After the peak sales period of the war years, the postwar period saw the changing tastes of returning G.I.s and the public at large impact on what was available at the Newsstand. Costumed super heroes had lost a lot of their popularity with the general public, no longer having a colorful, unifying enemy like the … Continue reading The First Two-Gun Kid Story
A few years ago, I ran a piece on the first book-length comic book story ever produced. You can take a look at that page here: https://tombrevoort.com/2022/03/19/the-first-book-length-comic-book-story/ But as it turns out, I had overlooked something. Prior to ALL-FLASH COMICS #2, there had been at least one earlier book-length story produced. And it saw print … Continue reading The First Book Length Comic Book Story Redux
In 1947, Stan Lee had been working for Timely Comics for pretty much his entire adult life, beginning in 1940. He had gone off to war, married, and was now ready to spread his wings and attempt some other ventures. By that same token, Stan also had overhead--a new wife to support--and so he wasn't … Continue reading WRITER’S DIGEST Vol. 27, #12: There’s Money In Comics!
VENUS was a weird comic book, one that went through a myriad of tone and genre changes across its 19 issue lifespan. It was first launched in 1948 during a time when Marvel (then Timely) was attempting to establish a beachhead of female-led super hero titles. So along with VENUS, also launched at that point … Continue reading The First (Marvel) Loki 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
Given that today is Stan Lee's birthday and that he is likely the most photographed comic book creator in the world, it seems like an ideal time to do another installment of this series. Once again, these are all vintage photographs of assorted comic book writers, artists and editors from years past. Jack Kirby in … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 9
This is one of those comics where I'm not 100% certain where I got it from, or when. But I think it turned up in a 3-Bag at around the same period as IRON MAN #100 and AVENGERS #161--it's of the same relative vintage anyway. So let's go with that. During the 1970s, as a … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER ACTION #2
More secrets revealed by Stan Lee in 1947! Alan Sulman isn't terribly well remembered these days. So it's nice to have these names and caricatures. It's also nice to see what a script looked like at Timely in 1947. Stan helpfully provides empty panel layouts for the readers of this book. Syd Shores was a … Continue reading Secrets Behind The Comics 3
By 1948, things were growing progressively more difficult for super heroes on the sales front. In te aftermath of World War II, other genres--crime, romance and horror chief among them--were increasingly popular, and the fad for super heroes had just about run its course. Over at Timely Comics, things were no different. As a bulwalk … Continue reading The Death of Bucky!
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