I was continuing to work my way through the complete run of SHAZAM that I had borrowed from my grade school friend Donald Sims. By this fifth issue, the series had settled into something of a groove, and stresses were beginning to become apparent among the creative team. After an inaugural issue that posted big … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #5
I had continued to read through the accumulated run of SHAZAM that I had borrowed from my grade school pal Donald Sims across the course of a couple of days. The stories never quite captured the flavor of the character's original run, and there was an undercurrent that the creators involved simply didn't buy into … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #4
My grade school friend Donald Sims had inherited a bunch of comic books from some older relative who had tired of them and passed them along. He mostly had a smattering of stuff, but there was one complete run among his possessions. And that was SHAZAM, DC's 1970s revival of the original Captain Marvel, a … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #1
This being the fourth part of our review looking back at writer/editor Robert Kanigher's very early hardcover booklet giving a how-to on writing for comic magazines. It was published in 1943 and is therefore probably the earliest repository for such information. If nothing else, it gives a good sense of what the field was like … Continue reading How To Make Money Writing For Comic Magazines, Part Four
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
The Tom Brevoort Experience 