By the fifth issue of Fantaco's CHRONICLES series, the bloom was off the rose in terms of their relationship with Marvel and Editor in Chief Jim Shooter, and so access to materials and permissions had been severed. This would be the final issue of the magazine devoted to Marvel, although Fantaco would publish one more … Continue reading FANTACO CHRONICLES #5: Fred Hembeck interviews Roger Stern
In the early 1980s, FantaCo published a number of issues of CHRONICLES, a magazine whose each issue was dedicated to a deep dive discussion about a prominent Marvel series. Some of these were authorized by Marvel, though not all of them, and this gave FantaCo access to a lot of material they might not otherwise … Continue reading FANTACO CHRONICLES #2: John Byrne Column
Among the features in THE X-MEN CHRONICLES, the fanzine published by FantaCo, who were the publishing arm of a comic shop of the same name situated in Albany, New York, there was a relatively candid interview with Marvel's Editor in Chief, Jim Shooter. At the time, the Death of Phoenix was still a relatively new … Continue reading THE X-MEN CHRONICLES: Jim Shooter Interview
THE X-MEN CHRONICLES #1 was a fanzine published in 1981 by FantaCo, a small publisher situated in Albany, New York that was an adjunct to a notable comic shop. It was produced with the approval of Marvel, who went on to do a short-lived licensing agreement with the company, allowing them to do a number … Continue reading The X-MEN CHRONICLES: Smilin’ Ed and X-MEN #94
One of my absolute favorite creators in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s and beyond was Fred Hembeck. I first encountered his work as a single-tier strip on DC's in-house promotional page, the Daily Planet. Eventually, my friend Glenn Hauman showed me one of the collections of Fred's material that were being released by … Continue reading HEMBECK 1980: Fred Hembeck Reviews SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE
The fourth issue of FantaCo's short-lived CHRONCILES series carried with it a new logo for the title--things were perhaps already growing dicey between the company and Marvel, whose output they were reviewing and indexing in these publications. And interview they had run in their FANTASTIC FOUR edition, #2, had earned them the ire of Marvel's … Continue reading Brand Echh – Avengers Chronicles #4
A short-lived publication from the early 1980s, FantaCo's CHRONICLES series of fanzines devoted each issue to a specific Marvel title (until their final annual, in which every comic book series published up to that time was reviewed.) These fanzines were pretty great, chock full of interesting information and articles as well as checklists and indexes--and … Continue reading Brand Echh – Fantastic Four Chronicles #2
The Tom Brevoort Experience 