MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE was a title in a serious deadline crunch at the time this issue was put together, which is why new editor Roger Stern asked staff member Ralph Macchio for ideas for stories to fill it. This two-parter was Macchio's first writing credit, though he'd work for Marvel for over 35 years as an … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #43
I picked up this issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA on my usual weekly Thursday sweep of the spinner rack at my regular 7-11. But before that, I'd gotten to have a noteworthy though frustrating experience. The weekend before, my father had learned that Stan Lee was going to be making a personal appearance at the Cartoonerville … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #225 and Stan Lee at Cartoonerville
A few more excerpts from THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE, Volume One as published by Sal Quartuccio under his SQ Productions imprint. Byrne wouldn't begin working on Superman for six more years, and was thought of as a real true blue Marvel artist at the time, so this piece from the inside front cover was … Continue reading THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE, Part Two
By 1980, John Byrne had been working in the industry for over half a decade, and the popularity of his work had begun to soar. In particular, his penciling on X-MEN helped make that comic book a huge seller within the growing Direct Sales marketplace of hardcore fans. As the 1980s went on, Byrne became … Continue reading THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE
More, more, more old photographs of comic books on sale or being consumed by the readers in the era in which they were first published. Believe it or not, that's the young John Byrne
If there's a moment that truly crystalized the Direct Sales marketplace and helped to forge it into a meaningful distribution pipeline for comics, it was with the release of X-MEN #137 in which creators Chris Claremont and John Byrne wrapped up what is today known as "The Dark Phoenix Saga" in a double-sized issue that … Continue reading FANTASTIC FOUR #286 John Byrne’s Way
This was another comic book that I bought in a 3-Bag bundle from a department store or a toy store. The new creative team on MARVEL TEAM-UP, Chris Claremont and John Byrne, had first worked together on IRON FIST, the recently-cancelled martial arts super hero series. Before it went away, they had begun a subplot … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TEAM-UP #63
What is the rarest Superman comic book in existence? That's a question that would invite a great deal of debate. But there's some compelling evidence to indicate that it may be this one. This Superman custom comic book had a print run of only around 200 copies total, and was distributed to an incredibly select … Continue reading Superman: This Island Bradman
A new crop of 3-Bags started turning up at the department stores and toy stores in my area, though they were beginning to become harder to find as more and more outlets used the space for something else that was presumably easier to keep in order and also brought in more revenue for the square … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #165
Dealer and comics historian Bob Beerbohm was recently talking about how the sales of X-MEN skyrocketed in his shop when artist John Byrne came on board the title with issue #108. He indicates that his guess is that the series might have been cancelled otherwise, though I find this difficult to believe. Based on what … Continue reading BHOC: X-MEN #112
The Tom Brevoort Experience 