In 1978, plans for a massive expansion of DC's publishing line, which were being promoted as the DC Explosion, crashed and burned as an unusually heavy winter took its toll on comic book sales. The DC line was slashed rather than expanded, and a bunch of staff members were laid off. This became known as … Continue reading CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #2
This issue of MICRONAUTS was purchased by my younger brother Ken. I'm pretty certain that it was bought at the same far-off supermarket where I'd previously gotten SHOGUN WARRIORS #3. And I also have no doubt that he gravitated to this particular book because Baron Karza looked like Darth Vader--which was kind of the point. … Continue reading BHOC: MICRONAUTS #4
This was, it turned out, the final issue of BATMAN FAMILY in its current form. Shortly after this, the DC Implosion would happen, slashing the size of the DC line dramatically and costing a number of people--including this issue's editor Al Milgrom--their jobs. On the chopping block at that moment was DETECTIVE COMICS, as it … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #20
In 1982, there was simply no hotter book in the Direct Sales marketplace than UNCANNY X-MEN. Riding off of the tremendous success of the Dark Phoenix Saga, the series was rocketed to the absolute pinnacle of the sales charts, at least in comic book specialty shops. X-MEN was super hot, and so the publishers of … Continue reading THE X-MEN COMPANION #1: Roy Thomas Interview
This issue of DEFENDERS was another book that I got out of a 3-Bag at either one of my local department stores or toy stores. It had a nice George Perez cover, but it wasn't an especially memorable issue. This was another book that had run into deadline troubles, and so the main story this … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #53
I was and am a creature of habit. When something becomes a part of my routine, I tend to continue with it even past the point that made it part of the routine in the first place. In the case of BATMAN FAMILY, I had begun to read the series when it was largely a … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #19
As assorted readers pointed out, there were a lot more instances of creators at both Marvel and DC including themselves as characters in the stories that they produced than I covered in the prior two pieces about Self-Mythologizing. And so, since this is a concept that seems to have attracted some audience interest, here then … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Times Marvel Self-Mythologized
At about this time, the next issue of BATMAN FAMILY came out, and I bought it at my trusty, reliable 7-11. I had been purchasing BATMAN FAMILY regularly almost since the beginning, and though I missed the vintage reprints in the transition over to the new Dollar Comics format, that didn't stop me from partaking. … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #18
When she first arrived at DC as the new publisher, Jenette Kahn instituted a pet format that she hoped would help reverse DC's fortunes in the mainstream newsstand market: the Dollar Comic. As it said right in the name, a Dollar Comic cost a buck, but you got an awful lot of material for that … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #17
I'm pretty sure that this issue of MISTER MIRACLE was bought for my brother Ken while on a trip to our grandparents' house one weekend. It was another small exposure for me of the Jack Kirby Fourth World mythos. But for all that it's a pretty great comic by a top-flight creative team, it did … Continue reading BHOC: MISTER MIRACLE #23
The Tom Brevoort Experience 