It's a well-known part of comic book history that Fawcett Publication's character Captain Marvel was one of the most popular characters of the Golden Age of Comics, regularly outselling Superman. And in fact, the series was successful until a lawsuit from DC/National Comics forced Fawcett to agree to cease publishing the Captain's adventures. For years, … Continue reading The Second Captain Marvel Story
MAGAZINELAND, USA was a giveaway comic book designed for the celebration on June 18, 1977, which had been proclaimed World Color Press Day. World Color were the printers for virtually all of the comic books that were then available on the nation's newsstands, including the output of DC, Marvel, Archie, Harvey and others. Accordingly, those … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: MAGAZINELAND, USA #1
And so, after four months, we finally come to the end of the titanic clash between the World's Mightiest Mortal and the vastly-overmatched foe of subversives as the running Captain Marvel vs Spy Smasher conflict reaches its inevitable climax. Once again, there isn't any clue given on the cover that this colossal story has been … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: The Epic Battle Between Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher, part four
Continued stories weren't really a big thing during the Golden Age of Comics. They got experimented with a bit, but in general the common wisdom seemed to be that the young audience for comic books couldn't be depended upon to reliably come back for the next installment, and that instead giving them a great and … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: The Epic Battle Between Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher, part three
The cover to WHIZ COMICS #16 gives no indication of the titanic struggle that was played out within its pages. Inspired clearly by the battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner in MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS, a fight that made that series a best-seller, Fawcett's creative team decided to do their own super hero vs … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: The Epic Battle Between Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher, part two
As we've covered in the past, it was a relatively rare thing during the Golden Age of Comics for the heroes of two separate strips to meet one another. Despite the success of the Justice Society of America in ALL-STAR COMICS, no other company ever fielded a super hero team comprised of all of their … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: The Epic Battle Between Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher, part one
Now this comic book I know was given to me by my friend David Steckel. As I've mentioned before, David was a thorough Marvel Zombie (before that term came into widespread use) and he found all DC comics to be juvenile kiddy stuff--which, in al honesty, they largely were. So he had less than no … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN’S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE #104
I'd heard about this story for years but had never read it before stumbling over it by accident as I was researching something else. But you'll be the recipient of my good fortune, as this means that I can now share it with you. As we've talked about previously, in the Golden Age of Comics, … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: THE MARVEL FAMILY #28
As we've talked about before, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE was a series adrift. Following the departure of writer/editor Marv Wolfman, the title limped along for close to a year, running assorted one-off and two-part stories that all had the feeling of being a fill-in about them. There wasn't any permanent creative team, and you never quite knew … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #45
XERO was an important science fiction fanzine published by the husband and wife team of Dick and Pat Lupoff. It had a strong impact on the beginnings of comic book fandom as, starting with this first release, almost every issue ran an installment of a series titled All In Color For A Dime which talked … Continue reading XERO #1: All In Color For A Dime
The Tom Brevoort Experience 