I was continuing to work my way through the complete run of SHAZAM that I had borrowed from my grade school friend Donald Sims. By this fifth issue, the series had settled into something of a groove, and stresses were beginning to become apparent among the creative team. After an inaugural issue that posted big … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #5
I had continued to read through the accumulated run of SHAZAM that I had borrowed from my grade school pal Donald Sims across the course of a couple of days. The stories never quite captured the flavor of the character's original run, and there was an undercurrent that the creators involved simply didn't buy into … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #4
This is a little bit of a cheat, but only a little bit in my eyes, as the crossover element in this story is big and prevalent, even though it doesn't quite entirely qualify as a bona fide crossover in the way most others do. As we've spoken about in the past, DC (then known … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: ADVENTURE COMICS #85
This issue of WORLD'S FINEST COMICS was another book that I borrowed from my grade school friend Donald Sims to read. I'm almost certain that it wasn't the lead story that made we want to experience it but rather the back-up reprint story. But we'll get there. At this time, WORLD'S FINEST COMICS had transitioned … Continue reading BC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #211
SHAZAM #3 was another issue in the complete run of the title that I had borrowed to read from my grade school friend Donald Sims. That's a nice cover in the spirit of a number of Fawcett pieces spotlighting the Marvel Family. It's only undone by how chunky all of the linework seems to be. … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #3
As I mentioned previously, my grade school friend Donald Sims possessed a complete 35 issue run of SHAZAM, the DC Comics revival of the original Captain Marvel of the Golden Age of Comics published in the 1970s. At one point, I convinced Don to let me borrow the run so that I could read it … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #2
It cannot be overstated just how amazing an impact was made by writer Alan Moore on comic books. He came along at exactly the right time, just as the Direct Sales Market was making it possible to do comic book stories with greater sophistication for a somewhat older audience. It was a rare thing for … Continue reading Perfect Game – SUPERMAN #423
Among the other comic books that I borrowed from my grade school friend Donald Sims in order to read them was WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #200. I was interested in it mostly due to my understanding of how centennial issues were managed: they always contained a seminal story for the series involved, and so they were … Continue reading BC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #200
In the early pre-Superman days of comic books, the medium was trying to figure itself out. The young and often ill-trained creators who toiled in the early comic books were mostly talented novices with a desire to tell stories in pictures and put some food on the table. Accordingly, much of the common wisdom of … Continue reading The Second Slam Bradley Story
My grade school friend Donald Sims had inherited a bunch of comic books from some older relative who had tired of them and passed them along. He mostly had a smattering of stuff, but there was one complete run among his possessions. And that was SHAZAM, DC's 1970s revival of the original Captain Marvel, a … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #1
The Tom Brevoort Experience 