Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, INCREDIBLE HULK went through a consistent pattern with me: it would start with some storyline that I was interested in, then segue into a bunch of issues that left me cold, to the point where I'd be on the verge of dropping it, then a story would come along … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #231
David Steckel wasn't the only new person I met during those weeks in the Sachem Gifted Program that I went to every Friday. I also made the acquaintance of Frank Torres, who was similarly a comic book reader. While I was never quite exactly as tight with him as i was with Steck, he remained … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #188
FOOM #3 was the third issue of the fan magazine put out by the Marvel fan club of the same name, edited and composed by Jim Steranko and evidencing his design sensibilities. It's a window into the world of the Marvel-that-was, the Marvel of yesteryear. When the venture was started, nobody involved was quite sure … Continue reading FOOM #3
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
SUPERMAN VS THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, the first of the real DC and Marvel crossovers (putting aside the WIZARD OF OZ co-produced Treasury) was an enormous success for both companies. Despite being priced at $2.00 as a time when regular comic books were only 30 cents, it sold in huge quantities--enough to make DC look for … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: The Lost and Most Obscure Marvel/DC Crossover
This book has been on my list to write about for a while now, but given the sad news regarding the health of artist George Perez, it now seems like something I should get too sooner rather than later. For those who are unaware, george has been diagnosed with inoperable and terminal cancer, and he's … Continue reading Personal Best: AVENGERS #1
UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN was the series that brought me to the attention of fandom, the first truly successful title that I worked on, at least from a critical standpoint. And this didn't have so much to do with me as it did Kurt Busiek and Pat Olliffe, the creative team that produced most of … Continue reading Personal Best: UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1, 1996
This is a bit of a break from our usual fare here, more in keeping with the Blah Blah Blog segments that I repost from my old Marvel blog that were relevant to my work situation. But I typically refrain from talking about that kind of thing here, as it seems somehow immodest and self-serving … Continue reading 5BC: Five Comics That Almost Got Me Fired
The Rocket's Blast/ComiCollector was one of the longest-running fanzines of its era. Originally, it had begun as two separate 'zines both started in 1961--the Rocket's Blast, created by Miami-based fan G.B. Love, and the Comicollector by Jerry Bails. Eventually, the two combined their mailing lists and merged with #29 (continuing the numbering of The Rocket's … Continue reading The Rocket’s Blast/ComiCollector #152
A post from my Marvel blog of the 00s, part of a series talking about good individual issues on which I had worked. Good Comics, pt. 3 April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General We should have an update on our "click-through" experiment hopefully by Friday. So if you haven't … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Good Comics, Part Three
