One of the things that John Romita used to say is that Stan Lee based a lot of his theories on how to grab comic book audiences and how to speak to the readership from Charles Biro, who co-edited the Lev Gleason line of titles in the 1940s and 50s. Biro was a pioneer who … Continue reading Daredevil is Exposed
I bought this issue at my local 7-11, and some time later, my brother Ken also bought himself a copy for some reason. This was the second new off-the-racks issue of MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS that I purchased, having jumped on board the FANTASTIC FOUR/Marvel train not long before. This issue reprinted FANTASTIC FOUR #95, whereas … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #76
I've seen different bits and pieces of this story told in assorted places, but I cannot recall anyplace where the entire sequence of events was laid out in a single recounting, so I thought that was worth doing. In the spring of 1963, with the super hero titles that his firm had been producing doing … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Ditko & Everett: The linked stories of X-MEN #1, AVENGERS #1 and DAREDEVIL #1
My brother Ken also picked up this issue of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES featuring his Marvel character of choice, the incredible Hulk. As I mentioned yesterday, he liked monsters, and ever since the Hulk TV movies had aired, he had begun to peruse the occasional Hulk comic. I have a vague recollection that I helped egg him … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #70
In an article printed in THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #61, a writer by the name of Michael Breen makes the assertion that FANTASTIC FOUR #6 had not only been penciled and largely plotted by Jack Kirby, but the final lettered script was written by Jack as well. This was at a point before the Marvel … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: The Mystery of FANTASTIC FOUR #6
Attempts to tap into the Marvel style weren't limited to only the 1960s. One of the most blatant attempts happened in the 1970s, and represented a tragedy of unfulfilled potential. In 1974, after he had sold Marvel and thereafter his son Chip had been pushed out of the company in favor of Stan Lee, Marvel … Continue reading Brand Echh – The Destructor #1
Continuing to go through the comics I bought during my first trip to my very first comic book store, the Heroes World outlet in Levittown, I also grabbed up these three consecutive issues of MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS. These were the rest of the story begin in issue #66, which I'd previously bought and represented good … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #67, 68 & 69
1989 was the year in which I entered the field, so this will be the final installment of this topic, as I don't think it's possible to be objective past this point. Grant Morrison begins his revelatory run on DOOM PATROL by hearkening back to the earliest stories and remembering that these characters are more … Continue reading 5BC: The Five Best Comic Books of 1989
At this point, you'd be right to detect a pattern here. We're still talking about the comics I purchased during my very first visit to my very first comic book shop, Heroes World in Levittown. I had bought the earliest issues of FANTASTIC FOUR and FLASH that I could manage, and so I turned my … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #24
Another similar thing that I did during my first trip to my very first comic book shop, Heroes World in Levittown, was to buy the oldest issue of THE FLASH that I could. As with FANTASTIC FOUR, there were some older releases on the wall--I seem to recall that SHOWCASE #13 with its pirate torpedo … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #158
The Tom Brevoort Experience 