By this moment in time PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was past its best days--and even at its highest it had never been a great comic book series. Almost by default, the title was dedicated to providing "more" Spider-Man adventures for readers for whom a single AMAZING SPIDER-MAN release wasn't enough. These stories existed in … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #32
It was clear early on that the most important and successful new super hero character introduced during the Silver Age of Comics was Spider-Man. The work that Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and John Romita had put into the series had paid dividends, and the wall-crawler was soon a worldwide icon able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder against … Continue reading 5BC: Five Attempts to Replicate Spider-Man
Marvel had begun to phase out its line of reprint titles, with only MARVEL TALES (starring the ultra-popular Spider-Man) and MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (featuring Marvel's TV Sensation, the Incredible Hulk) making the eventual cut. I can understand why this was done--the marketplace was changing and there wasn't the same need to both establish a large beachhead … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #103
It's another holiday, so it's time for another one of these semi-purposeless lists. When I was growing up back in the 1970s, the options for entertainment were slim for a kid. There were only three main broadcast channels, plus PBS and a couple of syndication stations. Nothing like today, when there are entire stations dedicated … Continue reading Twenty Children’s Shows That Made An Impact On Me
MAGAZINELAND, USA was a giveaway comic book designed for the celebration on June 18, 1977, which had been proclaimed World Color Press Day. World Color were the printers for virtually all of the comic books that were then available on the nation's newsstands, including the output of DC, Marvel, Archie, Harvey and others. Accordingly, those … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: MAGAZINELAND, USA #1
I've been meaning to write a little bit about these French-produced Spider-Man stories for a while, but when Newsletter reader Mark Bowen posted a link to this one, which he'd translated over on his blog, I thought that it was worth cross-posting. Mark's original post can be found here: https://imgur.com/a/french-spider-man-16-t-v-crazy-telejunior-1978-AdKR5nP The French publication TELEJunior had … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: The French TV Terror and the French Spider-Man
PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was in the middle of a very good run of stories mainly revolving around the true identity of a mysterious new foe for the wall-crawler, the creepy Carrion. It was clear based upon the assorted clues dropped into the narrative that Carrion was somebody who knew an awful lot about … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #29
This issue of MARVEL TALES reprinted the story where the series concluded its transition from the Silver Age into the Bronze Age. The book had been there for several months already at this point, with writer Gerry Conway taking over for Stan Lee. But this was the first issue in forever not illustrated by John … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #102
With a big Omnibus collecting all of them coming out any time, my mind has been drawn to the assorted authorized crossovers undertaken by rival companies Marvel and DC over the years. Some of those stories were triumphs, sagas that compared and contrasted the characters involved skillfully, and which were just crackerjack entertaining in their … Continue reading 5BC: Five Middling Marvel/DC Crossover Books
MARVEL TEAM-UP had been practically from its inception a meat-and-potatoes sort of a comic book. Which is to say that it's aspirations were rarely higher than just entertaining an audience for twenty minutes with a solid story. It wasn't trying to stretch the medium or produce works for the ages. MARVEL TEAM-UP was a product, … Continue reading GH: MARVEL TEAM-UP #130
The Tom Brevoort Experience 