Hey, it's a comic with Go-Go Checks! Go-Go Checks, for those who aren't familiar, are that checkerboard pattern at the top of the cover. These ran on all of the DC titles for about a year in the mid-1960s. The intention was to make it easier for prospective buyers to spot the quality DC books … Continue reading WC: SUPERBOY #128
In the 1970s, longtime Superman editor Mort Weisinger took a cue from rival Stan Lee's playbook and began to tour the college circuit himself, lecturing on the Man of Steel and screening episodes of the 1950s television program THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. In this, he wasn't as successful as Lee, even with visual aids. But … Continue reading Editor Hated Superman
This issue of AVENGERS, frankly, baffled me. We were coming off of the climax of the Korvac Saga the previous month, where the entire Avengers line-up had been killed and only resurrected in the final moments. So my expectation is that we'd see these circumstances followed up on in some way. What I wasn't anticipating … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #178
Thunderbunny was one of the more successful characters to come out of the world of amateur fan publishing. He was the creation of Martin L. Greim, who was a fan who published a well-regarded fanzine, THE COMIC CRUSADER, for several years beginning in the late 1960s. His final fan publication was a black and white … Continue reading Brand Echh: Charlton Bullseye #6
THE AMAZING WORLD OF SUPERMAN was a tabloid-sized special publication put together in 1973 by National Periodical Publications as a souvenir item intended for the second Superman day being held in Metropolis, Illinois, which had been declared the official "Home of Superman." The interiors were printed in black and white, with sturdy cardstock color covers. … Continue reading THE AMAZING WORLD OF SUPERMAN: HOW A COMIC MAGAZINE IS CREATED.
On that same trip to that Ronkonkoma Stationary store, I also picked up he next issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, the first post-implosion issue. This was an issue that had been built up to in the background for a while now. You see, on the letters page, editor Julie Schwartz had been running a … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #161
There's a lot to unpack about this issue of THE FLASH for me. For starters, I bought it not at any of my regular comic book haunts but rather in a far-off stationary store in distant Ronkonkoma where my family had gone for some reason. That store was a supply chain for the Cub Scouts … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #268
The next big thing to come along for me wasn't a comic book at all, though it was a super hero adventure. This was the debut of BATTLE OF THE PLANETS on the afternoon of Monday, September 11, 1978. Like everyone my age, I watched a certain number of cartoons every day as available, but … Continue reading BHOC: BATTLE OF THE PLANETS
It's a fact of comic book publishing that many of the key names of characters have, over the years, been recycled from earlier sources. So while the Marvel Comics Doctor Strange doesn't really have anything to do with his earlier namesake, and while Steve Ditko and Stan Lee were in no way influenced by this … Continue reading The First Dr. Strange Story
By 1953, the furor about the content of comic books was reaching an absolute peak. For a decade, pretty well ever since the medium had displayed mass appeal, there had been articles expressing concern for the books' assumed young audience. And as time had gone on and the content of most comics had become more … Continue reading What Parents Don’t Know About Comic Books
The Tom Brevoort Experience 