Here's another look at some sales figures, these ones from the Direct Sales marketplace of comic book specialty shops in June of 1990--the month in which Todd McFarlane's SPIDER-MAN #1 launched. This document was compiled by Carol Kalish, then the head of Marvel's Sales Department and an important and largely-forgotten figure in comic book history. … Continue reading The Direct Market Sales Figures of Marvel’s Carol Kalish
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
Another post from my Marvel blog of long ago in which I answered more questions from the readers. Been a while since we went to the mailbag (or the replies threads). So let's see what people are asking:>I get what you're saying, I just found that while buying all the Civil War tie ins the … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Mailbag
The above Rich Buckler cover is something I didn't get to see back in the 1970s. That's because, like other books I've been covering here recently, I got BLACK LIGHTNING #1 in one of the bundles of coverless comics that my local Drug Store chain had begun to sell in lieu of their Big Bin … Continue reading BHOC: BLACK LIGHTNING #1
More vintage photographs of old comic books on sale at their time of release or being read and enjoyed by the consumers of long ago. A window into another time!
This was one of the more exciting acquisitions I made in my windfall acquisition of 1988--a super-early (single digits) issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN by the character's originators, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. And not to boast per se, but because it's the point of this whole series of pieces, remember that I got this book … Continue reading WC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #7
A post from my Marvel blog of years ago detailing some editorial moves in and around my office at the time. Editorial Changes April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General So now all the news seems to have officially broken, and we have some new arrivals in my little corner … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Editorial Changes
This issue of AVENGERS was another book that I got in coverless condition from my local drug store and their new Bundles of Coverless Older Comics. Which means that I never got to see this George Perez cover in my youth--and it still looks slightly strange to me, for all that this was an issue … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #164
I'm pretty certain that I scavenged this from over at Scott Edelman's blog from a number of years ago. Both Scott and his wife Irene had been on staff at Marvel in the 1970s and had saved an assortment of various memos and bits of paraphernalia. Every so often, Scott would come across one of … Continue reading GIANT-SIZE MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION #1 and the Cover Notes of Stan Lee
Charlton had been a player in the comic book marketplace going back to the days of the Golden Age of Comics. They were widely regarded as the shlockiest of publishers, whose paper and printing was markedly inferior to that of the competition. There was some very good work buried among the many Charlton publications, but … Continue reading Brand Echh: Charlton Bullseye #1
The Tom Brevoort Experience 