Walt Simonson had taken over the reins of FANTASTIC FOUR and propelled it into the stratosphere with a series of expansive stories that drew upon the best of Jack Kirby's era on the title and turned the concepts up to eleven. Graphically, the book looked sweet as well, as Walter was able to channel Kirby's … Continue reading 5BC: The Five Best Comic Books of 1991
Another gift that I received on that Christmas of 1978 was this SUPERHERO GIFT PACK. Ordered from I believe the Sears Catalogue, this Gift Pack was essentially a box containing ten recent-but-not-new Marvel Comics. There may have been a poster as well--I had a Sal Buscema-illustrated Marvel poster that hung in my bedroom at around … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERHERO GIFT PACK
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
FANTASTIC FOUR was my favorite series for a long time, and the book that finally got me to take the plunge into the Marvel Universe. So you'd figure that, even in lean times, it would take a lot to dislodge me from following it. And you'd be right. Except that that's totally what happened. This … Continue reading GH: FANTASTIC FOUR #256
Christmas 1978 was a huge comic book windfall for me. Whereas in years past I had filled my wish list with an assortment of toys, starting here, I would instead begin asking for books on comics. ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS had eluded me for months, so much so that I eventually got to read the … Continue reading BHOC: ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS
It was right before this issue of FANTASTIC FOUR came out that SUPERMAN THE MOVIE finally opened on December 15, 1978. And strangely, for a film that sits so highly in my personal lexicon, I don't really have a strong recollection of going to see if for the first time. I don't think we got … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #204
As I've spoken about in the past, as a kid I didn't really have much interest in monster movies. They were more the fascination of my younger brother Ken, and so they would wind up on television whenever the 4:30 Movie would run their yearly week-long marathon, or they'd show up on some other channel. … Continue reading BHOC: GODZILLA #20
This next issue of MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS, #82, presented a bit of a problem for me. MGC reprinted earlier issues of FANTASTIC FOUR from the past, and consequently was very much a must buy title for me at the time. But by the point when this issue hit the stands, I already owned a copy … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #82
While the early days of Marvel Comics were explosive and ultimately game-changing for the field, on a conceptual level they were not always quite as revolutionary as they sometimes seemed. A lot of the appeal of the line came down to the manner in which familiar ideas were executed, rather than the ideas themselves being … Continue reading The First Watcher
This issue of FANTASTIC FOUR doesn't at first glance appear to be anything special, just another one-off story in this run. But it has an interesting story behind it. You see, writer/editor Marv Wolfman had been friends with FANTASTIC FOUR co-creator Jack Kirby since Marv was a child. He knew about Kirby's reluctance to draw … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #203
The Tom Brevoort Experience 