I had sort of backed into being a reader of THOR, and it was a title that I occasionally stayed from over my prime Marvel buying years--typically only for long enough to have to pick up two issues simultaneously. But as I've related before, THOR struck me, especially in the 1970s, as feeling more like … Continue reading BHOC: THOR #273
Another awesome assemblage of photographic images of comic book creators taken in years and decades past. Stan Lee with presentation board, circa 1976 John Romita, early 1970s John Romita and Stan Lee, circa 1970 Herb Trimpe, circa 1972 Mark Gruenwald at home, circa 1994 Not 100% certain who this is in the Marvel offices with … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 7
Here's another vintage newspaper article on the burgeoning comic book fandom of the 1960s, this one a profile on a young pre-Marvel Roy Thomas. As most know, Roy went on to become one of the most popular and influential writers and editors of the 1960s and beyond--but at the time this piece saw print in … Continue reading A Serious Student of the Comic Books
Picked this book up on one of my regular weekly Thursday comic book runs to my local 7-11. It was racked over in he magazine section rather than on the spinner rack due to its huge size. And I quite liked the cover image on it--so much so that I copied it, and did a … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #17
This was another book that I bought out of my drugstore's Big Bin of Somewhat Older Comic Books, all issues that had been reported as destroyed but instead which had been sold on the secondary market for a cut-rate price. This was one of a pair of DOCTOR STRANGE issues that I picked up at … Continue reading BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #21
You know the drill by this point, right? It's old pictures of comic book creators from back in the day! Bob Layton at a convention, 1980s. Me, Tom Brevoort, and Jack Kirby at a New York convention, 1990. I had only been at Marvel for six months. A trio of photos of Joe Sinnott from … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 6
It was one of the great, mythic misfires of the Marvel Age of Comics. Looking for ways in which he could spread his wings and move from being just a comic book editor and writer, Marvel's Stan Lee presided over a one-night-only event at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan on Wednesday, January 5th 1972. Reportedly, the … Continue reading A Marvel-ous Evening with Stan Lee
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
Here's another in our series on the new Spider-Man stories that were written and drawn by local talent in Mexico for publisher La Prensa. This one's a real oddity for completely different reasons. To start with, Spidey himself is nowhere to be seen on this cover. The selling point is a positively scandalous image of … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: EL SORPRENDENTE HOMBRE ARANA #154
This was another issue that I got in a 3-Bag--possibly even the same 3-Bag as yesterday's issue of AVENGERS. I had sampled DEFENDERS a little bit before this but still wasn't picking it up regularly. In part this was because DEFENDERS was weird. The best analogy I can give you is that to me it … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #50
