This cover to WYATT EARP #6 by Bill Everett is cool in terms of just how much of a story it tells in a single image. It's got a good use to spotted blacks to draw the eye to Wyatt's face and head in the center of the cover. From there, his gaze carries the … Continue reading Great Covers: WYATT EARP #6
This was yet another back issue that I picked up during my first trip to the Batcave, the very first full-on comic book specialty store that I had ever been in. I was drawn to this issue for a single, specific reason: somewhere in my travels, I had learned that this issue reprinted the 1950s … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #20
A fantastic 1954 cover by the terrific Russ Heath for an issue of WESTERN OUTLAWS. It's an amazing piece of work in that Heath uses the reflection in the mirror behind the central gunman to fill in the gaps of the narrative--this single illustration delivers a complete story of action and reaction. Heath's fine linework … Continue reading Great Covers: WESTERN OUTLAWS #3
Continuing on with comics I bought during my first trip to Bush's Hobbies in Ronkonkoma. I was a huge fan of the Golden Age of Comics and the histories of the assorted characters that I was following--I wanted to know everything, to read everything. In particular, it had been the original Human Torch who provided … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASY MASTERPIECES #7
It's the coloring by Stan Goldberg that really makes this UNCANNY TALES cover stand out. By doing everything in duotone, the eye is focused directly on the guy handing from the tiny ledge over this vast pit. And the circular top of the pit serves to precisely pull attention to the shadowy figures who presumably … Continue reading Great Covers – UNCANNY TALES #45
Well, not really the Comics Code per se--but this is the area where we look at how vintage comics were changed for publication, so this entry fits. On the right is the cover to MYSTERY TALES #38 as it saw print--and on the left is the cover as originally submitted by Bill Everett on Alan … Continue reading Your Comics Code at Work: MYSTERY TALES #38
Saw this one over at the very fine blog http://marvelsilverage.blogspot.com/ and I thought it was worth showing to a wider audience. On the right is the cover to ASTONISHING #50, published by Timely/Atlas/Marvel in 1956. And on the left is its UK reprinting in Alan Class's CREEPY WORLDS--except there, they shot from the uncorrected original … Continue reading Your Comics Code at Work: ASTONISHING #50
Another similar thing that I did during my first trip to my very first comic book shop, Heroes World in Levittown, was to buy the oldest issue of THE FLASH that I could. As with FANTASTIC FOUR, there were some older releases on the wall--I seem to recall that SHOWCASE #13 with its pirate torpedo … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #158
Here's a book that pissed off both Marvel and DC's brass--both for different reasons. It's also a really good example of the kinds of schlock that started to turn up on newsstands as novice publishers began trying to jump onto the pop art super hero craze that kicked off in the mid-1960s. There are no … Continue reading Brand Echh – Captain Marvel #1
This one's one of the more memorable early Marvel comic books that I bought and read. So much so that it's another book where for some reason my younger brother Ken later bought his own copy. As I've mentioned here before, the Marvel of 1977 was having a tough time making its deadlines, leading to … Continue reading BHOC: INVADERS #24
The Tom Brevoort Experience 