The next series that Valiant released was launched as a part of the UNITY crossover. Labeled as Chapter Two, it really wasn't such a thing, as the only connective tissue to the crossover storyline is a short epilogue at the end that repurposes panels from UNITY #0 to bring Gilad as well as Archer and … Continue reading Brand Echh: ETERNAL WARRIOR #1
Having been publishing super hero comic books for about a year, Valiant editor in chief Jim Shooter was about to unveil his master stroke. Jim had scored massive numbers writing MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS years before, the very first company-wide crossover series, and its success must have been top of mind as he and … Continue reading Brand Echh: UNITY #0
Valiant's next series was one of its more unique and distinctive. It was barely a super hero series at all, though its events took place in the same continuum as the other Valiant super hero titles. This was ARCHER & ARMSTRONG, and it debuted with a #0 issue for some reason. The story in this … Continue reading Brand Echh: ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #0
X-O MANOWAR #1 introduced another entirely new character to the burgeoning Valiant super hero universe, that being Aric of Dacia, a Visigoth from the 5th Century who was captured by aliens, and who escapes from them by stealing their greatest weapon, the X-O Manowar living armor. Due to the time dilation involved in faster-than-light travel, … Continue reading Brand Echh: X-O MANOWAR #1
The second super hero title in Valiant's new line of books was SOLAR, MAN OF THE ATOM #1. Like MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER, the series was a revival of a property that had been published in the 1960s and 1970s by Gold Key: DOCTOR SOLAR, MAN OF THE ATOM. But unlike MAGNUS, SOLAR wasn't set up … Continue reading Brand Echh: SOLAR, MAN OF THE ATOM #1
This next issue of IRON MAN was something of a pause in the run, a fill-in issue albeit one that had been integrated into the ongoing story narratives. It was also something of a throwback, recounting the events of Iron Man's origin and updating them slightly. I had already read Iron Man's origin in SON … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #122
We're almost done with our review of MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED, THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, which uses examples culled from the pages of Marvel comics to illustrate different points of film theory. This was a ubiquitous tome among comic book artists in the mid-1970s. A trio of IRON MAN panels from Johnny Craig lead off this final section. … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Six
We're back with more of this early 1970s reference volume which illustrated points of filmmaking through the use of examples culled from Marvel Comics. I find this chapter interesting, in that it instructs in the use of sound in a motion picture by using examples from a medium that doesn't have any sound. Some George … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Five
Continuing our look through MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, a 1973 release that explained assorted filmmaking techniques and terminology by using visual examples culled from then-recent Marvel comics. A Johnny Craig sequence from IRON MAN opens this chapter. Panels by John Buscema and Jack Kirby Some more John Buscema here. A Barry Smith CONAN sequence … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Four
The first run of Topps' Marvel-themed super hero stickers had been a solid success, which meant that they decided to do another run the following year. Like the first run, these stickers came five-to-a-pack with a piece of stiff chewing gum, and each one featured the image of a Marvel hero with a quasi-comical word … Continue reading The 1975/1976 Topps Marvel Super Hero Stickers
The Tom Brevoort Experience 