This post is going to wind up being virtually identical to the one I did a few years back on the 3M to the cover of FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #5, but as I came across a similar 3M for FANTASTIC FOUR #63 in the wild, I thought it was still worth sharing with everybody here. … Continue reading 3M Cover Proof – FANTASTIC FOUR #63
It was always a red-letter day when a new issue of FANTASTIC FOUR would show up on the spinner rack at my local 7-11. FANTASTIC FOUR had swiftly become my favorite comic book at the time, and so I was hungry for the continuing adventures of the cosmic quartet. This particular entry was still in … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #196
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 Marvel began to become more of a force within the industry at the height of the super hero fad of the 1960s, the firm began to get some formidable press. This well-remembered article ran in Esquire Magazine in the issue dated September 1st, 1966. It included original artwork created for this purpose by Jack … Continue reading ESQUIRE Magazine, September 1st, 1966
And another issue of MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS reprinting Fantastic Four stories from earlier in the group's history, made its way to my regular 7-11 haunt. This era in which there were still monthly reprint titles for most of the major Marvel series was a godsend to me in terms of allowing me to get a … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #78
You know the drill by this point, right? It's old pictures of comic book creators from back in the day! Bob Layton at a convention, 1980s. Me, Tom Brevoort, and Jack Kirby at a New York convention, 1990. I had only been at Marvel for six months. A trio of photos of Joe Sinnott from … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 6
An awful lot of the production work materials from the comic books created in the formative years of the industry are long gone, discarded as unimportant "work product" on the way to producing finished comic book issues, which were the goal point all along. Fortunately, a lot of the original artwork has survived (though far … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: The Pencils of FANTASTIC FOUR #49
MS MARVEL was another title that I sampled out of the Big Bin of Somewhat Older Comic Books at my local drug store, and for the same reason: the need to hit a total of 5 purchases so as to be able to get them for a dollar, as opposed to risking the whims of … Continue reading BHOC: MS MARVEL #4
It's always good to roll with what works. So here are a bunch more vintage photographs of assorted comic book creators in years past. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, promotional photo, 1940. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (whose name is mispelled on that sign) at a promotional event for the premiere of the first Superman … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 3
A month had gone by, and there was no more welcome sight than a new issue of FANTASTIC FOUR arriving on the Spinner Rack at my local 7-11. This issue was one of those odd books where my younger brother Ken subsequently bought his own copy a week or two later, so there were two … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #195
The Tom Brevoort Experience 