The week this issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN came to my spinner rack in the neighborhood 7-11 was a big one for comic book happenings. In addition to the release of a regular slate of comic books, two other things were going on that grabbed my attention. The first was the launch of DC's new Newspaper … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #182 & THE WORLD’S GREATEST SUPERHEROES
Well, not really Jim Shooter's directly, not in the same was as the Irwin Donenfeld sales charts we looked at last week. But I'm reasonably certain that I cribbed these newsstand tracking sheets from Jim Shooter's old web page a decade or so back, and he would have been there when they came in--so we'll … Continue reading The Sales Figures of Marvel’s Jim Shooter
In the 1960s, one of the factors that enabled DC/National Comics to become the best-selling comic book publisher of the era was the shattering of Dell Comics. Dell had been a powerhouse in the field for more than a decade, far and away the best-selling comics company--a company whose wares were so known and trusted … Continue reading Brand Echh: Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #5
I would have thought that I was finished with this subject for a while yesterday, but while cleaning up some files, I came across yet another artifact of the making of X-MEN #137 that I felt needed to be shared. At first, I considered simply going back and adding it into the original piece--but I … Continue reading A Tiny Bit More on the original ending to X-MEN #137
The Death of Phoenix sequence in X-MEN is a milestone moment in the history of comics, one that changed the very trajectory of the entire industry. We spoke about it at length in a post under the Perfect Game heading: https://tombrevoort.com/2020/06/13/perfect-game-x-men-137/ But just to quickly recap: creators Chris Claremont and John Byrne were heading towards … Continue reading The original ending to X-MEN #137 & 138 and the pencils of John Byrne
Another week at my local 7-11 meant another flight of new release comics for me to buy and read. I was a regular purchaser of DAREDEVIL by this time, so I was right there when the next issue showed up. This issue represented the return of long-time series artist Gene Colan to its pages--a return … Continue reading BHOC: DAREDEVIL #153
This was another book that I picked up out of my local drugstore's Big Bin of Somewhat Older Comic Books. It wasn't my usual fare on the surface of it--at the time, Marvel had a full line of monster/horror titles, to say nothing of reprints of 1950s Atlas suspense tales and their 1960s giant monster … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL CHILLERS #7
Another Thursday meant another trip to my regular 7-11 hangout for new comic books, plus possibly a Clark bar or maybe even a Slurpee. I had fallen into following the adventures of the wall-crawler, and so I picked up this new issue of PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN when I saw it. I recognized the … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #19
Another month led me to another 3-Bag and another classic issue of AVENGERS. This period has to be considered one of the high points in the series' run, with writer Jim Shooter being backed up on artwork by George Perez (and John Byrne for a storyline.) Coming into the book at this point, it definitely … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #162
Stan Mack's Real Life Funnies was a documentary comic strip that ran in the pages of the Village Voice for just over twenty years starting in 1974. Its creator and author, Stan Mack, created the strip by overhearing and transcribing conversations between real people and then dramatizing them on the page. And in this particular … Continue reading Stan Mack’s Real Life Funnies: Inside Marvel Comics
