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
Well it just goes to show: you never know what is going to resonate with an audience. Last week's kickoff installment of Comics Creators in the Wild received more notices and attention than I ever would have thought it would. So that being the case, I figured I ought to follow up on it sooner … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 2
Pretty sure that this was another issue that was bought by my brother Ken. He continued to follow the Hulk's adventures regularly for a few months before his attention shifted elsewhere and I wound up picking up both the baton and the issues he'd already bought. It's another reprint of a nine-year-old story from 1969--throughout … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #71
This is the single greatest issue of SUPERMAN ever put together in the character's 80 year history. Closer to home, it's the special Anniversary issue that I'm always jockeying against in my own mind when it comes to put together a book of this sort for the Marvel characters. Of course, I fail to clear … Continue reading Perfect Game – SUPERMAN #400
I've gone over this before, but it bears repeating. In 1978, there were no trade paperbacks, no Marvel Masterworks, no organized system reprinting the comic books of earlier days. There were a few scattered and irregular collections and that was about it. But Marvel, at least, maintained a regular and robust reprint program as a … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #65
I wasn't ever really a big fan of DEFENDERS. Oh, I bought it dutifully for literally years, but it was never a top title in my firmament--and often, I was continuing to buy it out of rote more than any particular love for it. This is due to the fact that, despite the fact that … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #48
This one really should have been the blockbuster that Stan Lee and Martin Goodman feared that Harvey was going to produce with Joe Simon heading up their attempt to jump onto the super hero bandwagon in 1966. Spyman was the brainchild of future Marvel superstar Jim Steranko. But apart from the odd spot illustration (such … Continue reading Brand Echh – Spyman #1
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