The comic book business was once again facing a period of change as the 1960s drew to a close. The super hero fad that had driven sales for most of the decade was winding down, and there was a sense that, as the marketplaces where comic books had been traditionally sold began to dry up … Continue reading Brand Echh: His Name is Savage #1
The place where i regularly bought my comic books on a weekly basis was a 7-11 in the center of town. It was close enough to home that even at a young age, I was able to bike there regularly. This led me to work out that new comic books were put out on Thursday, … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #12
This issue of MARVEL TALES was yet another book that came to me in a 3-Bag bought at either a Toy Store or a Department Store, and like the other books I've covered, it would have been about nine months old when I purchased it. It contained a reprint of an issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #84
This issue of MARVEL TALES was another book that I got out of a 3-Bag from a department store or toy store. It reprinted AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #99, a story that I've seen an argument for being the Silver Age end of the story begun in AMAZING FANTASY #15. Scripter Stan Lee would write one more … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #80
Another title that I got a few issues of in my Windfall Comics purchase of 1988 was MYSTERY IN SPACE. It was one of a pair of titles edited by Julie Schwartz (the other was STRANGE ADVENTURES) devoted to science fiction adventures, a big genre in the late 1950s. This was the earliest one in … Continue reading WC: MYSTERY IN SPACE #54
When we left things off last week, we were talking about a pair of issues that I got in those plastic-wrapped bundles of coverless comics my local drug store had begun to sell. When this story was originally printed in the pages of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, the Comics Code Authority of the time wouldn't approve it, … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #79
Now this is a comic that I did purchase deliberately, albeit without this cover and in one of those plastic wrapped bundles of assorted coverless comic books my local drug store had taken to selling. I bought both this issue of MARVEL TALES and the next at the same time, giving me two parts of … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #78
More photographs from years and decades past showcasing the writers, artists and editors of our favorite comic books. Mark Gruenwald in M.C. Hammer costume for Halloween, early 1990s John and Virginia Romita at a convention, circa 1986 Stan Lee plays the Atari Spider-Man video game, circa 1981 Steve Ditko, 1960s Stan Lee and costumed fans, … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 8
When I was a kid, Green Lantern was my second favorite super hero, right behind the Flash (just as he was right behind the Scarlet Speedster in those days, when his strip was a back-up in FLASH.) This despite the fact that somehow, the character conception is nonsense. Green lantern--it's such a weird name for … Continue reading WC: GREEN LANTERN #7
As Marvel began to become more of a force within the industry at the height of the super hero fad of the 1960s, the firm began to get some formidable press. This well-remembered article ran in Esquire Magazine in the issue dated September 1st, 1966. It included original artwork created for this purpose by Jack … Continue reading ESQUIRE Magazine, September 1st, 1966
The Tom Brevoort Experience 