As the Silver Age kicked off in the late 1950s, DC/National Comics wasn't the only publisher testing out the genre once again,. All throughout the decade, different publishers had attempted to find success with new costumed heroes with names like Captain Flash, the Avenger and Strong Man. And Archie Comics was no exception. Getting a … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Double Life of Private Strong #1
The opening up of the Direct Sales marketplace, comprised of a string of independently-operated comic book specialty shops across the Nation and eventually the globe--offered up new promise in terms of the way in which comic books were sold. Up to this point, Comics were sold like any other periodical publication: a print run was … Continue reading Brand Echh: JCP Features the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1
As the potential audience for comic books opened up in the early 1980s with the rise and advent of the direct sales market, it wasn't just young new would-be publishers who noticed. Some of the most established firms were just as aware of this new venue, and they geared up to enter it. One of … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Fly #1
As we've spoken about a few times in this feature, the early 1960s saw a bit of a renaissance in the fortunes of the costumed super hero in comic books. With the relatively newly-instituted Comics Code Authority putting an end to the crime and horror comics that had flourished in the early half of the … Continue reading Brand Echh: Adventures of the Jaguar #1
For most of the Golden Age of Comics, the partnership of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby had been a sales juggernaut. While they had their occasional flops, more often than not the combo was responsible for hit after hit--enough so that their names would sometimes be called on in the advertising, something that typically was … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Double Life of Private Strong #1
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
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
The Tom Brevoort Experience 