Continuing with our survey of FOOM #2, the second issue of the fan magazine published by Friends Of Ol' Marvel, Marvel's in-house fan club of the 1970s. The second issue, like the first, was put together by Jim Steranko and reflects his aesthetics in terms of its design and typography treatment. Another puzzle page. As … Continue reading FOOM #2, Part Two
This was the second issue of FOOM, Marvel's fan magazine for its in-house fan club of the same name. Established in the early 1970s, the initial four issues of FOOM were produced by Jim Steranko and so contained a variety of graphics from him seldom seen elsewhere. By the fifth issue, production of FOOM was … Continue reading FOOM #2
Continuing our look through the first issue of FOOM, aka Friends Of Ol' Marvel, the fan magazine published by the House of Ideas throughout much of the 1970s. The first four issues were put together by artist and graphic designer Jim Steranko, and his visual approach is apparent throughout. Having failed twice under publisher Martin … Continue reading FOOM #1, Part Two
FOOM, a.k.a. Friends Of Ol' Marvel, was the successor operation to the haphazard Marvelmania International once teh latter had gone belly-up. Stan Lee, now Marvel's publisher, still saw value in having a fan publication that could further ingratiate the readership with Marvel, as well as a place where the assorted licensing efforts that they'd begun … Continue reading FOOM #1
It's more of the same, additional vintage photographs of the people who worked on the comic books of yesteryear during those earlier halcyon days! As usual, there's an awful lot of Stan Lee. Stan Lee promotional photo, circa 1980 Assorted Marvel and DC creators, including Joe Orlando, Paul Levitz, Don McGregor, , Jenette Kahn, Stan … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 10
I came across another stash of these Mexican issues of LA SORPRENDENTE HOMBRE ARANA that were published in the early 1970s, many of which contained new never-translated stories created exclusively for the Spanish-speaking marketplace by local talent, so popular was Spider-Man in those regions at the time that it had exhausted the supply of American … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: EL SORPRENDENTE HOMBRE ARANA #165
More photographs from years and decades past showcasing the writers, artists and editors of our favorite comic books. Mark Gruenwald in M.C. Hammer costume for Halloween, early 1990s John and Virginia Romita at a convention, circa 1986 Stan Lee plays the Atari Spider-Man video game, circa 1981 Steve Ditko, 1960s Stan Lee and costumed fans, … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 8
As the potential audience for comic books opened up in the early 1980s with the rise and advent of the direct sales market, it wasn't just young new would-be publishers who noticed. Some of the most established firms were just as aware of this new venue, and they geared up to enter it. One of … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Fly #1
I must confess, it feels a bit odd to be doing another piece on DEMON HUNTER #1 after having featured it in a Brand Echh segment here: https://tombrevoort.com/2020/12/31/brand-echh-demon-hunter-1/ But it would have been the next comic book that I picked up, and so I'll need to remain true to the self-imposed rules of this feature. … Continue reading BHOC: DEMON HUNTER #1
This was another issue that I got in a 3-Bag--possibly even the same 3-Bag as yesterday's issue of AVENGERS. I had sampled DEFENDERS a little bit before this but still wasn't picking it up regularly. In part this was because DEFENDERS was weird. The best analogy I can give you is that to me it … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #50
The Tom Brevoort Experience 