At the time of my family's move to Delaware in 1981, there was only one comic book shop in the area, and it was in far-off Wilmington. This was Xanadu Comics, best remembered as the store that AMERICAN SPLENDOR cartoonist Harvey Pekar's future wife Joyce Brabner once worked at. It was too far off to … Continue reading FSC: 2000 AD #122
I've mentioned before just how gung-ho I was about the initial offerings from Pacific Comics, one of the fist of the new independent publishers who cropped up in the nascent Direct Sales marketplace of comic book specialty shops once it had been shown that it was possible to turn a profit there. While my enthusiasm … Continue reading FSC: ROG 2000
I wasn't ever really a fan of the line of black and white comic magazines published by Jim Warren. I sampled them from time to time, but I always came away feeling a bit unsatisfied. The stories were often lackluster, and the artwork wasn't of a consistent enough quality to pull my attention. So in … Continue reading FSC: EERIE #131
I owned at least two copies of this first volume of THE X-MEN COMPANION, possibly three. And I got them for the stupidest of reasons. At the time, having relocated to a new development in Delaware, I was forced to get my comic books monthly via mail order from Geppi's Comic World. This meant filling … Continue reading FSC: THE X-MEN COMPANION I
I don't remember why or what for at this late date, but at some point in early 1982 my family had cause to go back out to Long Island, New York where we had once lived for some bit of business--maybe it had something to do with the sale of our old house to its … Continue reading FSC: WARRIOR #1
First of all, it's got to be said: at a time when a regular issue of a new comic book cost 60 cents, the fact that this first MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL was priced at $5.95 was almost intolerable. Yes, it was 64 pages long by a top creator, yes it was on far better paper … Continue reading FSC: MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #1
In 1982, I was a huge fan of Pacific Comics, and really all of the new companies that had begun to spring up in the developing Direct Sales marketplace. These new companies and their assorted offerings excited me with the possibilities. I truly felt that I might be on the ground floor of some future … Continue reading FSC: STARSLAYER #2
Going into 1982, there was no comic book series that was of greater interest to me and my small collection of comic book reading friends as DAREDEVIL. The title had been gaining momentum ever since newcomer artist Frank Miller had been brought on to pencil it a year or two earlier. Miller's storytelling chops were … Continue reading FSC: DAREDEVIL #181
In 1981 when my family moved to Delaware, there wasn't any writer in comic books that I liked better than Marv Wolfman. I first became aware of Marv's work in the waning days of his time at Marvel, on such series as FANTASTIC FOUR, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and NOVA, all of which I liked. But it … Continue reading FSC: GREEN LANTERN #150
In 1981, when I was fourteen years old, my family relocated from the Long Island New York home that I'd known for most of my life to Delaware, the first state, which was becoming a hub of corporate activity thanks to its law regarding taxes. My father had been sent there to help set up … Continue reading First State Comics: Introduction
The Tom Brevoort Experience 