I'm not 100% certain after all this time where I got this issue of DEVIL DINOSAUR #1 from. I think it was probably another cast-off of David Steckel's that he didn't want and so gave to me. But I also have a similar vibe concerning my other comic book reading friend of the period, Don … Continue reading BHOC: DEVIL DINOSAUR #1
I had been waiting for this issue of MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS for a good long while. Having the Olshevsky OFFICIAL MARVEL INDEX TO THE FANTASTIC FOUR, I knew that this next book would be reprinting FANTASTIC FOUR #100. And that was of special interest to me for one reason: due to nothing more than it … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #81
THE X-MEN CHRONICLES #1 was a fanzine published in 1981 by FantaCo, a small publisher situated in Albany, New York that was an adjunct to a notable comic shop. It was produced with the approval of Marvel, who went on to do a short-lived licensing agreement with the company, allowing them to do a number … Continue reading The X-MEN CHRONICLES: Smilin’ Ed and X-MEN #94
This was the final issue of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY that I got in my Windfall Comics purchase of 1988, and it was a story that I'd read before, when it was published years earlier in SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION. Nevertheless, i was still happy to get the original printing, which my circle of comic book readers … Continue reading WC: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #123
As the Silver Age kicked off in the late 1950s, DC/National Comics wasn't the only publisher testing out the genre once again,. All throughout the decade, different publishers had attempted to find success with new costumed heroes with names like Captain Flash, the Avenger and Strong Man. And Archie Comics was no exception. Getting a … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Double Life of Private Strong #1
So after last week's piece on STRANGE TALES #103 where we tried to work out who might have been behind the story therein, Larry Lieber or Jack Kirby, I received, as you'd expect, a lot of pushback from the "Everything Kirby" contingent, who believe that Jack did at least 100% of all of the stories … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Lieber & Hartley & Sinnott: Examining JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #89, 90 & 91
I believe that it's inarguable that, when it comes to the creation of the early stories and characters of the Marvel Universe, Jack Kirby was for many years denied his rightful due, reduced to the level of a mere penciler of other people's stories and ideas. Clearly, Kirby was more than that--he was an equal … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: The Provenance of STRANGE TALES #103
Here's a very nice cover to JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY that features Wally Wood inking Jack Kirby's cover pencils. Kirby and Wood didn't really get to work together much during the Marvel Age--Wood was way too valuable as a penciler in his own right, given that he was capable of plotting as well, a skill set … Continue reading WC: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #122
Continuing on our survey of the fourth and final issue of FOOM, Marvel's fan club magazine, put together by Jim Steranko. As was pointed out in the comments, this cover image was done by Jack Kirby for a Marvelmania poster, not by Steranko at all. It's pretty impressive that, at a time when Kirby was … Continue reading FOOM #4, Part Two
FOOM #4 was the final issue of Marvel's fan club magazine to be put together by Jim Steranko. After this, production on the irregularly-published fanzine would be brought in-house and done by the people on staff beginning with Tony Isabella This resulted in a change in the design and the aesthetics of the magazine. But … Continue reading FOOM #4
The Tom Brevoort Experience 