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 1970s saw a rise in representation for African-Americans in popular culture--although that representation wasn't always sensitively done. But with Blaxploitation films bringing in big box office returns (especially as compared to the cost to produce) people suddenly became aware of a large black audience that wasn't being tapped--and a variety of players moved to … Continue reading Brand Echh: Fast Willie Jackson #1
We've talked about CHARLTON PREMIERE in the past. It was Charlton's attempt at a SHOWCASE-style series that would debut a different character or concept every issue. A try-out comic, in other words. No series that appeared in CHARLTON PREMIERE ever graduated into its own book, but a few of the stories are noteworthy in some … Continue reading Brand Echh: Charlton Premiere #3
The American Comics Group was a regular fixture on comic book racks from the 1940s all the way through to the end of the 1960s. The firm specialized in short one-off supernatural mystery anthologies, with a smattering of humor title and the occasional foray into adventure series. What ACG really wasn't interested in for the … Continue reading Brand Echh – Magic Agent #1
The Tom Brevoort Experience 