FOCUS ON GEORGE PEREZ

Having had success with their FOCUS ON JOHN BYRNE volume dedicated to perhaps the most popular mainstream artist of the decade, Fantagraphics decided to follow up with a similar volume on one of the other hottest artists of the era, George Perez. At the time this volume saw print, George had garnered great acclaim for … Continue reading FOCUS ON GEORGE PEREZ

5BC: Would You Believe Five More Forgotten DC Retcons

If there's one thing that DC has loved to do over the years, it's to explore strange story avenues and then abandon them. In some ways, that's become their history ever since CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS--it feels that you can't go but a few years anymore until everything you've read is thrown out and they … Continue reading 5BC: Would You Believe Five More Forgotten DC Retcons

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1984

A genuine sucker punch of an ending topped off this issue of FANTASTIC FOUR, as we learn the outcome of Sue Richards' latest pregnancy. Writer/artist John Byrne is in strong form here, at about the middle of his long run on the title. Good use of the rest of the Marvel Universe and a sympathetic … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1984

5BC: Five Best Marvel/DC Crossovers

It's been bettered but never equaled, the granddaddy of all inter-company crossovers. At a time when a comic book featuring Superman and rival Spider-Man sharing the same pages was a positively shocking idea, this enormous tabloid spent its 100 pages synthesizing the narrative styles of both the DC and Marvel house approaches into a single … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Marvel/DC Crossovers

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1983

Another instant masterwork from the typewriter of Alan Brennert, this issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD brings the story of the original Batman of the 1930s and 40s (i.e. the Earth-2 model) to a satisfying and emotional conclusion, as he finds his soulmate in Selina Kyle as the two battle the Scarecrow. As usual, Brennert … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1983

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1982

The first entry in Marvel's line of European-style albums, released under the sobriquet "Marvel Graphic Novels", THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL remains as effective and affecting today as it was when it was first published. A good deal of that is down to the subject matter, which sees the titular Mar-Vell dying not in battle … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1982

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1980

It's perhaps difficult to see from the vantage point of so many years later, but this issue of X-MEN was a game-changer when it came out, and cemented the popularity of the series at the top of the Direct Market sales charts for a decade and a half. Powerful, unexpected, emotional, this comic generated both … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1980

BHOCOS: NEW TEEN TITANS #4

NEW TEEN TITANS #4 February, 1981 It should have been a no-brainer. I liked the Teen Titans. I liked the writing of Marv Wolfman, who I thought was one of the best of the era. I really liked George Perez, who had penciled many of the earliest Marvel books I had read. But when NEW … Continue reading BHOCOS: NEW TEEN TITANS #4