There would typically be some specific reason why I asked to borrow a particular comic book from my grade school friend Donald Sims. Usually, it was because I'd gotten interested in a specific character and was invested in learning more about them. So it was with this 100-Page issue of DETECTIVE COMICS, which I borrowed … Continue reading BC: DETECTIVE COMICS #441
Flo Steinberg came to the notice of comic book fandom during the early 1960s, during the initial flowering of what became the Marvel Age of Comics. As Marvel's corresponding secretary, she was, among other things, charged with answering the volumes of fan mail that came in for editor Stan Lee, and so the various active … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: BIG APPLE COMIX #1
It was clear early on that the most important and successful new super hero character introduced during the Silver Age of Comics was Spider-Man. The work that Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and John Romita had put into the series had paid dividends, and the wall-crawler was soon a worldwide icon able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder against … Continue reading 5BC: Five Attempts to Replicate Spider-Man
This issue of IRON MAN was yet another book that I wound up with after getting it in a plastic 3-Bag purchased at a department store or a toy store. I had only recently begun to follow the series, and I wound up reading all of the issues during this period in a weird, backwards, … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #104
The comic book business was once again facing a period of change as the 1960s drew to a close. The super hero fad that had driven sales for most of the decade was winding down, and there was a sense that, as the marketplaces where comic books had been traditionally sold began to dry up … Continue reading Brand Echh: His Name is Savage #1
This issue of MARVEL TEAM-UP was another book that came out of a 3-Bag, those plastic sealed wonders that were sold in department stores and toy stores. And in fact, this issue was likely the reason I bought that particular bag in the first place. You see, ever since first becoming aware of him in … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TEAM-UP #62
Here's another issue of another title that I got in a 3-Bag distributed through either a department store or a toy store. At the time I would have purchased that bag, the books it contained would have been around 9 months old. Which was handy for catching up with recent issues of assorted Marvel series … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #7
At this point, there'd been another cycling of the 3-Bags of comics available at department and toy stores, and so I wound up over the course of several weeks picking up a number of recent books that I had earlier missed; in most cases because I hadn't been reading Marvel titles yet. The window on … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #99
More photographs from years and decades past showcasing the writers, artists and editors of our favorite comic books. Mark Gruenwald in M.C. Hammer costume for Halloween, early 1990s John and Virginia Romita at a convention, circa 1986 Stan Lee plays the Atari Spider-Man video game, circa 1981 Steve Ditko, 1960s Stan Lee and costumed fans, … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 8
The week this issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN came to my spinner rack in the neighborhood 7-11 was a big one for comic book happenings. In addition to the release of a regular slate of comic books, two other things were going on that grabbed my attention. The first was the launch of DC's new Newspaper … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #182 & THE WORLD’S GREATEST SUPERHEROES
The Tom Brevoort Experience 