It's something of a mystery to me why I picked up this issue of MS MARVEL, what would turn out to be the last one released. I know that I bought it at that far-off supermarket where I'd earlier purchased SHOGUN WARRIORS #3, and it's possible that the smattering of comic books they had available … Continue reading BHOC: MS MARVEL #23
Over the course of comic book history, the fortunes of super heroes as a genre waxed and waned as tastes changed and the marketplace shifted. This led to moments where a series that was once popular had fallen upon hard times or was seen as being out of step with the era, and needed to … Continue reading 5BC: Five Times Two Heroes Were Better Than One
NEW MUTANTS was very much an anticipated comic book in 1982. It was going to be a long-in-development spin-off/expansion of X-MEN, which was at that moment and throughout the decade the most popular comic book in the land. NEW MUTANTS started as a way of pushing back at Marvel EIC Jim Shooter, who had been … Continue reading GH: NEW MUTANTS #3
Back at Christmas 1978, I was working my way through the fourth and latest release in the ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS line of Trade Paperbacks from Simon & Schuster: THE SUPERHERO WOMEN. This book was a bit more of a mixed bag than the earlier ones and relied more on material that was more contemporary--the … Continue reading BHOC: THE SUPERHERO WOMEN
As I've spoken about several times as we've looked at assorted issues that I bought over the years, DEFENDERS was a series whose best days were behind it by the time I started reading it. For a long stretch of time, it simply wasn't very good--yet, as a dutiful Marvelite, I kept on buying it … Continue reading GH: DEFENDERS #120
UNCANNY X-MEN was perhaps the first Marvel comic book to display an awards symbol on its front cover, in this case that of the UK Eagle Awards. I can say that, speaking for myself, I had no idea what the Eagle Awards were (nor any inkling just how small they were as compared to similar … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #119
By 1982 when I was forced to pare back my comic book buying due to a lack of income, there was no more popular series in the land than UNCANNY X-MEN. Following the enormous reaction to the "Dark Phoenix Saga" by Chris Claremont and John Byrne a year or two earlier, the title simply exploded, … Continue reading GH: UNCANNY X-MEN #171
At this point, so long after the fact, and with a bevy of films reinforcing the essential ideas of the character, the specifics of who and what Wolverine are have been very well established. But for a very long time, that simply was not the case. And in fact, it would be almost six years … Continue reading When Was Wolverine Wolverine?
There wasn't any one particular transcendent moment, but X-MEN quietly settled into being one of those series that I really liked, that always delivered. Part of that was that the creative team of Chris Claremont and John Byrne was remarkably consistent, seldom missing an issue. And partly this was due to my not quite knowing … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #118
It's interesting how time will change your perspective on something. When this run of UNCANNY X-MEN was coming out, nobody reading it thought that they were following a stint that would become an acknowledged classic. As a reader, I knew that I liked the series, but if you'd asked me then, I don't think it … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #117
The Tom Brevoort Experience 