Great Covers: Marvel Around The World 4

Just the same as the last three times: here's a collection of the covers to more international editions of Marvel material that I've gathered over the years. These are often fascinating for how they're colored or the manner in which the publishers used localized talent to do their own interpretations of the Marvel characters. So … Continue reading Great Covers: Marvel Around The World 4

Brand Echh – Nukla #1

Dell was a powerhouse in the industry from the mid-1940s all the way up to the start of the 1960s when a series of bad decisions cost them their market share and also bifurcated the company into two competing operations, Dell and Gold Key. Their big money was made on their Disney comics, and they … Continue reading Brand Echh – Nukla #1

BHOC: FANTASY MASTERPIECES #7

Continuing on with comics I bought during my first trip to Bush's Hobbies in Ronkonkoma. I was a huge fan of the Golden Age of Comics and the histories of the assorted characters that I was following--I wanted to know everything, to read everything. In particular, it had been the original Human Torch who provided … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASY MASTERPIECES #7

Lee & Ditko & Orlando & Rockwell: the Multiple Car Crash of TALES TO ASTONISH #61

I think it's no great secret that for a good portion of its run, the Ant-Man/Giant-Man strip in TALES TO ASTONISH was troubled. Struggling, really. More so than any of the other Marvel characters of that era, Hank Pym's series, borne out of a one-off fantasy story, was retooled and reworked far more often than … Continue reading Lee & Ditko & Orlando & Rockwell: the Multiple Car Crash of TALES TO ASTONISH #61

Lee & Kirby & Simon & Ditko & Oleck: The Spider and the Fly Extra

The response to last week's piece on the complicated and complex origins of Spider-Man and all of the behind-the-scenes activity that stretched back for almost a decade before the character would eventually reach comic book newsstands was incredibly well received. In the space of a week, it's become one of the most-viewed posts on this … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Simon & Ditko & Oleck: The Spider and the Fly Extra

BHOC: MARVEL NOVEL SERIES #1

During this time, in loose conjunction with its efforts to get its properties onto television in Live Action and Animation, Marvel was making a concerted effort in the bookstore market as well. The success of the ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS series had proven that there was sufficient interest among book-buyers to make such activities potentially … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL NOVEL SERIES #1

Lee & Kirby & Simon & Ditko & Oleck: The Spider and the Fly

It's one of the big, fundamental questions that lies at the heart of the origin-myth of perhaps Marvel Comics' most popular single character, and its one that has been discussed and debated at length by those with some degree of insider information: how much did Jack Kirby have to do with the development of Spider-Man, … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Simon & Ditko & Oleck: The Spider and the Fly

Blah Blah Blog – Fred and Steve

A post from my old Marvel blog concerning Fred Hembeck and Steve Ditko. The image below is not the piece I purchased. Fred and Steve April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General I bought a piece of original art from Fred Hembeck the other day, a drawing he had done … Continue reading Blah Blah Blog – Fred and Steve

BHOC: MARVEL TALES #71

So the next time my family went to our local pharmacy, I chose to develop my burgeoning interest in Spider-Man by digging through their Big Big of Slightly Older Comics and walking away with two consecutive issues of MARVEL TALES, the reprint series that presented anew stories from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN that were a number of … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #71

Brand Echh – The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves #12

It's well-known that Steve Ditko, the formative Marvel creator, left that company in 1966 after broken promises and worsening relationships with the people at the outfit, notably editor Stan Lee. It's also well-known that, for all that Ditko's most popular and lasting creation for Marvel is Spider-Man, his work on the mystic series Doctor Strange … Continue reading Brand Echh – The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves #12