I have to confess that I found the next three issues of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA pretty dull and forgettable. Which is unfortunate, as this was the last storyline edited by Julie Schwartz in this series that he'd brought back in the extremely early 1960s. As with THE FLASH, which Julie exited this month, his … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #163
Well, it had happened again: I had missed an issue of a beloved comic book series, this time THE FLASH. While my ardor for it had cooled somewhat as my attention was taken up with my exploration of the Marvel Universe, the character and the book remained a sentimental favorite. But in recent months, my … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #270
This is an amazingly impactful cover, especially as originally seen in the context of a 1968 newsstand. There's no way that this image wouldn't grab your attention more violently than the comics scattered around it. That extreme close-up--so much so that the logo is shunted off to the side and made smaller--the danger to Batman … Continue reading Great Covers: BATMAN #205
It was at around this time that JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA had begun to feel tired to me. It had once been a favorite series, but in recent months, coupled with a growing interest in the Marvel style of storytelling, the venerable JLA had seemingly been slowing down, becoming a bit trite and simplistic and, … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #162
In the late 1970s, before he would go on to be hired by Marvel Comics as an assistant editor, Mark Gruenwald published two issues of his fanzine OMNIVERSE. Unlike most other fan publications, OMNIVERSE was dedicated to examining a single principle when it came to comic book fiction: the consistency of continuity across fictional realities, … Continue reading OMNIVERSE #1
A while ago, when I ran a piece on the first appearance of Captain Comet, certain fans were upset that I'd labeled it as the first Silver Age super hero. And I get what they're saying--the specific codifications of the different eras of comics are hardly universally agreed-upon, and pieces like that one do make … Continue reading The Last Captain Comet Story
This next issue of INCREDIBLE HULK was eminently forgettable, and so I forgot about it almost entirely until we reprinted it in a MARVEL MASTERWORKS volume a year or so back. It was a fill-in job, a break in the ongoing storylines and continuity, and so it didn't have all that much to offer to … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #230
THE AMAZING WORLD OF SUPERMAN was a tabloid-sized special publication put together in 1973 by National Periodical Publications as a souvenir item intended for the second Superman day being held in Metropolis, Illinois, which had been declared the official "Home of Superman." The interiors were printed in black and white, with sturdy cardstock color covers. … Continue reading THE AMAZING WORLD OF SUPERMAN: HOW A COMIC MAGAZINE IS CREATED.
On that same trip to that Ronkonkoma Stationary store, I also picked up he next issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, the first post-implosion issue. This was an issue that had been built up to in the background for a while now. You see, on the letters page, editor Julie Schwartz had been running a … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #161
There's a lot to unpack about this issue of THE FLASH for me. For starters, I bought it not at any of my regular comic book haunts but rather in a far-off stationary store in distant Ronkonkoma where my family had gone for some reason. That store was a supply chain for the Cub Scouts … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #268
The Tom Brevoort Experience 