These days, the name John Byrne is synonymous with that of the Fantastic Four. His run both writing and penciling the series in the 1980s is held up as a high water mark for the title, and typically regarded as being second only to that of FF creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Byne had … Continue reading The Unused Fantastic Four Sample Story by John Byrne
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
This was another book that I wouldn't have bought if left to my own devices, but which I got a copy of in one of those plastic-wrapped bundles of 5 or 10 comics sold by my local drug store. This would have been my fist exposure to Deathlok, I believe--a character that I wound up … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #33
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
The above Rich Buckler cover is something I didn't get to see back in the 1970s. That's because, like other books I've been covering here recently, I got BLACK LIGHTNING #1 in one of the bundles of coverless comics that my local Drug Store chain had begun to sell in lieu of their Big Bin … Continue reading BHOC: BLACK LIGHTNING #1
I must confess, it feels a bit odd to be doing another piece on DEMON HUNTER #1 after having featured it in a Brand Echh segment here: https://tombrevoort.com/2020/12/31/brand-echh-demon-hunter-1/ But it would have been the next comic book that I picked up, and so I'll need to remain true to the self-imposed rules of this feature. … Continue reading BHOC: DEMON HUNTER #1
I dutifully picked up this next issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, one of my favorite titles when I was even younger than I was at its time of release. But since the departure of writer Steve Englehart, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA was going through something of a slump--new author Gerry Conway was crafting solid … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #156
Another batch of vintage photographs of comic book creators taken in years past. As usual, there are a number of these that revolve around Stan Lee, probably the most photographed creator of the era. Roy Thomas wearing the first Spider-Man personal appearance costume at a comic convention in 1966 A sleepy Herb Trimpe in the … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 5
We've talked about CHARLTON PREMIERE in the past. It was Charlton's attempt at a SHOWCASE-style series that would debut a different character or concept every issue. A try-out comic, in other words. No series that appeared in CHARLTON PREMIERE ever graduated into its own book, but a few of the stories are noteworthy in some … Continue reading Brand Echh: Charlton Premiere #3
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