For a short period in the mid-1960s, under the editorship of Dick Giordano, bottom-rung publisher Charlton had a very nice line of up-and-coming super hero comics. It didn't last long--the market dip in the post-BATMAN TV show craze put the kibosh on all sorts of super hero aspirations. In this instance, though, we're going to … Continue reading Brand Echh – Thunderbolt #57
I'm not entirely certain why I bought this issue of CHAMPIONS so early into my time exploring the Marvel books. If I had to take a guess, it's that i recognized Angel and Iceman on the cover from X-MEN #1 in SON OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS. having read the current issue of X-MEN, I … Continue reading BHOC: CHAMPIONS #17
At around this time, the new season of the hit comedy HAPPY DAYS began, with a three-part opening storyline in which the cast went to Hollywood, and the Fonz wound up in a competition to water ski jump over a caged shark in the bay. This episode was the origin of the now-popular term "Jumping … Continue reading BHOC: X-MEN #108
It was like a little miracle, a book that couldn't and possibly shouldn't ever happen. But happen it did--and SUPERMAN VS THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was an excellent mixing of the then-contemporary styles of Marvel and DC, very different flavors in that period. The creative team was spot on, anchored by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1976
In a time before the British Author Invasion and the rise of Vertigo titles, this issue of GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING was quite possibly the most literate and literary comic book as-yet published. A heartfelt, emotion-driven Steve Gerber story concerning a dead, bullied schoolkid anchors the issue. Gerber experiments with using huge blocks of text on certain … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1975
SUPERMAN #276 gave the comic book reading world something it had been lusting for since around 1940, a battle between the Man of Steel and his publishing arch-rival Captain Marvel. Except that this issue cheated--despite having recently licensed the Big Red Cheese from Fawcett for the new SHAZAM series, here an equivalent stand-in, Captain Thunder, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1974
So in that same 3-Bag with FLASH #225 was SHAZAM #9, one of the two books I was forced to give to my younger brother, and which he handily destroyed shortly thereafter. But I did get to read it even though it wasn’t mine, so let me share a few impressions. As opposed to the … Continue reading BHOC: SHAZAM #9
The Tom Brevoort Experience 