I would occasionally venture over to my friend Don Sims' house across town, located several blocks behind my regular 7-11 haunt (which became a communal space for us on Thursdays) down on the access road that paralleled the Long Island Expressway. Don had a nice little collection of comic books, including a bunch that had … Continue reading BC: FOREVER PEOPLE #1
Having dedicated themselves to making strides within the new Direct Sales marketplace, an arena in which Marvel had up to this point been overwhelmingly outselling pretty much everybody, DC produced a number of issues of DC SAMPLER, an overview and preview of their line intended to be given out at comic book specialty stores across … Continue reading DC SAMPLER #3
Super heroes as a genre were on their way out as the 1960s turned into the 1970s and the super hero fad that had driven success throughout the silver age fell away. But this meant that publishers were more encouraged to experiment than they had been previously in an attempt to stave off cancellation--and every … Continue reading 5BC: The Five Best Comic Books of 1970
By 1971, Stan Lee's career scripting comic books was winding down. While he'd remain in place as Marvel's Publisher for the remainder of the decade, he ceased scripting pretty much everything he had been working on, except for an occasional and far-between assignment. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #96 is the first part of the last truly great … Continue reading 5BC: The Five Best Comic Books of 1971
This issue of THOR is another comic that I got out of a 3-Bag purchased either at a department store or a toy store, which is where 3-Bags could be located in 1978, at least in my area--they'd already faded out of Supermarkets a while earlier. While I had begun to read THOR not long … Continue reading BHOC: THOR #260
By the very beginning of the 1980s, what we now know as the Direct Market for comic books--specialty shops devoted to the product who would buy new issues on a non-returnable basis, thus eliminating the enormous amount of waste the Newsstand consignment system generated--had grown to the point where it looked as though there might … Continue reading Brand Echh – Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #1
I bought this comic in a non-regular venue for me while on a shopping trip with my family to a supermarket some distance from our home. I bought it both because I was reading SUPER-TEAM FAMILY regularly and because the Flash, still my favorite super hero, was headlining in it. This would be my first … Continue reading BHOC: SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #15
This issue of ETERNALS would most likely have been the third book in that 3-Bag in which I got INVADERS #13, based on when it was on sale originally and how I know I got it. Can you find the typo in the cover copy on this cover? It's a typically bombastic Jack Kirby cover, … Continue reading BHOC: ETERNALS #8
My brother Ken had eclectic taste in comic books. He was only ever so-so interested in them, mainly because I was--and that interest tended to flow in two directions. First, he wound up buying copies of more than a few comics that I already owned, so that he would have what I had. Alternately, he … Continue reading BHOC: ETERNALS #9
If the first issue of SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS that I read, #2, was a comic book that I liked, then this next issue, #3, sealed the deal. I picked it up at my regular 7-11, and was glad to see it. So this cover represents my first encounter with Darkseid. It’s not an incredibly … Continue reading BHOC: SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS #3
The Tom Brevoort Experience 