Brand Echh: The Fannish Adventures of Blooperman, Part Four

We're back for the fourth and final chapter of Blooperman, a story that ran in Charlton's GO-GO for four issues during 1966 at the height of the super hero craze, and which incorporated ideas and characters from comic book fandom, most of which were the innovations of future Marvel superstar Roy Thomas. On this issue's … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Fannish Adventures of Blooperman, Part Four

Brand Echh: The Fannish Adventures of Blooperman, Part Three

Continuing our look at the obscure 1966 strip Blooperman, which incorporated a number of parody ideas from comics fandom, many of which had been originated by Marvel writer/editor Roy Thomas years earlier. Once again here, the character's designed Jon D'Agostino draws the small vignette of Blooperman on this cover for GO-GO #5. Writer Gary Friedrich … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Fannish Adventures of Blooperman, Part Three

Brand Ecch: The Fannish Adventures of Blooperman, Part Two

Continuing on in our survey of the four Blooperman stories published by Charlton Comics in the mid-1960s and how they intersected with certain elements of fandom, today we're taking a look at the second adventure of the dimwitted character, published in GO-GO #4. The character's visual creator Jon D'Agostino drew Blooperman on the cover, but … Continue reading Brand Ecch: The Fannish Adventures of Blooperman, Part Two

BHOC: SGT FURY #151

I had sort of backed into buying SGT FURY regularly after my younger brother Ken had started doing it and then lost interest. I'd never really ben interested in war comics, but the fact that present day Nick Fury was such a presence throughout the Marvel line convinced me that it was "important" to read … Continue reading BHOC: SGT FURY #151

BHOC: MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION #45

Now this was a bit of a surprise when I rolled up into the 7-11 that week. Up until this point, MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION had featured reprints of earlier issues of AVENGERS. But with no warning whatsoever, this latest one instead contained a classic issue of X-MEN. The clue as to the reason was apparent … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION #45

BHOC: SGT FURY #149

For some reason, possibly simple inertia, I had started regularly reading SGT FURY even though I wasn't typically a fan of war comics. That was maybe all right, because SGT FURY was really only a war comic in its trappings, the way HOGAN'S HEROES was about the war. It was really a comedic super hero … Continue reading BHOC: SGT FURY #149

BHOC: SGT FURY #148

This issue of SGT FURY was another book that my younger brother Ken purchased for himself on some trip to a local card store or the 7-11 or some such. He had a dalliance with war comics for a few months, and bought a number of random issues along the way. Eventually, all of those … Continue reading BHOC: SGT FURY #148

Brand Echh: Thunderbolt #54

Charlton was pretty much the bottom rung of the comic book business. Yes, they published a lot of material, but it was always on the crappiest paper, and always had the worst distribution. What's more, it only rarely seemed as though anybody cared about what the content of these magazines was. One notable exception was … Continue reading Brand Echh: Thunderbolt #54

BHOC: CAPTAIN ATOM #85

It was a big surprise and a huge deal to me the next time my family went to the Two Guys discount department store chain, as I discovered a new flight of Modern Comics 3-Bags had arrived. Modern Comics was an attempt to sell bagged product directly to department stores and other such chains on … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN ATOM #85

BHOC: SGT FURY #143

This issue of SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS was also the byproduct of a 3-Bag purchased in a toy store or a department store. I had an uneasy relationship with SGT FURY at this time. I felt motivated to read it because Nick Fury was such a key character within the Marvel Universe (though … Continue reading BHOC: SGT FURY #143