In 1947, Stan Lee had been working for Timely Comics for pretty much his entire adult life, beginning in 1940. He had gone off to war, married, and was now ready to spread his wings and attempt some other ventures. By that same token, Stan also had overhead--a new wife to support--and so he wasn't … Continue reading WRITER’S DIGEST Vol. 27, #12: There’s Money In Comics!
At about this time, I entered Sixth Grade in Elementary School, which would prove to be a year of some significance in my overall journey. I wound up once again in the same class as my comics-reading pal Donald Sims, the last time we'd share classes together, so already I was on somewhat firm and … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #187
There was very little that could happen in a comic book at this point in 1978 that was more exciting to me than the prospect of a Thing vs Hulk fight. There had been a number of them previously over the years, but I hadn't yet read any of those earlier stories, though I was … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #46
All throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Marvel Comics and Stan Lee in particular had made a deliberate effort to grow a college-age audience for his comic book output. In this effort, he was largely successful, and by the 1970s Marvel was recognized among the counter-culture as possessing at least a little bit of hipness. Not … Continue reading CHANGES, April 15, 1970: Stan Lee Interview
Another week brought more new comic books, including this issue of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES starring the Hulk. Or, as he was billed on the recurring cover blurbs during this period, "Marvel's TV Sensation!" I'd imagine that there were a lot of young readers who picked up their first issue of a Hulk comic book as a … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #77
Taking a look here at the back half of FOOM #3, the third issue of Marvel's in-house fan club magazine as packaged and produced by Jim Steranko. In the days before formal indexes and Marvel Masterworks volumes and the internet, these Indexes to the major titles were a bit of a godsend for information freaks, … Continue reading FOOM #3, Part Two
For some reason, possibly simple inertia, I had started regularly reading SGT FURY even though I wasn't typically a fan of war comics. That was maybe all right, because SGT FURY was really only a war comic in its trappings, the way HOGAN'S HEROES was about the war. It was really a comedic super hero … Continue reading BHOC: SGT FURY #149
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
This next issue of IRON MAN represented the beginning of one of the most storied runs in the title's history, even though it was the second part to an adventure already in progress. And that's because this issue heralded the arrival of a pair of creators who would leave their mark on the armored Avengers, … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #116
KID KOMICS was a bit of a hybrid production of Timely Comics, at least at the start. Launched in 1943, it split its focus between super hero adventure strips like the cover-spotlighted Captain Wonder and comedy series such as the unfortunate Whitewash and Knuckles, starring two of the Young Allies. Eventually, within a few issues, … Continue reading The First Subbie Story
The Tom Brevoort Experience 