As the Silver Age of Comics began to wind down, while the fortunes of the assorted super heroes whose careers had helped to define that period were similarly on the wane, it was other genres which were feeling the pinch the most. Among the titles having a bit of a rough go of it was … Continue reading Jerry Lewis Meets the Flash
Another book that I picked up brand new was the next issue of SUPERMAN FAMILY. I followed this series right up until its demise, though I really couldn't tell you quite why. I wasn't especially enamored of any of teh characters who had solo strips within its pages, so it must simply be the allure … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN FAMILY #190
I've spoken in the past about how as a kid I was a bit disdainful towards DC's SUPER FRIENDS comic book series, an adaptation and outgrowth of the ongoing Saturday morning cartoon series. Now, mind you, I watched SUPER FRIENDS dutifully every weekend, but I was also aware even then that the story material was … Continue reading BHOC: SUPER FRIENDS #12
Quicksilver was one of the many second banana super heroes who profligated throughout the Golden Age of Comics, filling up the back pages of assorted anthology titles and providing thrills but not being so memorable or distinct that they ever became stars themselves. Occasionally, one of these back-page crime-busters would break out and become a … Continue reading The First Quicksilver Story
We've been talking a lot about the unofficial crossovers between characters and the homages that were done. But beyond that, there's a whole other category of instances in which one company either appropriated or parodied or referenced the characters of another. These instances tended to take many different forms--there was one memorable instance, for example, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Times DC Referenced Marvel Characters in Interesting Ways
Ever since I did the initial post about the 5 Best Forgotten DC Retcons, people have been turning up to remind me about other stories, most of them of a slightly later vintage, that fall into the same general category. And who am I to keep these sterling masterworks from enjoying the notoriety that they've … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Forgotten DC Retcons
The Powers-That-Be at DC Comics in the 1960s could see that something was going on over at Stan Lee's new upstart Marvel imprint, but they were ill-equipped to figure out just what. This is largely due to the fact that the editorial and creative staff remained largely unchanged since the halcyon days of the 1940s. … Continue reading Brand Echh – Inferior Five #6
This issue of SUPERMAN FAMILY introduced one of my legitimately favorite obscure and forgotten DC heroes, so it's a noteworthy release to me. But we'll get to that in a little while. It's got a very nice, dynamic Jose Luis Garcia Lopez cover as well--JLGL was making some waves with is work in fandom circles, … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN FAMILY #188
Today, there are thousands of books on vintage comics, both collections of material from decades ago or literary tomes discussing those works, how they were created, what impact they had and what they meant. But in the 1970s, the landscape for such volumes was exceedingly scarce. So it was positively an event when a new … Continue reading BHOC: SHAZAM! FROM THE ’40s TO THE ’70s
My Aunt Clementine was my Grandmother’s sister, and she and my Uncle Jerry Blazer shared a house with my grandparents that they’d all purchased in 1955 and remained in for almost 50 years. Because of this, they were very much immediate family, although we didn’t see them as often since Clem didn’t like to travel … Continue reading BHOC: SHAZAM #32
The Tom Brevoort Experience 