A post from my old-time Marvel blog discussing the oft-invoked fan belief that good sales are hardly a mark of quality material. Sales versus Quality October 28, 2008 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General Bouncing off of yesterday’s topic, let’s talk about that perennial conflict: sales versus quality.It’s a typical argument that … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Sales vs Quality
Marvel's decision to launch a licensed comic dedicated to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY in 1976 is a bit of a mysterious choice. Clearly, the outfit was trying to move into licensed properties--in addition to 2001, they did STAR WARS and LOGAN'S RUN at about this time, and had great success with expanding on the mythology … Continue reading BHOC: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY #5
While it's perhaps lost its uniqueness a little bit given the sheer number of latter day crossovers between characters originating at different companies (and in some cases, in different forms of media) it would he difficult to understate the significance of SUPERMAN VS THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. For those who were there when it came out, … Continue reading The Outline for SUPERMAN VS THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
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
A series of three posts from my long-ago Marvel blog that quizzed the audience about comics they had read and their feelings about them. Challenge! October 29, 2008 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General Just a quick update tonight, since I'm in a rush--but I wanted to throw a question out to … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Three Challenges
This was the very last issue of TWO-GUN KID that Marvel published. A string of issues that went back to 1948 (with admittedly several gaps) came to a final end here. I wasn't aware of that when I got this comic, nor did I get to enjoy this great Gil Kane cover--Kane was doing new … Continue reading BHOC: TWO-GUN KID #136
I came across another stash of these Mexican issues of LA SORPRENDENTE HOMBRE ARANA that were published in the early 1970s, many of which contained new never-translated stories created exclusively for the Spanish-speaking marketplace by local talent, so popular was Spider-Man in those regions at the time that it had exhausted the supply of American … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: EL SORPRENDENTE HOMBRE ARANA #165
The Atom is one of those characters whom these days you can't quite believe held a series for as long as he did. In the modern era when most super hero comic books are concerned with more direct power fantasies, in which fighting prowess is considered one of the most important factors, the Atom is … Continue reading WC: THE ATOM #8
A post from my decades-old Marvel blog addressing the need to trust your creative talent. Trust September 25, 2008 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General One of the things you need to learn in a position of managerial authority is to trust your people. This can be a very difficult thing to … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Trust
Ever since the departure of Jack Kirby some months earlier, CAPTAIN AMERICA had been a title that had struggled to maintain its schedule. Between then and here, there'd been unannounced reprints, and emergency back-up stories dropped in when full issues hadn't been completed in time. And now this time, an out-and-out fill-in story. It was … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #224
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