Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part Five

This is the back half of the fourth and concluding installment of the Final Fantastic Four story that Italian creator Leonardo Ortolani produced for the tenth issue of the Italian fanzine MADE IN USA in 1994. It was set immediately after the last FF issues produced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and was intended … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part Five

Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part Four

This is the fourth and final installment of the final Fantastic Four story that Italian creator Leonardo Ortolani produced for the tenth issue of the Italian fanzine MADE IN USA in 1994. It was set immediately after the final FF story produced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and was intended as a climactic finale … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part Four

Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part Three

This is the third installment of Italian creator Leonardo Ortolani's fan-created wrap-up of the FANTASTIC FOUR mythos created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. This chapter was published in the fanzine MADE IN USA #9 in 1993. We're getting to the meat of Leo's Alan Moore-style reinterpretation of the events of the series here. As … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part Three

Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part Two

This is the second installment of Italian creator Leonardo Ortolani's four-part fan-drawn final adventure of the Lee and Kirby Fantastic Four. It was originally published in the fanzine MADE IN USA #8 in Italy in 1993, and hasn't ever been made available in English as it was an unlicensed production. While the first episode was … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part Two

Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part One

This is a bit of a forgotten masterpiece, both because it saw limited distribution, and because it was published in a non-English speaking country. Between 1992 and 1994, in the pages of the Italian fanzine MADE IN USA, devoted to American comics, cartoonist Leonardo Ortolani (often better known by his simple signature, Leo) was such … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part One

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #193

As usual, it was an exciting day when a new issue of FANTASTIC FOUR turned up on my 7-11's spinner rack. We were in the midst of an extended "FF breaks up" storyline, one that had been running virtually since I began buying new issues, and I was very much invested in what was going … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #193

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #183

It was always the most exciting thing when a new batch of 3-Bags would show up somewhere, and you'd suddenly have access to issues that you had missed. In those days before there were comic shops, this was the only way one could find back issues (apart from mail order--and I was never confident enough … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #183

Blah Blah Blog – My Unknown Greats, Part 4

A post from my old Marvel blog concerning comics that I edited and liked that largely flew under the radar. My Unknown Greats pt. 4 April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General Today's Unknown Great won an Eisner award, but it also killed one or two projects in its wake. … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – My Unknown Greats, Part 4

BHOC: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #2

I ordered a copy of this MARVEL TREASURY EDITION featuring the Fantastic Four from the Superhero Merchandise catalog--or as the firm would later be known, Heroes World. They had bought out Marvel and DC's back-stock of their various Treasury Editions and would sell them for years thereafter, often advertising in the comics themselves. I eventually … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #2

The Comicollector #1

This is the first issue of Dr. Jerry Bails' newsletter, The Comicollector, dated September 1961. It was intended as a more periodical release than Bails' main fanzine, Alter-Ego , intended to provide a place for fans to buy, sell and swap comics and to disseminate the latest news and gossip from the big publishers. It … Continue reading The Comicollector #1