This issue of ACTION COMICS is noteworthy in that it contains one of the first Superman story written by Cary Bates, who would go on to become a regular contributor to the Man of Steel's adventures in the 1970s. Bates broke into the field by submitting ideas for catchy cover images to editors such as … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #354
This next issue of AVENGERS was the second half of a two-parter that editor in chief Jim Shooter commissioned from Tom DeFalco in order to help him get ahead on the title, which was suffering as Jim's day job was eating up all of his time. I believe that this was the first story DeFalco … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #180
By 1966, there was a divide forming between the entertainment preferred by older generations of Americans and what interested the young people of the time. This was when the term "generation gap" was first coined, and it represents the state of affairs perfectly. Creators in all media sought some way of reaching a more youthful … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #345
I suspect that the middle-late 1960s was a tough time for longtime Superman line editor Mort Weisinger. For the first time in recorded history, Batman was routinely outselling his cash cow from Krypton as a result of the faddish success of the 1966 BATMAN television series. This state of affairs wouldn't last--the Man of Steel … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #344
Time once again for what has become a regular weekly feature: looking at the remaining issues of ACTION COMICS that filled out my Windfall Comic purchase of 1988 and seeing just how much each issue lives up to its title--how much action it contains. The cover here promises a bit, albeit in a very clean … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #341
The next week brought another issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, this one sporting a welcome fill-in art job from John Byrne. Byrne was already becoming a favorite based on his work on X-MEN and elsewhere, and he was fast enough that he could often be called upon Jack Kirby-style to layout a fill-in art job when … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #189
Another 1966 issue of ACTION COMICS, and another one in which the content is hard-pressed to match the title. The book wasn't about action at this point at all, despite the name. This issue presented another story in the short-lived "Superman of 2965" series, which postulated the adventures of the Man of Steel's descendant 1000 … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #338
Here we go, yet another issue of ACTION COMICS that's practically devoid of any action at all. Instead, editor Mort Weisinger continued to ply his very successful trade of creating fairy tales for young children revolving around the Man of Steel and his cast of characters. By this point, it was 1966, as commemorated by … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #337
Now this was a cover that promised to live up to the title of the series; ACTION COMICS! Surely if Superman was about to go into a kill-or-be-killed battle to the death bereft of his super-powers and brandishing a sword and shield, the story within was going to be chock full of action, right? Well, … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #329
I've always liked the concept of the mystery villain. The notion that there'd be some figure in a story who was pulling the strings and whose identity you might be able to work out if you were clever enough and could make sense of all the clues. This is pretty much the premise behind any … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #26
The Tom Brevoort Experience 