The response to last week's piece on the complicated and complex origins of Spider-Man and all of the behind-the-scenes activity that stretched back for almost a decade before the character would eventually reach comic book newsstands was incredibly well received. In the space of a week, it's become one of the most-viewed posts on this … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Simon & Ditko & Oleck: The Spider and the Fly Extra
It's one of the big, fundamental questions that lies at the heart of the origin-myth of perhaps Marvel Comics' most popular single character, and its one that has been discussed and debated at length by those with some degree of insider information: how much did Jack Kirby have to do with the development of Spider-Man, … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Simon & Ditko & Oleck: The Spider and the Fly
This is a topic that never quite gets exhausted for me. Over this past weekend I had a need to revisit the pieces I had originally devoted to analyzing FANTASTIC FOUR #1 and the assorted art changes and adjustments that I detected therein. And in doing so, a number of new ideas struck me--including one … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: Even More on FANTASTIC FOUR #1
We've spoken in the past about Harvey's short-lived attempt to jump on board the super hero bandwagon of the mid-1960s, and how despite hiring industry legend Joe Simon to put together a slew of new titles for them, the work was ultimately underwhelming and swiftly vanished with a scant track. Well, among that short batch … Continue reading Brand Echh – Fighting American #1
A short-lived publication from the early 1980s, FantaCo's CHRONICLES series of fanzines devoted each issue to a specific Marvel title (until their final annual, in which every comic book series published up to that time was reviewed.) These fanzines were pretty great, chock full of interesting information and articles as well as checklists and indexes--and … Continue reading Brand Echh – Fantastic Four Chronicles #2
I don't remember at all what prompted it at this late date, but for some reason my family wound up going to the far-off mall that housed the Heroes World store once again. Possibly my father needed to get something he'd left at his office, which was in the same complex. Or maybe I just … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL COLLECTORS’ ITEM CLASSICS #6
Not every idea that gets published in a comic book story is a good one. Especially over the long periods of time that most of the mainstay comic book heroes have been in existence, there have been any number of developments that turned out to be a bad instinct, and which were subsequently either overturned … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Forgotten Early Marvel Story Developments
I bought this issue of MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS on one of my regular weekly 7-11 runs, and I can remember having it with me and being over at the house of my neighbor and sometimes-friend Charles Grella down the block. As usual, it reprinted an issue of FANTASTIC FOUR from a few years earlier (9 … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #77
Comic books for years were considered a juvenile medium, and that sensibility often extended to the behavior of the practitioners in the field. Like those who work in any other industries, not all comic book creators get along, and on occasion some of them have felt the need to take their aggression out in public, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Mean Caricatures of Comic Book Creators
Let's face it, lightning doesn't strike every month, and sometimes inspiration can be difficult to come by. But comic books still had to come out, ready or not. And so, occasionally, our favorite heroes of Marvel's silver age would find themselves contending with opponents who--well, let's just say they weren't quite up to the usual … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Dopey Marvel Silver Age Villains
The Tom Brevoort Experience 