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
This shows you just how in the tank i was for Marvel at this point. The next time I visited the Stationery Store that had become my main outlet for buying new comics, this book was situated among the other stacks on the shelf. Despite the fact that it wasn't a comic book at all … Continue reading BHOC: FUN AND GAMES MAGAZINE #1
I was never really much of a DOCTOR STRANGE fan, and so outside of a few key runs, it wasn't a title that I read avidly. Especially in the 1970s, when the tone and tenor of the series was being influenced by the wave of interest in the supernatural and metaphysical that was going on … Continue reading BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #36
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
At the time when I started getting into Marvel Comics in the late 1970s, WHAT IF was considered something of a special book, at least among my small circle of comic-reading acquaintances. For one thing, it was oversized, meaning that it was both thicker and meatier than the average comic of that period, more like … Continue reading BC: WHAT IF #1
After a steady run, CAPTAIN AMERICA was about to enter the doldrums, a period of frequent fill-ins and creative instability. I obviously didn't know any of that when I picked up this latest issue at the Stationery store, but I did find that I didn't especially care for it. It was fine, but not a … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #237
As I revealed when we covered the previous issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, as a young reader I completely bought into the legitimacy of Aunt May's death in this storyline. And part of that was the result of this issue, which does a fine job of making it seem like a real thing (while also dropping … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #196
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
Here's another book that I picked up on my post-grade school graduation trip to Bush's Hobbies in Ronkonkoma. I had been slowly filling in a complete run of MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS, the title that eventually changed its name to MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS and in which the earliest FANTASTIC FOUR stories were reprinted. I wanted … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL COLLECTORS’ ITEM CLASSICS #19
On that selfsame trip to Bush's Hobbies following my graduation from grade school, I indulged in my interest in golden age comics by picking up this issue of FANTASY MASTERPIECES, which reprinted the first battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner, a story I had read about previously in Jim Steranko's HISTORY OF COMICS. … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASY MASTERPIECES #8
The Tom Brevoort Experience 