The short mid-1970s history of Atlas Comics represents one of the great missed opportunities in the history of comics. For a brief, shining second, it seemed as though there would be another mainstream publisher in the field, one that would challenge Marvel and DC for supremacy in the marketplace and create greater competition, and by … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Scorpion #3 and the Marvelization of Atlas Comics
One of the more overlooked pioneers of what would come to be called the Direct Sales comic book market was Mike Friedrich. He'd started his career as a writer for DC and Marvel, among others, and eventually became first Marvel's first executive in charge of Direct Sales and thereafter an artists representative. But in-between, he … Continue reading Brand Echh: Star Reach #1
The opening up of the Direct Sales market in the early 1980s made it possible for anybody with a little bit of money to publish and sell their own black and white comic books. All sorts of new companies popped up, put out a few releases, then vanished without a trace. Comico performed better than … Continue reading Brand Echh: Comico Primer #2
As we've spoken about a few times in this feature, the early 1960s saw a bit of a renaissance in the fortunes of the costumed super hero in comic books. With the relatively newly-instituted Comics Code Authority putting an end to the crime and horror comics that had flourished in the early half of the … Continue reading Brand Echh: Adventures of the Jaguar #1
One of the most memorable and offbeat characters in the history of comics made his debut in the pages of VISIONS #1 in 1979, which was the convention booklet of the annual Atlanta Fantasy Fair. Despite these humble beginnings, he went on to have a long and varied life, being published by several different outfits … Continue reading Brand Echh: Visions #1
This entry goes out to writer Dan Slott, who posted about SKATE MAN #1 on his Twitter stream this past week, causing me to bump this book to the top of my queue to cover here. SKATE MAN #1 and only was published in 1983 by Pacific Comics, the Direct Market comic book company spun … Continue reading Brand Echh: Skate Man #1
As we've spoken about in the past, the early 1980s saw the comic book direct sales marketplace become a viable arena in which to launch new publications. There was enough of a network of comic book specialty stores by this point to make such a venture potentially viable, as well as a desire for material … Continue reading Brand Echh: Nexus #1
For most of the Golden Age of Comics, the partnership of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby had been a sales juggernaut. While they had their occasional flops, more often than not the combo was responsible for hit after hit--enough so that their names would sometimes be called on in the advertising, something that typically was … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Double Life of Private Strong #1
At the beginning of the Silver Age, super heroes were making a comeback. This trend would blossom into a full-on fad mid-decade thanks to the release of the BATMAN television show--positively everybody went super hero crazy there for a year or so. But even before that, there was a sense throughout the industry that costumed … Continue reading Brand Echh: Space Adventures #33
Yes, that's right, I'm actually doing an installment of Brand Echh about a book published by Marvel. Seems heretical somehow, right? But in looking at this entry, this seemed to be the best category for it. The story saw print in the very last issue of MODELING WITH MILLIE, which was the second ongoing series … Continue reading Brand Echh: Modeling with Millie #54
The Tom Brevoort Experience 