There was a bit of a delay in the publication of the second volume of THE X-MEN COMPANION. Part of the hold-up, apparently, was that Neal Adams was meant to do the cover, but he wound up not turning anything in. I can't speculate on whether this was due to some other issue between himself … Continue reading THE X-MEN COMPANION #2: Chris Claremont Interview
Even by 1982, there was no figure more associated with the growing success of the X-Men than writer Chris Claremont. While Claremont hadn't come up with the book or any of its characters, he joined the series as its regular writer in very early days, and continued onward for an unbroken 16 year stint in … Continue reading THE X-MEN COMPANION #1: Chris Claremont Interview
It's more of the same here, another interview conducted by Peter Sanderson in 1982 for the first of Fantagraphics' X-MEN COMPANION books commemorating the creation of the new series and its meteoric rise to popularity in the early Direct Sales market. This one was a bit more expansive a piece than the last two because … Continue reading THE X-MEN COMPANION #1: Dave Cockrum Interview
Continuing our look at the two-volume X-MEN COMPANION published by Fantagraphics in 1982, just as X-MEN was expanding from being the darling of the Direct Market to a full-on juggernaut across the whole of the industry. Writer and historian Peter Sanderson interviewed pretty much all of the principle writers and artists involved in the creation … Continue reading THE X-MEN COMPANION #1: Len Wein Interview
In 1982, there was simply no hotter book in the Direct Sales marketplace than UNCANNY X-MEN. Riding off of the tremendous success of the Dark Phoenix Saga, the series was rocketed to the absolute pinnacle of the sales charts, at least in comic book specialty shops. X-MEN was super hot, and so the publishers of … Continue reading THE X-MEN COMPANION #1: Roy Thomas Interview
Here's a final look at the AMAZING HEROES Preview Special for 1984, showcasing the series and storylines that were going to be making their way to a comic shop near you in the coming months. Most of these plans for the JC incarnation of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents failed to materialize. VOID INDIGO did see print, but … Continue reading AMAZING HEROES #39 1984 PREVIEW SPECIAL, T-Z
Once again, another look at more of the 1984 Preview issue of AMAZING HEROES, the long-running fanzine from Fantagraphics. There's a bunch of stuff talked about in the write-up of the twin NEW TEEN TITANS titles that didn't quite come to pass in this manner, largely because George Perez left the title to take on … Continue reading AMAZING HEROES #39 1984 PREVIEW SPECIAL, N-T
As in previous editions, this is a further look at more of the 1984 AMAZING HEROES issue devoted to previewing all of the comic books slated to come out that year. THE GUARDIAN did see print, but in a markedly different form than what is described here. We covered it earlier: https://tombrevoort.com/2022/01/29/brand-echh-the-guardian-1/ Each edition of … Continue reading AMAZING HEROES #39 1984 PREVIEW SPECIAL, F-N
The same thing as last time, this is a continuation of our tour through the very first AMAZING HEROES Preview Special covering comic books that were meant to be coming out in 1984. CAPTAIN AMERICA #300 ran into editorial difficulties and wound up being broken into two regular-sized issues, so not everything (not that there's … Continue reading AMAZING HEROES #39 1984 PREVIEW SPECIAL, C-F
Back in the 1980s, in a time before the internet and when comic book solicitations catalogs only ran maybe the name of the comic book and its creative team in most instances, the biannual AMAZING HEROES PREVIEW SPECIAL became like a bible of fans who were hungry to know more about what was coming up … Continue reading AMAZING HEROES #39 1984 PREVIEW SPECIAL, A & B
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