This is a bit of a forgotten masterpiece, both because it saw limited distribution, and because it was published in a non-English speaking country. Between 1992 and 1994, in the pages of the Italian fanzine MADE IN USA, devoted to American comics, cartoonist Leonardo Ortolani (often better known by his simple signature, Leo) was such … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part One
Reader Steven Thompson asked me a question about this recently, so this piece exists entirely due to his interest--you can thank him if you find anything here of value. There was a time-honored tradition of writers and artists inserting themselves into their stories, and Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were no different. In general, the … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Goldberg & Hartley: The Unlikely Cameos of Jack Kirby
When she first arrived at DC as the new publisher, Jenette Kahn instituted a pet format that she hoped would help reverse DC's fortunes in the mainstream newsstand market: the Dollar Comic. As it said right in the name, a Dollar Comic cost a buck, but you got an awful lot of material for that … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #17
Just as with DC, Marvel also had a history of introducing new super heroic characters in the pages of their stories. Some of these went on to long and storied careers. Others faded after only a few, or even one, appearances. Here are the five best forgotten Marvel heroes. RAZORBACK: The creation of writer Bill … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Forgotten Marvel Heroes
This is another book that was bought for my brother Ken rather than me--though, looking at it, while I wasn't a huge Aquaman fan I might have been enticed into this one by the double-whammy combo of Batman and Kobra. This feels more like an issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD, though, with Batman, a … Continue reading BHOC: AQUAMAN #61
Thanks to an observation by reader Ben Herman we can take a bit of a closer look at the question of the lead story in STRANGE TALES #119, which appeared to have been retooled from being a Hate-Monger adventure into one pitting the Human Torch against the new-but-similar villainy of the Rabble Rouser. After yesterday's … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Ayers: More on the Strange Case of STRANGE TALES #119
This is a sort of an odd situation, as I haven't even completely worked out an operating theory on just what was behind the decisions I'm about to lay out for you all. So this is still a bit of a puzzler. But it concerns a significant change that was made to the lead story … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Ayers: The Strange Case of STRANGE TALES #119
I wasn't ever really a big fan of DEFENDERS. Oh, I bought it dutifully for literally years, but it was never a top title in my firmament--and often, I was continuing to buy it out of rote more than any particular love for it. This is due to the fact that, despite the fact that … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #48
I had a kind of love-hate relationship with the work of Jack Kirby in the 1970s, in particular the work that he dialogued as well as illustrated. I wasn't a fan of it, there was something rough and harsh and uninviting about his characters and stories and the way is people talked. But at the … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #210
It's been a while since I did one of these, and since I still find the subject interesting, let's take another look at assorted Marvel titles from the past as they were imported into assorted countries around the globe. This Spanish version of FANTASTIC FOUR #1 dates to 1968 and sports a home-grown cover painting … Continue reading Great Covers: Marvel Around The World 2
The Tom Brevoort Experience 