By the late 1960s, DC's sales were in a bit of trouble. The approach that they had been using for decades had suddenly begun to falter, and nobody then in a position of authority seemed to know how to reverse that situation. Accordingly, new blood was needed--and that came in the form of Carmine Infantino … Continue reading Great Covers: METAL MEN #37
We're getting down to the end in my summations of my Windfall Comics purchase of 1988, which means that we're going to start to see the same titles show up again and again, issue after issue. These were the books which were a part of that purchase in some bulk, the ones whose demand on … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #317
A while ago, when I ran a piece on the first appearance of Captain Comet, certain fans were upset that I'd labeled it as the first Silver Age super hero. And I get what they're saying--the specific codifications of the different eras of comics are hardly universally agreed-upon, and pieces like that one do make … Continue reading The Last Captain Comet Story
Hey, it's a comic with Go-Go Checks! Go-Go Checks, for those who aren't familiar, are that checkerboard pattern at the top of the cover. These ran on all of the DC titles for about a year in the mid-1960s. The intention was to make it easier for prospective buyers to spot the quality DC books … Continue reading WC: SUPERBOY #128
In the 1970s, longtime Superman editor Mort Weisinger took a cue from rival Stan Lee's playbook and began to tour the college circuit himself, lecturing on the Man of Steel and screening episodes of the 1950s television program THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. In this, he wasn't as successful as Lee, even with visual aids. But … Continue reading Editor Hated Superman
THE AMAZING WORLD OF SUPERMAN was a tabloid-sized special publication put together in 1973 by National Periodical Publications as a souvenir item intended for the second Superman day being held in Metropolis, Illinois, which had been declared the official "Home of Superman." The interiors were printed in black and white, with sturdy cardstock color covers. … Continue reading THE AMAZING WORLD OF SUPERMAN: HOW A COMIC MAGAZINE IS CREATED.
On that same trip to that Ronkonkoma Stationary store, I also picked up he next issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, the first post-implosion issue. This was an issue that had been built up to in the background for a while now. You see, on the letters page, editor Julie Schwartz had been running a … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #161
There's a lot to unpack about this issue of THE FLASH for me. For starters, I bought it not at any of my regular comic book haunts but rather in a far-off stationary store in distant Ronkonkoma where my family had gone for some reason. That store was a supply chain for the Cub Scouts … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #268
I've heard it said that this issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA shows a bit of the influence that the growth of the new Marvel comics was having upon DC. I don't know that I really believe that, though. Certainly, for as long as there had been team-up comics, there had been stories in which … Continue reading WC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #20
Last time out, we looked at the proposal for another potential sequel to CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, the "Villain Crossover" as masterminded by a small consortium of DC editors and creators. As we know in hindsight, this storyline was never put into production, and eventually the story that became LEGENDS was used in its place. … Continue reading Crisis II – The Villain Crossover: Responses
The Tom Brevoort Experience 