In contrast to most of the other publishers in the field, Fawcett Comics wasn't hesitant to have their various super hero characters interact with one another. Recognizing the promotional strength of their most popular hero Captain Marvel, Fawcett would regularly feature him on the cover of any new title launch, welcoming the new star to … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: MARY MARVEL #8
Here's a really lovely and iconic pin-up cover of WOW COMICS featuring artist Marc Swayze's rendition of Mary Marvel, who had only taken over the cover position the previous issue. Rather that emphasizing action or danger or drama, Swayze here gives us a beauty shot of the new character, one that he had a hand … Continue reading Great Covers: WOW COMICS #10
XERO was an important science fiction fanzine published by the husband and wife team of Dick and Pat Lupoff. It had a strong impact on the beginnings of comic book fandom as, starting with this first release, almost every issue ran an installment of a series titled All In Color For A Dime which talked … Continue reading XERO #1: All In Color For A Dime
Spy Smasher was introduced in the first issue of Fawcett's WHIZ COMICS (numbered as #2 so as to account for an ashcan edition created solely to secure copyright to the title.) The brainchild of Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, he became one of the most popular characters in the Fawcett publishing line, appearing in his … Continue reading Spy Smasher in Peacetime: The Last Spy Smasher story
It's one of the great mysteries of the Golden Age of Comics why, after the Justice Society of America proved to be so popular in the pages of ALL-STAR COMICS, other publishers didn't attempt to put together their own teams of costumed crime-fighters to compete with it. There was really only DC's own Seven Soldiers … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: MASTER COMICS #41
As we've covered in a number of different earlier posts, the chain of causality which led to the creation of the Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Comics' signature creation, is long and tangled. Every once in a while I see people make reference to this story in relation to it. And in fact, there isn't any direct … Continue reading The First Spider Man Story
One of the casualties of the haphazard manner in which I've grabbed and kept things over the years is that on a more-than-occasional basis, I'm not sure precisely where I culled it from originally. That's the case with this cool four-page 1940s vintage behind-the-scenes article on the making of Captain Marvel comics during the Golden … Continue reading How The Comics Are Made
There was no greater success story in the world of comic books in the 1950s as MAD Magazine. Even in the world of magazine publishing, the only thing that perhaps bettered it was the rise of PLAYBOY. When Harvey Kurtzman and Bill Gaines switched the dying EC line's breakout hit from a comic book to … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: LUNATICKLE #2
Here's another interesting novelty sent my way by Mark Waid. It's got a bit of an interesting history to it, which is why I'm featuring it. We're going to look at a 1940s Captain Marvel story the way it saw print in Canada back in 1942. As you'll see, this wasn't a straight reprint of … Continue reading The Canadian Captain Marvel Comics #10
Here's a strip from the past that even I have little information on. In fact, I don't know where I got it from, where it might have seen print. Hopefully, some curious reader of this blog page will help us in that regard. But I saved copies of this amazing little two-page story when I … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: The Silencing of the SHAZAM Sayer
The Tom Brevoort Experience 