The opening up of the Direct Sales marketplace, comprised of a string of independently-operated comic book specialty shops across the Nation and eventually the globe--offered up new promise in terms of the way in which comic books were sold. Up to this point, Comics were sold like any other periodical publication: a print run was … Continue reading Brand Echh: JCP Features the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1
Archie Comics' attempt to get back into the super hero marketplace in 1983 under their Red Circle imprint was, by all accounts, a bit of a mess. It was an experiment that played itself out over around two years, and which produced some interesting experiments as well as a bunch of just out-and-out junk. The … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Comet #1
As we've spoken about before in the past, the opening up of the Direct Sales marketplace in the 1980s inspired a whole lot of different companies to enter the field with their own wares, competing for a piece of this lucrative non-returnable sales market. One of these was Archie Comics, who were persuaded to take … Continue reading Brand Echh: Mighty Crusaders #1
Comic books attracted the attention of some pretty colorful people, especially when it came to the ranks of would-be publishers. One of the most colorful was David Singer, who for a short period of time in the mid-1980s presided over both Deluxe Comics and Lodestone Comics, and operated as a publisher looking to carve out … Continue reading Brand Echh: Codename: Danger #1
As the potential audience for comic books opened up in the early 1980s with the rise and advent of the direct sales market, it wasn't just young new would-be publishers who noticed. Some of the most established firms were just as aware of this new venue, and they geared up to enter it. One of … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Fly #1
In the early 1980s, as the comic book Direct Market began to become a real sales force in the industry, the way was opened up for all sorts of new, smaller companies (and individuals) to publish their own comic books and potentially strike it rich. There was now a ready-made distribution network of specialty stores … Continue reading Brand Echh – The Crusaders #1
The Tom Brevoort Experience 