One of the new mainstay players in the emerging Direct Sales market comprised of comic book specialty stories in the 1980s was First Comics. An outfit out of Chicago, First boasted an initial eclectic line-up but slowly and surely crystalized into a reliable player in the field. Debuting in 1982, among the series First published … Continue reading FSC: E-MAN #2
It was at some point around this time that my local postal carrier delivered my subscription copy of the latest issue of FANTASTIC FOUR--though not before it had already gone on sale and was available at my local outlet. Not buying the book and waiting for my copy proved to be difficult, especially after other … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #210
UNCANNY X-MEN was on a roll at this point in time, and while this latest issue was something of a transition story, moving events in the direction of resolving some long-percolating plotlines, it was still ultra-enjoyable. These days, this whole era is considered a classic period, but at the time, we just looked at it … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #125
I picked up the newest issue of AVENGERS on my now-weekly Thursday trip to the Stationery Store. The book was on something of a roll right at that moment, in the midst of a three-part adventure sorting out the backstories of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver (or trying to--later developments would overturn some of the … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #187
By 1982, Marvel had been making inroads into establishing itself as a children's book publisher as much as a periodical comic book publisher. This was apparently Marvel president Jim Galton's plan for where the future of the organization should lie. He had no idea how the emerging Direct Sales marketplace was going to explode, nor … Continue reading FSC: X-MEN MARVEL ILLUSTRATED Paperback
In my memory, the second volume of the two-book X-MEN COMPANION series that was released by Fantagraphics, the publishers of the Comics Journal, took forever to arrive. But looking back, while the second book was late, it was only by a few months--time goes by slower when you're younger. Anyway, the big difference in what … Continue reading FSC: THE X-MEN COMPANION II
When it was first launched, there was a veneer of respectability about the MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL line. Based on the format of European albums, these books were a place where creators could tell stories that were a bit more sophisticated and adult-oriented than the typical Comics Code-approved fare that filled the pages of the monthly … Continue reading FSC: MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #4
The well-remembered Project Pegasus Saga was continuing to run through the pages of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE, breathing new life into a series that had been moribund for the better part of a year. Newly installed writers Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio were determined to do something worthwhile with the title and to make it better than … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #55
I've mentioned before just how gung-ho I was about the initial offerings from Pacific Comics, one of the fist of the new independent publishers who cropped up in the nascent Direct Sales marketplace of comic book specialty shops once it had been shown that it was possible to turn a profit there. While my enthusiasm … Continue reading FSC: ROG 2000
Even at the time, we all knew in my circle of friends that the New Fantastic Four cartoon that was then airing on NBC on Saturday mornings wasn't very good. This despite the involvement of the comic's co-creator Jack Kirby as a designer and storyboard artist and dialogue written by Marvel figures such as Stan … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #209
The Tom Brevoort Experience 