In 1972, Marvel Comics entered its second phase. Editor Stan Lee had been promoted to Publisher and, momentarily, President, and Roy Thomas had been made his successor. What's more, former owner Martin Goodman was gone, as was the limitation on how many releases the company could put out which had been imposed upon them by … Continue reading THE CLAWS OF THE CAT #5: The Lost Issue
The week's trip to the 7-11 on Thursday for the new releases brought me this latest issue of INCREDIBLE HULK, a title whose purchase I had picked up from my younger brother Ken. But by this point, it was simply a regular part of my monthly purchases, and so any thought of it being something … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #228
Here's another book that came to me out of a 3-Bag purchased at a toy store or a department store. It was the first issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA following the departure of the character's co-creator Jack Kirby as writer, artist and editor, and it gives every indication of having been something of a rush job. … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #215
This was the very last issue of TWO-GUN KID that Marvel published. A string of issues that went back to 1948 (with admittedly several gaps) came to a final end here. I wasn't aware of that when I got this comic, nor did I get to enjoy this great Gil Kane cover--Kane was doing new … Continue reading BHOC: TWO-GUN KID #136
MISS AMERICA MAGAZINE had started out as simply MISS AMERICA COMICS, solo-starring the patriotic character then being featured in Timely's MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS as well. But buying tastes were beginning to change in the marketplace, and so publisher Martin Goodman switched gears, transitioning MISS AMERICA into a hybrid magazine aimed at girls. The super-heroine would … Continue reading The First Patsy Walker Story
The Two-Gun Kid was one of the longest-running characters in the Marvel line. He was created in 1948 in TWO-GUN KID #1 and over the next three decades he'd appear in not only his own magazine but also in stories featured in other western anthologies. This original Two-Gun Kid wasn't a masked cowboy, but rather … Continue reading The Last Two-Gun Kid Story
Feels like it's been quite a while since I put together one of these surveys of absurdity. So what say we take a look at five more Marvel villains from the past who tried their hardest, but who somehow failed that ineffable test towards being legitimately dangerous--and who instead came across as ridiculous, absurd, and … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Dopey Marvel Villains
This was another issue of DOCTOR STRANGE that I bought out of my local drug store's Big Bin of Slightly Older Comics, books which had been reported destroyed via the Affidavit Returns system but which had instead been sold by some unscrupulous operator to the drug store chain. Not great for the comic book publishers, … Continue reading BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #17
As I mentioned yesterday, I bought two consecutive issues of DOCTOR STRANGE from my drugstore's Big Bin of Slightly Older Comics, and this was the second one. It had one thing in common with the previous issue: like it, the cover illustrated not the contents of this story, but the one in the following issue. … Continue reading BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #22
Another month led me to another 3-Bag and another classic issue of AVENGERS. This period has to be considered one of the high points in the series' run, with writer Jim Shooter being backed up on artwork by George Perez (and John Byrne for a storyline.) Coming into the book at this point, it definitely … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #162
The Tom Brevoort Experience 