It cannot be overstated just how amazing an impact was made by writer Alan Moore on comic books. He came along at exactly the right time, just as the Direct Sales Market was making it possible to do comic book stories with greater sophistication for a somewhat older audience. It was a rare thing for … Continue reading Perfect Game – SUPERMAN #423
The Sandman was introduced in NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR COMICS #1 and immediately became the featured player in ADVENTURE COMICS staring with #40. He was a character steeped in an old formula and clearly influenced by the radio hero the Green Hornet. Like the Hornet, his main weapon was a gas gun, and he battled … Continue reading The First Sandy Story and the Super-Heroification of the Sandman
Like the Green Arrow who we talked about last week, Aquaman was another of three features created to fill the back pages of the ailing MORE FUN COMICS and hopefully reverse its fortunes by creating some additional reader interest. The Sea King was the brainchild of newly-hired editor Mort Weisinger, who collaborated with artist Paul … Continue reading The Second Aquaman Story
When editor Mort Weisinger was first hired by DC Comics (then Detective Comics Inc) in 1941, one of the first tasks he was given was to improve the fortunes of one of the firm's longest-running titles, MORE FUN COMICS. The popularity of headliner characters Doctor Fate and Jerry Siegel's The Spectre were lagging behind the … Continue reading The Second Green Arrow Story
We spoke a bit previously about Johnny Quick, DC's alternative super-speedster who occupied the back pages of first MORE FUN COMICS and then ADVENTURE COMICS during the Golden Age of Comics. Johnny was a long-running second banana character whose adventures were typically better-drawn than the company's more mainstay fast hero, the Flash. But also, as … Continue reading The Last Johnny Quick Story
Johnny Quick was one of the perennial second banana super heroes of the Golden Age of Comics. He was created by newly-hired DC editor Mort Weisinger and debuted in the pages of MORE FUN COMICS #71 in 1941. At the time, what we think of today as DC Comics was actually two separate organizations with … Continue reading The Second Johnny Quick Story
Jim Shooter is one of the most undeniably important figures in the history of comics. A child prodigy, he first broke into the business when he was only 13 years old, submitting stories to DC editor Mort Weisinger for the Legion of Super Heroes feature in ADVENTURE COMICS. Not realizing quite how young Shooter was, … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Good Guys #1
It's been a while since we dropped one of these on you. So here are more photographs taken over the years depicting practitioners of the medium, both editorial and creators. As usual, there's a lot of Stan Lee. One of the earliest photographs that survives of Jakob Kurtzburg, who would come to be called Jack … Continue reading Comic Creators in the Wild 12
And so, we come to the end of the line. This is the final issue that I got in my Windfall Comics purchase of 1988, where I bought a box of close to 150 silver age comics from a guy I bumped into at the post office for $50.00. And it's a good place to … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #356
This issue of ACTION COMICS is noteworthy in that it contains one of the first Superman story written by Cary Bates, who would go on to become a regular contributor to the Man of Steel's adventures in the 1970s. Bates broke into the field by submitting ideas for catchy cover images to editors such as … Continue reading WC: ACTION COMICS #354
The Tom Brevoort Experience 