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
As we recounted in passing last time, the arrival of creator Joe Simon and Jack Kirby to the Sandman strip that had been running in the back pages of ADVENTURE COMICS swiftly turned it into a popular feature once again. The stories were much improved, with a thematic thread of dreams running through them all, … Continue reading The Last Sandman Story
My grade school friend Donald Sims only had two comic books from Jack Kirby's by-then-gone Fourth World line of titles. This was the other one, MISTER MIRACLE #2. And like FOREVER PEOPLE #1 which I spoke about last time, this comic book seemed strange and alien to my young sensibilities. It was clearly a super … Continue reading BC: MISTER MIRACLE #2
SUPERMAN FAMILY was constantly a solid B-book, which is to say that the material contained therein never rose to the level of being a must-read. But it was a home to several well-crafted stories each issue, none of which was especially challenging. So it was a comfortable reading experience, assuming that you liked the world … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN FAMILY #196
The Sandman was introduced in NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR COMICS #1 and immediately became the featured player in ADVENTURE COMICS staring with #40. He was a character steeped in an old formula and clearly influenced by the radio hero the Green Hornet. Like the Hornet, his main weapon was a gas gun, and he battled … Continue reading The First Sandy Story and the Super-Heroification of the Sandman
This week brought another issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, the third and concluding chapter to the League's body-swapping adventure with the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a group whose short-lived series I was a big fan of. This story was also influential on novelist and future DC writer Brad Meltzer, who made it a key … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #168
I would occasionally venture over to my friend Don Sims' house across town, located several blocks behind my regular 7-11 haunt (which became a communal space for us on Thursdays) down on the access road that paralleled the Long Island Expressway. Don had a nice little collection of comic books, including a bunch that had … Continue reading BC: FOREVER PEOPLE #1
The Tom Brevoort Experience 