It's somewhat difficult to believe today, but comedian and movie star Jerry Lewis headlined his own DC comic book for about twenty years, the first half-dozen in conjunction with his then-partner, Dean Martin. Amazingly, more copies of Jerry Lewis were being sold and consumed than of the Atom or Hawkman or the Doom Patrol, all … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: Jerry Lewis Meets Batman and Robin
While as we've seen, Marvel was relatively quick to begin to self-mythologize its creative staff and editorial Bullpen, rival publisher DC (then known as National Periodical Publications in an attempt to disguise the fact that they published evil comic books in the aftermath of the senate hearings) wasn't as quick to follow suit. Even creator … Continue reading 5BC: Five Times DC Self-Mythologized
In any long-running series, there's going to be a magnetic pull among a certain type of writer to want to change things, to make adjustments to details, to eliminate contradictions in the stories that have been told and to introduce new information about foundational events. These ideas can sometimes be additive and sometime be destructive, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Forgotten DC Retcons
The Powers-That-Be at DC Comics in the 1960s could see that something was going on over at Stan Lee's new upstart Marvel imprint, but they were ill-equipped to figure out just what. This is largely due to the fact that the editorial and creative staff remained largely unchanged since the halcyon days of the 1940s. … Continue reading Brand Echh – Inferior Five #6
Outside of a few sure-bet favorites, I was I think pretty typical in my comic book purchasing habits: I would pick up whatever looked good among what was available on whatever outing made it possible for me to purchase a comic book. At this point, I knew that what I wanted was super heroes (and … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #220
Once again, I’m pretty certain that this comic book first belonged to my brother Ken. At this point in my comic book evolution, while I didn’t yet know who editor Murray Boltinoff was, I understood that WORLD’S FINEST COMICS along with BRAVE AND THE BOLD and SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES were “wrong” somehow–that they … Continue reading BHOC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #240
Another book that I think was bought for my brother Ken rather than me, but that I ultimately ended up with over the years. WORLD’S FINEST COMICS was a strange read, in the same sort of way that BRAVE AND THE BOLD was, in that it didn’t seem to follow the same unwritten rules as … Continue reading BHOC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #239
WORLD’S FINEST wasn’t anything like a regular buy for me, the earliest issues of the title that I had read were somewhat odd and discordant to me–the stylistic difference between my preferred editor Julie Schwartz, and the approach favored by WF editor Murray Boltinoff. But the appearance of the Flash on this cover was enough … Continue reading BHOC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #231
Another comic whose origins are shrouded in mystery. I don’t really know where this one came from. But I do know that I should have loved it, with its vast roster of super heroes. But somehow, I didn’t–the style felt weird to me, in the same way as those earlier BRAVE & BOLD and WORLD’S … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #203
I’m pretty certain that this issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD came from one of those 3-Bags that were sold in supermarkets and department stores. I can’t imagine that I would have chosen it for myself–but as with the LOIS LANE issue earlier, there don’t seem to be any other comics that would have shared … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #110
The Tom Brevoort Experience 