FOOM #3 was the third issue of the fan magazine put out by the Marvel fan club of the same name, edited and composed by Jim Steranko and evidencing his design sensibilities. It's a window into the world of the Marvel-that-was, the Marvel of yesteryear. When the venture was started, nobody involved was quite sure … Continue reading FOOM #3
Somehow, somewhere along the way, I skipped over this issue of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES in recounting the different comic books I read growing up. And while it's not something that anybody but myself is going to be aware of, it bugs me enough that I'm going to go ahead and go over this issue with you … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #63
I was continuing to buy MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE every month due to my love for the Thing as a character, but there was no way of avoiding the feeling that the series was at something of a nadir. With the departure of writer/editor Marv Wolfman, a rotating team of creators had ben crafting stories that weren't … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #44
This issue of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY was situated right at the transition point between the early Marvel style of storytelling and the more mature and measured approach the firm would take through its glory years. By this point, artist and largely plotter Jack Kirby had received a rate increase that permitted him to slow down … Continue reading WC: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #115
Fifth grade had just ended and I was staring down the pleasant runway of a well-cherished multi-month vacation from schoolwork. As anybody who has grown up knows--and statistics show that most of you readers fit that category--nothing was more welcome for a kid than the prospect of a long summer vacation ahead. A time without … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #184
It was always a welcome moment when a new issue of MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS turned up at my local 7-11. FANTASTIC FOUR was my favorite comic book at the time, and getting an issue of MGC, which reprinted older issues of FANTASTIC FOUR, was virtually as good as getting a new issue. The big change … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #79
You've waited long enough for another dose of my favorite Silver Age camp super hero strip, Archie's The Web. As we've gone over before, in an attempt to hop onto the super hero fad of the mid-60s, archie resurrected a number of their 1940s characters and presented them in what was almost a parody of … Continue reading Brand Ecch: Mighty Comics #43
Continuing with more comics that I bought in plastic 3-Bags from either a local department store or else a toy store in the area. This issue of MARVEL TALES, reprinting an issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN from only a few years earlier, was one such book. I had read the first part of this story the … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #85
As we've spoken about before in the past, the opening up of the Direct Sales marketplace in the 1980s inspired a whole lot of different companies to enter the field with their own wares, competing for a piece of this lucrative non-returnable sales market. One of these was Archie Comics, who were persuaded to take … Continue reading Brand Echh: Mighty Crusaders #1
It strikes me that it's been a while since we checked in on the doings of my favorite of the Archie/Mighty Comics campy super heroes of the mid-1960s, the Web! As you already know if you've read our earlier features on this line of comics, at teh height of Batmania in America and the huge … Continue reading Brand Echh: Mighty Comics #40 Part 2
The Tom Brevoort Experience 