be more familiar with the character in … Continue reading Brand Echh: Magnus, Robot Fighter #1
One of the most spectacular misfires in the history of comics, NEUTRO lasted only a single issue, released by Dell at the tail end of the super hero fad and attempting like so many others did to cash in on the sudden heat of that genre. It's debatable whether this colossal shaggy dog story even … Continue reading Brand Echh: Neutro #1
We've covered this point many times in this feature, but just to set the stage once more: by the mid-1960s, the super hero fad in comic book publishing had grown into a nationwide obsession thanks to the appeal of the BATMAN live action television series, which premiered on January 12, 1966. Super heroes as a … Continue reading Brand Echh: Werewolf #1
We've gone over the history a couple of times in teh past, and yet I feel a need to recap it again here for any newcomers to this page who haven't yet read about THE DESTRUCTOR or DEMON HUNTER or THE SCORPION. Atlas Comics (also known as Seaboard) was a short-lived company set up by … Continue reading Brand Echh: Phoenix #3
The backstory here is something that we've covered in the past, but just to summarize events again: in the mid-1960s, the comic book field was seeing a bit of a resurgence. A fad for costumed super heroes had sprung up, exploding to massive life in the wake of the premiere of the live action BATMAN … Continue reading Brand Echh: Double-Dare Adventures #1
The 1960s was a time of social change, as the fight for Civil Rights for black Americans was constantly in the headlines of the era. Marvel gets (and takes) big props for their progressiveness in introducing the Black Panther, a dark-skinned super hero, in FANTASTIC FOUR in 1966--and in fairness, that was still an accomplishment … Continue reading Brand Echh: Lobo #1
E-MAN was a short-lived but well-remembered (and often revived) Charlton title of the early 1970s, representing a last gasp on the part of that firm to establish a presence in the super hero marketplace. E-Man was a bit of a throwback character, crafted in the mold of Plastic Man or Captain Marvel. A super hero … Continue reading Brand Echh: E-Man #6
The NATIONAL LAMPOON is one of the great publishing success stories of the 1970s. It was effectively spun out of the long-running Harvard Lampoon published by that institution of higher learning by a number of graduates, and it successfully plugged into the zeitgeist of its era, expanding at its height beyond simply a monthly magazine … Continue reading Brand Echh: National Lampoon and the other Neal Adams Deadman
DESTROYER DUCK #1 was a stopping point in a much larger saga, one that I'll recount the broad strokes of momentarily. It was also a benefit book published by Eclipse, work on which was provided free by all of the contributors in support of the underlying cause of the book in the first place. It … Continue reading Brand Echh: Destroyer Duck #1
As the potential audience for comic books opened up in the early 1980s with the rise and advent of the direct sales market, it wasn't just young new would-be publishers who noticed. Some of the most established firms were just as aware of this new venue, and they geared up to enter it. One of … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Fly #1
The Tom Brevoort Experience 