The cover to this next issue of SHAZAM, which I borrowed along with the rest of the compete run of the title from my grade school friend Donald Sims, presaged changes that were coming to the series. For the first time, the cover image isn't the work of the character's co-creator C. C. Beck but … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #10
As we talked about last week, Jerry Siegel's creation Robotman, while not being a trend-setter, grew into a reliable back-page feature over the course of his career. And in fact, the strip was popular enough to survive its home, STAR-SPANGLED COMICS, being rebranded as a western title. When that happened, the strip migrated to the … Continue reading The Last Robotman Story
First of all, it's got to be said: at a time when a regular issue of a new comic book cost 60 cents, the fact that this first MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL was priced at $5.95 was almost intolerable. Yes, it was 64 pages long by a top creator, yes it was on far better paper … Continue reading FSC: MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #1
We covered Marvel's propensity for replacing late-running stories in their meant-to-be-new magazines with emergency reprints in depth a while ago. Here's that piece again for those who may have missed it: https://tombrevoort.com/2021/01/09/a-guide-to-marvels-unannounced-1970s-reprint-issues/ For the most part, DC didn't suffer from this same problem. Their editorial staff was both larger and much more well-organized and regimented … Continue reading BC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #229
For the next year or two, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA turned into a bit of a forgettable series. I still was buying it every month, but some of that was simply out of momentum. I had loved the series when I was younger, but whether it was that nostalgia made those earlier issues look better … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #169
By 1942, Jerry Siegel seemingly had it all. He was the creator and writer of Superman, a character whose first appearance set off a fad that changed the comic book industry, but who had thereafter gone on to conquer the worlds of newspaper strips, radio shows, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and animated cartoons. Siegel … Continue reading The First Robotman Story
I was continuing to work my way through the stack of issues of SHAZAM that I had borrowed from my buddy Donald Sims that comprised a complete run of the series. But issue #9, changes were starting to take place. First off, following the prior issue's all-reprint format, from this point forward the book would … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #9
This issue of DETECTIVE COMICS was another that I borrowed from my grade school friend Donald Sims to read. I wasn't a big Batman reader particularly, but something about this issue evidently made me want to take a closer look at it. I had no idea that it was significant, containing the first appearance of … Continue reading BC: DETECTIVE COMICS #411
In 1981 when my family moved to Delaware, there wasn't any writer in comic books that I liked better than Marv Wolfman. I first became aware of Marv's work in the waning days of his time at Marvel, on such series as FANTASTIC FOUR, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and NOVA, all of which I liked. But it … Continue reading FSC: GREEN LANTERN #150
My days-long journey through the entire run of SHAZAM that I had borrowed from my buddy Donald Sims continued with this next issue, a highly-prized 100-Page Super-Spectacular. I adored this format, each one a fat treasure trove of vintage comic book stories. Unfortunately, much of this particular issue was wasted on me. While this is … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #8
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