This issue of FANTASTIC FOUR was the last one among the box of 150 Silver Age books that I bought in my Windfall Comics purchase for $50.00 in 1988. It was a story that had already read years before in its MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS reprinting, which was one of the back issues I bought on … Continue reading WC: FANTASTIC FOUR #32
MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS was an Annual sized regular title that reprinted earlier stories in the Marvel canon for the benefit of readers who came to the line later. Like me. It eventually changed its name to MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS and ran for a good long time. And for somebody like me, who was interested … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL COLLECTORS’ ITEM CLASICS #13
When we talk about the forces that came into play in the creation of the original Marvel super heroes, in particular the Fantastic Four and attempt to apportion credit (or blame) between the two men who worked on those early strips, one earlier feature that is inevitably invoked is Jack Kirby's series for DC, CHALLENGERS … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: When Challengers of the Unknown Presaged Fantastic Four
When the strip was first introduced (in the pages of DETECTIVE COMICS of all places), Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's Boy Commandos was an immediate sensation. Graduating into its own title several months later, the earliest issues of the series were among the best-selling that DC put out during that period--on a par with SUPERMAN … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: When Brooklyn Was Superman
As we spoke about yesterday, this was the second of two early issues of X-MEN that my father brought home for me one evening after I'd inveigled him into stopping off at the Heroes World store in the Levittown Mall on his way home from work for just this purpose. I don't know that I … Continue reading BHOC: X-MEN #18
In the Golden Age of Comics, it was a real rarity for the stars of any two comic book features to meet one another. It happened occasionally, but outside of the regular get-togethers of the Justice Society of America in ALL-STAR COMICS, it was rare to see two different super heroes occupy space in the … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: When the Star-Spangled Kid met the Caped Crusader
I continued to be a regular nuisance to my father, trying to convince him time and time again to stop by the Heroes World location in the Levittown Mall on his way home from work (since the bank branch that he operated out of was in that same mall complex) and pick me up back … Continue reading BHOC: X-MEN #16
It was always a welcome moment when a new issue of MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS turned up at my local 7-11. FANTASTIC FOUR was my favorite comic book at the time, and getting an issue of MGC, which reprinted older issues of FANTASTIC FOUR, was virtually as good as getting a new issue. The big change … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #79
This was the second of two successive AVENGERS ANNUALS that my father brought home for me one night from the Heroes World outlet in the Nassau Mall in Levittown, where he worked. He was very proud of the fact that he'd gotten such early issues based on the numbers, and I never did explain to … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS ANNUAL #3
There were more than a few early issues of SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS in that box of about 150 Silver Age comics that I purchased for fifty bucks back in 1988. And the reason for that no doubt was that it wasn't a super hero series. While all of these books have appreciated … Continue reading WC: SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS #10
The Tom Brevoort Experience 