Quality Comics was one of the finest publishers of the Golden Age of Comics. They lived up to their firm's name by featuring a high level of polish in both their stories and their artwork. Quality's most popular features included Plastic Man, Doll Man and Blackhawk, along with reprints of Will Eisner's The Spirit, and … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: The Forgotten Phantom Lady/Spider Widow epic, Part 1
In 1979, DAREDVIL was a series that had been limping along for years. Perhaps its only saving grace, the thing that kept it from being cancelled, was the fact that it was one of the original Marvel titles that had been launched at the start of the 1960s at the dawn of the Marvel Age. … Continue reading BHOC: DAREDEVIL #157
The last regular issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA that I bought was #281, almost a hundred issues on from when I'd first sampled the book. The series was on a bit of an upswing at this point, having just concluded a multi-part adventure that established the contemporary Baron Zemo (who had previously appeared as the one-off … Continue reading GH: CAPTAIN AMERICA #281
This issue of PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN is probably the most noteworthy and sought-after one in the whole of the run, for reasons that were not apparent to me when I first read it. And that's because it represents the first time that artist Frank Miller works on the character of Daredevil--a series that … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #27
It's no great secret that Thor was one of the earliest super heroes introduced during the beginnings of the Marvel Age of Comics, and that it was likely Jack Kirby who first proposed the idea of making a super hero out of an ancient god. Kirby had an abiding interest in mythology and in folk tales … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #16
The change was almost imperceivable, so incremental had it been, at least to me. But starting at around this point, it was difficult to argue that IRON MAN had become a much better title than at any earlier point in recent memory. The new creative team of co-plotter and scripter David Michelinie, penciler John Romita … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #119
The last regular issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN that I bought new was this one, #241. And I know what some of you are thinking already: you dropped ASM in the middle of the Roger Stern and John Romita Jr. run (a run that's generally considered a high water mark, the best the series had been … Continue reading GH: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #241
My home life was upended majorly in November of 1981 when my father's job at the Chase Manhattan Bank transferred him from working in New York to setting up a new operation in Delaware. This meant that the family had to move, and the transition played havoc with my comic book buying. Where I had … Continue reading Goodbye, Hello: Introduction
This issue of FANTASTIC FOUR doesn't at first glance appear to be anything special, just another one-off story in this run. But it has an interesting story behind it. You see, writer/editor Marv Wolfman had been friends with FANTASTIC FOUR co-creator Jack Kirby since Marv was a child. He knew about Kirby's reluctance to draw … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #203
Eclipse had established itself early on as one of the most creator-friendly alternative comics on the burgeoning Direct Market scene. They began publishing in 1978 with the issuing of Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy's graphic novel SABRE. Publishers Jan and Dean Mullaney had been huge comics fans throughout the 1970s, and as the tastes of … Continue reading Brand Echh: Airboy #1
The Tom Brevoort Experience 