In my memory, the second volume of the two-book X-MEN COMPANION series that was released by Fantagraphics, the publishers of the Comics Journal, took forever to arrive. But looking back, while the second book was late, it was only by a few months--time goes by slower when you're younger. Anyway, the big difference in what … Continue reading FSC: THE X-MEN COMPANION II
After a steady run, CAPTAIN AMERICA was about to enter the doldrums, a period of frequent fill-ins and creative instability. I obviously didn't know any of that when I picked up this latest issue at the Stationery store, but I did find that I didn't especially care for it. It was fine, but not a … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #237
When it was first launched, there was a veneer of respectability about the MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL line. Based on the format of European albums, these books were a place where creators could tell stories that were a bit more sophisticated and adult-oriented than the typical Comics Code-approved fare that filled the pages of the monthly … Continue reading FSC: MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #4
A year or two ago, I was on a convention panel where I was able to tell former X-MEN editor Louise Simonson just how much she'd screwed all of those X-MEN editors who came after her with her performance in that role in 1982. An incredible number of high-quality releases came out of the X-Men … Continue reading FSC: MARVEL AND DC PRESENT THE UNCANNY X-MEN AND THE NEW TEEN TITANS #1
At the very end of the 1970s, comic books began to take a cue from network television. There, the concept of a limited series of broadcasts had become popular as important destination viewing, garnering ratings that proved such programming to be attractive to potential viewers. Accordingly, first DC and them Marvel began to experiment with … Continue reading FSC: WOLVERINE Limited Series #1
I had fallen off of reading SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES for the past couple of months, not for any particular reason, simply that it still felt weird and off-kilter to my sensibilities. But I came back for this issue, though again, I'm not sure what motivated that decision. And I'd only stick around … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #254
By the time of UNCANNY X-MEN #124, I had been buying the book for about a year and a half, and I enjoyed it every month. It wasn't my favorite title, didn't differentiate itself from the rest of the pack in that manner at the time. But it was a book that could be relied … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #124
I owned at least two copies of this first volume of THE X-MEN COMPANION, possibly three. And I got them for the stupidest of reasons. At the time, having relocated to a new development in Delaware, I was forced to get my comic books monthly via mail order from Geppi's Comic World. This meant filling … Continue reading FSC: THE X-MEN COMPANION I
This next issue of UNCANNY X-MEN was a bit of a favorite of mine, possibly down to the fact that the central villain of the piece, Arcade, was a bit closer in tone and spirit to the Flash's rogues gallery members than most Marvel villains. The series had been steadily rising in my estimation, and … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #123
This particular issue had been spotlighted on the monthly Bullpen Bulletins page, so I was more excited to snap it up than usual. And in the end, it was simply all right--an issue dedicated more to character-building than heroic adventure. This was one of the elements that made this period of UNCANNY X-MEN stand out … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #122
The Tom Brevoort Experience 