The reason i borrowed this issue of WORLD'S FINEST COMICS from my grade school friend Donald Sims should be fairly obvious to anybody who has been reading this page for any length of time: I was enamored of DC's 100-Page Super-Spectacular format. I loved these big, fat books, a mixture of a new story or … Continue reading BC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #224
There would typically be some specific reason why I asked to borrow a particular comic book from my grade school friend Donald Sims. Usually, it was because I'd gotten interested in a specific character and was invested in learning more about them. So it was with this 100-Page issue of DETECTIVE COMICS, which I borrowed … Continue reading BC: DETECTIVE COMICS #441
By this moment in time PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was past its best days--and even at its highest it had never been a great comic book series. Almost by default, the title was dedicated to providing "more" Spider-Man adventures for readers for whom a single AMAZING SPIDER-MAN release wasn't enough. These stories existed in … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #32
This is something of an underwhelming cover for the conclusion to a long-running story. But I was there for it either way. This extended Carrion sequence in PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was, I believe, my first experience with a long-running mystery figure plot, and so even though the end result was a just a … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #31
I have a vague memory of running across this issue in a candy store far from my usual haunts in a shopping mall where my parents had gone to get something. I was very much invested in the ongoing storyline featuring Carrion--probably the first such "mystery villain" plotline that I'd ever read--so i was excited … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #30
Continuing back with our look at this 1973 release that explained elements of filmmaking storytelling and composition by using visual examples selected from contemporaneous Marvel comic books. This was a volume that could be found in many an artist's drawing space during the 1970s. A sequence illustrated by Larry Lieber. Here are two sequences by … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Two
PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was in the middle of a very good run of stories mainly revolving around the true identity of a mysterious new foe for the wall-crawler, the creepy Carrion. It was clear based upon the assorted clues dropped into the narrative that Carrion was somebody who knew an awful lot about … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #29
PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN had, for most of its run, been a weak sister second title to the main Spidey series, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. While there had been some good stories along the way, PPSSM operated in the shadow of ASM, never entirely carrying its own weight, and inevitably staffed by talent that wasn't yet … Continue reading GH: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #79
After a few shaky months following the successive departures of both writer Len Wein and artist Ross Andru, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN finally felt like it was back in the groove again. New writer Marv Wolfman had started up a number of running subplots in Peter Parker's life, making it feel nuanced and textured again, and the … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #190
And so, we come to the end of the line. This is the final issue that I got in my Windfall Comics purchase of 1988, where I bought a box of close to 150 silver age comics from a guy I bumped into at the post office for $50.00. And it's a good place to … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #356
The Tom Brevoort Experience 