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
As before, here's another chunk of CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #2, the home-printed collection of material intended for print but spiked by the DC Implosion, created to secure copyright and trademark on the material. This time out, we're looking at material intended to comprise STEEL: THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN #6, written and created by Gerry Conway and … Continue reading CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #2: STEEL #6
Continuing on with our survey of this long-lost volume that uses examples from comic books to illustrate points of filmmaking theory. A Don Heck panel there on the lower right. Some Gene Colan here. More Gene Colan. A Steve Ditko panel on the right. A Gil Kane Spider-Man panel. More Gene Colan and a Dick … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Three
DC's Dollar Comics program didn't wind up being the industry game-changer that new publisher Jenette Kahn had hoped it would, but it was a format that the company pursued for several years and resulted in some decently-crafted anthologies. Case in point is SUPERMAN FAMILY, which was never a great comic book but which was a … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN FAMILY #195
The world of super heroes is never a stationary place, despite feelings among certain fans that nothing ever seems to change. And primary among the places where alteration can be seen is in the attire of classic characters. Giving a lagging hero a costume redesign can sometimes enhance their appeal and help carry them to … Continue reading 5BC: Five Terrible Marvel Super Hero Costume Redesigns
There was a relatively brief period of time during which IRON MAN was a crackerjack reading experience. After more than a decade of mostly just floating along not being especially inspired, David Michelinie, John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton made the Armored Avenger into a real player. They put him up against more major threats, … Continue reading GH: IRON MAN #171
Back at Christmas 1978, I was working my way through the fourth and latest release in the ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS line of Trade Paperbacks from Simon & Schuster: THE SUPERHERO WOMEN. This book was a bit more of a mixed bag than the earlier ones and relied more on material that was more contemporary--the … Continue reading BHOC: THE SUPERHERO WOMEN
After my brief moment of having let an issue of SUPERMAN FAMILY go by and then turning back and picking it up later, I seemed to be back on the train of purchasing the series regularly. And I'm not entirely certain why. Some of it, I'm sure, is that I just liked Superman. And while … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN FAMILY #194
By 1983, DC was on a creative upswing. The arrival of new President and Publisher Jenette Kahn had coincided with efforts to expand DC's efforts into the growing Direct Market of comic book specialty shops that had sprung up across the country. At this time, DC's fortunes on the mainstream Newsstand weren't looking all that … Continue reading DC SAMPLER #1
INVADERS was a series on a downward slope, and much closer to cancellation that I realized as a regular reader. I could tell that something was off about the book, but I was so invested in the Golden Age as a concept and in the formative versions of these characters, like the Justice Society of … Continue reading BHOC: INVADERS #38
The Tom Brevoort Experience 