An acknowledged classic, this Fred Ray SUPERMAN cover is perhaps the best-known of the wartime era. It equates the titular character with patriotism and defense of the nation by putting him into context with the large shield and the armed forces subtly in the background. The black background is really effective in popping the figure … Continue reading Great Covers – SUPERMAN #14
An acknowledged classic, for obvious reasons, this SUPERMAN #233 cover features a Superman who is lean, powerful, dramatic and realistic (at least within the context of a super hero comic book cover.) The yellow-orange background silhouettes and pops his figure perfectly. This is also the first time that the trick of the “Big #1” is … Continue reading Great Covers – SUPERMAN #233
If there is a better WWII-era SUPERMAN cover than this Jack Burnley masterpiece, I’ve never seen it. The whole story is there in a single image: the sinking of the American steamer, the terror on the part of the Nazi submariners, and the terrible anger of Superman himself. The outcome is never in doubt. (If … Continue reading Great Covers – SUPERMAN #23
SUPERMAN #300 June, 1976 SUPERMAN #300 was, to the best of my remembrance, the first anniversary issue I ever purchased. It wasn’t double-sized, it didn’t present “a radical turning point in the life of the Man of Steel.” What it contained was a splendid single-issue story, which was something of a precursor to DC’s current … Continue reading BHOCOS: SUPERMAN #300
SUPERMAN VS. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1976 THIS SAYS IT ALL! And it pretty much did. Even though I wasn’t a Marvel Comics reader in 1976 when SUPERMAN VS. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was published, I nevertheless recognized it as something important, and so purchased a copy. Printed in the oversized Treasury format, it was a massive 96-pages … Continue reading BHOCOS: SUPERMAN VS THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Cover to SUPERMAN #268, my first comic, by Nick Cardy from a sketch by Carmine Infantino
FAMOUS FIRST EDITION #C-261974 I sent away for this oversized reproduction of the first issue of ACTION COMICS from 1938, fearing that I might miss it otherwise. (I needn’t have worried–my local 7-11 even had one of those big cardboard display racks for DC’s Treasury Editions, it turned out.) The book arrived in a massive … Continue reading BHOCOS: FAMOUS 1st EDITIONS #C-26
Frank Miller once said that retro is “nostalgia with a nose-ring”—and the clear implication is that nostalgia is ultimately a bad thing, something to be avoided. Which might carry a bit more weight had it not come from the mouth of someone who went on to do a sequel to Dark Knight Returns—and even if … Continue reading Life In A Four Color World column on SUPERMAN #268, 2003
SUPERMAN #268 October, 1973 SUPERMAN #268 was the first comic book I ever bought–or, more correctly, the first comic book that was bought for me. We got it at the local 7-11 during one of my father’s periodic cigarette runs. While there, I seemed intrigued by the comic book rack–I’d encountered many of the characters … Continue reading BHOCOS: SUPERMAN #268
The Tom Brevoort Experience 