It was a big surprise and a huge deal to me the next time my family went to the Two Guys discount department store chain, as I discovered a new flight of Modern Comics 3-Bags had arrived. Modern Comics was an attempt to sell bagged product directly to department stores and other such chains on … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN ATOM #85
The Blue Beetle is one of the longest running character-concepts in the world of comic books. The character was initially conceived in 1939 as a take-off of the Green Hornet, but the approach swiftly changed to better suit the needs of a burgeoning marketplace. The Beetle got a regulation super hero costume and even a … Continue reading The Last Blue Beetle Story
We've talked a bit here about CHARLTON BULLSEYE, Charlton's last gasp attempt at producing new content by soliciting work gratis from fans and would-be creators. Publication would be the only compensation that such hopefuls would receive--but undaunted, and sensing an opportunity to have their work distributed from coast to coast, the response was overwhelming. Honestly, … Continue reading Brand Echh: Charlton Bullseye #7
AC/Americomics (occasionally known as Paragon Publications) is a long running independent comic book publisher, one that is still releasing new issues even today. Their main stock-in-trade has become reprints of Golden Age characters whose work had lapsed into the public domain, but they do occasionally release wholly original comic book properties. Probably the thing they … Continue reading Brand Echh: Americomics Special #1
We've spoken before about the launch of Captain Atom in the pages of Charlton's SPACE ADVENTURES series at the very beginning of the 1960s. The character failed to catch on at that point, and was eventually pulled from the series. That perhaps should have been the end of things. But the super hero fad just … Continue reading The First New Captain Atom Story
At the beginning of the Silver Age, super heroes were making a comeback. This trend would blossom into a full-on fad mid-decade thanks to the release of the BATMAN television show--positively everybody went super hero crazy there for a year or so. But even before that, there was a sense throughout the industry that costumed … Continue reading Brand Echh: Space Adventures #33
Dell was a powerhouse in the industry from the mid-1940s all the way up to the start of the 1960s when a series of bad decisions cost them their market share and also bifurcated the company into two competing operations, Dell and Gold Key. Their big money was made on their Disney comics, and they … Continue reading Brand Echh – Nukla #1
Also available in one of the new Modern Comics 3-Bags was this issue of CAPTAIN ATOM, the issue prior to the one I’d purchased previously. This was a bit of a mixed blessing, in that it meant that I knew exactly how this story turned out and much of what happened in it before I … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN ATOM #83
Another of the Modern Comics reprints of classic Charlton comics that I picked up in 3-bags at the Two Guys was this issue of CAPTAIN ATOM. my first exposure to the character. This was a bit of a transition issue in the original run as, having helped to originate the character several years before, Steve … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN ATOM #84
CAPTAIN ATOM #841977 When I was young, it seemed like you could find comic books everywhere–in convenience stores, in card stores, in drug stores, in department stores and in supermarkets. Sadly, that’s no longer the case, and the industry is much the worse for it. CAPTAIN ATOM #84 by Modern Comics was available in a … Continue reading BHOCOS: CAPTAIN ATOM #84
The Tom Brevoort Experience 