In their masterful two-issue summation of the WORLD'S WORST COMICS, James Schumeister and Rich Larson gave a particular adroit description of the books put out under the Mighty Comics banner. They said that it was as though Russian spies had smuggled out a copy of a Marvel book and had tried to reverse-engineer it. That … Continue reading Brand Echh – Fly Man #35
I’ve owned three different copies of THE STERANKO HISTORY OF COMICS Volume 1 over the years. It’s an important milestone book in the development of the hobby, but it’s also more oversized magazine than book, with saddle-stitched binding and a cover that tended to crack down the spine and separate. It fell apart easily. For … Continue reading BHOC: THE STERANKO HISTORY OF COMICS
It had been a while since I’d picked up an issue of ACTION COMICS, but for whatever reason, after passing up the previous few issues, this one made the trip home. Might have been as simple as there being slim pickings on the rack that week in terms of new super hero comics of the … Continue reading BHOC: ACTION COMICS #470
It was an unimaginable 41 year ago today, on Christmas day of 1976, that I finally got my hands on this much-desired beauty, a gift from Santa Claus. And actually, having asked for it specifically on the Christmas list that my mother would demand that each child write (usually sourced out of the Sears Christmas … Continue reading BHOC: SECRET ORIGINS OF THE SUPER DC HEROES
One of the advantages of the Treasury Edition format is that it was sturdy enough that it allowed outlets that didn’t typically carry comics to stock them, such as department stores. They were also not quite periodicals, so they’d often remain on sale in these stores for months and years at a time. So it … Continue reading BHOC: LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITION #C-38
We’re getting near to the end of the era of the 100-Page Spectaculars, not that I knew that at the time. This issue of SUPERMAN represents one of the last I’d ever purchase, bought as usual from my local 7-11. I’ve had two or three copies of this book over the years–not quite sure what … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #284
Man, that’s a beautiful cover. It’s a painting of Superman, done in the early 1940s, which hung in the DC offices for years–this was its first actual printing. I bought this Treasury Edition at that regular old 7-11 again, and it’s a pretty good collection of stories. It opens with an extremely early Superman story, … Continue reading BHOC: LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION #C-31
Pretty sure that this one came from the 7-11 also, although I have a vague, nagging feeling that I may have sent away for it the same as ACTION #1. Either way, I next came into possession of this reprint of the first appearance of The Batman in DETECTIVE COMICS #27. I think the oversized … Continue reading BHOC: LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION #C-28
It came in a big cardboard mailer, the first comic book that I’d ever sent away for, and my first experience with the Treasury Edition format. This was the FAMOUS FIRST EDITION reprint of ACTION COMICS #1, the first appearance of Superman. Now, at this point I had only read something like half-a-dozen Superman comics … Continue reading BHOC: LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION #C-26
The Tom Brevoort Experience 