It was clear early on that the most important and successful new super hero character introduced during the Silver Age of Comics was Spider-Man. The work that Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and John Romita had put into the series had paid dividends, and the wall-crawler was soon a worldwide icon able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder against … Continue reading 5BC: Five Attempts to Replicate Spider-Man
I have a vague memory of running across this issue in a candy store far from my usual haunts in a shopping mall where my parents had gone to get something. I was very much invested in the ongoing storyline featuring Carrion--probably the first such "mystery villain" plotline that I'd ever read--so i was excited … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #30
It's no great secret that the relationship between editor and scripter Stan Lee and artist and plotter Jack Kirby had grown fraught by 1969. Having at least co-invented the characters who ad saved the company and done the lion's share of the story work that continued to make the Marvel books he worked on shine, … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: THE TROUBLED BIRTH OF THOR #169
This next issue of IRON MAN was something of a pause in the run, a fill-in issue albeit one that had been integrated into the ongoing story narratives. It was also something of a throwback, recounting the events of Iron Man's origin and updating them slightly. I had already read Iron Man's origin in SON … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #122
Every once in a while, my mother would go to a more outlying supermarket when she needed something in particular, something that apparently wasn't carried by our local store. In that same shopping mall there was a card store or a candy store that sold comics. And that's where I came across this issue of … Continue reading BHOC: HOWARD THE DUCK #31
We're almost done with our review of MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED, THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, which uses examples culled from the pages of Marvel comics to illustrate different points of film theory. This was a ubiquitous tome among comic book artists in the mid-1970s. A trio of IRON MAN panels from Johnny Craig lead off this final section. … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Six
I'm not entirely certain of the circumstances after all of these years, but I believe it happened as a result of my filling out and sending in a survey concerning Marvel's upcoming ODYSSEY magazine, which eventually reached newsstands as EPIC ILLUSTRATED. Or it may have been some other survey, possibly released through PIZZAZZ magazine or … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #206
Well, we're at the point where DEFENDERS became a series of few joys, an interminable slog to get through for the next two years or so. Despite this fact, I never once toyed with dropping it, as I would occasionally do with other books. Why? Beats the hell out of me! I really wasn't enjoying … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #71
We're back with more of this early 1970s reference volume which illustrated points of filmmaking through the use of examples culled from Marvel Comics. I find this chapter interesting, in that it instructs in the use of sound in a motion picture by using examples from a medium that doesn't have any sound. Some George … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Five
I didn't really realize just how good of a comic book UNCANNY X-MEN was during this time period. I mean, I bought it regularly and enjoyed it every single issue. But it didn't stand out for me particularly. I loved it, but i also loved FANTASTIC FOUR and AVENGERS and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and a hold … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #121
The Tom Brevoort Experience 