My appreciation for this classic run of UNCANNY X-MEN kind of snuck up on me. Certainly, I liked it as a title from the start, and followed it regularly. But I didn't separate it from the pack--it wasn't any more or less of note to me than AVENGERS or IRON MAN or HULK or whatever. … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #114
More material from THE X-MEN COMPANION Volume Two, the second of two softcover books devoted to the development and the early days of what had become the most popular feature in the comics world. These two volumes were published in 1982, and so the memories of all involved about the details of their collaboration are … Continue reading THE X-MEN COMPANION #2: Terry Austin Interview
Now this was a good issue all around, one that catapulted the new X-MEN into the upper tiers of my favorite comics of the era. I'd been growing more enchanted by this strange new team for a couple of issues now, having had to work out who everybody was on the fly a little bit … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #113
A few more excerpts from THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE, Volume One as published by Sal Quartuccio under his SQ Productions imprint. Byrne wouldn't begin working on Superman for six more years, and was thought of as a real true blue Marvel artist at the time, so this piece from the inside front cover was … Continue reading THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE, Part Two
If there's a moment that truly crystalized the Direct Sales marketplace and helped to forge it into a meaningful distribution pipeline for comics, it was with the release of X-MEN #137 in which creators Chris Claremont and John Byrne wrapped up what is today known as "The Dark Phoenix Saga" in a double-sized issue that … Continue reading FANTASTIC FOUR #286 John Byrne’s Way
This issue of DEFENDERS was another book that I got out of a 3-Bag at either one of my local department stores or toy stores. It had a nice George Perez cover, but it wasn't an especially memorable issue. This was another book that had run into deadline troubles, and so the main story this … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #53
Dealer and comics historian Bob Beerbohm was recently talking about how the sales of X-MEN skyrocketed in his shop when artist John Byrne came on board the title with issue #108. He indicates that his guess is that the series might have been cancelled otherwise, though I find this difficult to believe. Based on what … Continue reading BHOC: X-MEN #112
This issue of AVENGERS was, you guessed it, another book that I bought during my trip to Heroes World in Levittown with my grandparents. It sported a very nice cover penciled by George Perez and inked by an infrequent collaborator, Terry Austin. Terry was at this point making John Byrne's work look its best over … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #174
I bought this issue of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE on one of my weekly Thursday afternoon jaunts to the 7-11, for that is when the new comic books arrived. That's a nice cover by George Perez and Terry Austin, not that I needed to be convinced by any cover image to pick the book up. The Fantastic … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #42
We've gone over the history a couple of times in teh past, and yet I feel a need to recap it again here for any newcomers to this page who haven't yet read about THE DESTRUCTOR or DEMON HUNTER or THE SCORPION. Atlas Comics (also known as Seaboard) was a short-lived company set up by … Continue reading Brand Echh: Phoenix #3
The Tom Brevoort Experience 