It's pretty plain to see in retrospect that UNCANNY X-MEN was the best ongoing comic book series being produced during this time. It was in the middle of a run that's become legendary over time, the collaboration between Chris Claremont and John Byrne (with editor Roger Stern an important third leg of that triumvirate, and … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #120
UNCANNY X-MEN was perhaps the first Marvel comic book to display an awards symbol on its front cover, in this case that of the UK Eagle Awards. I can say that, speaking for myself, I had no idea what the Eagle Awards were (nor any inkling just how small they were as compared to similar … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #119
By 1982 when I was forced to pare back my comic book buying due to a lack of income, there was no more popular series in the land than UNCANNY X-MEN. Following the enormous reaction to the "Dark Phoenix Saga" by Chris Claremont and John Byrne a year or two earlier, the title simply exploded, … Continue reading GH: UNCANNY X-MEN #171
I would have thought that I was finished with this subject for a while yesterday, but while cleaning up some files, I came across yet another artifact of the making of X-MEN #137 that I felt needed to be shared. At first, I considered simply going back and adding it into the original piece--but I … Continue reading A Tiny Bit More on the original ending to X-MEN #137
The Death of Phoenix sequence in X-MEN is a milestone moment in the history of comics, one that changed the very trajectory of the entire industry. We spoke about it at length in a post under the Perfect Game heading: https://tombrevoort.com/2020/06/13/perfect-game-x-men-137/ But just to quickly recap: creators Chris Claremont and John Byrne were heading towards … Continue reading The original ending to X-MEN #137 & 138 and the pencils of John Byrne
This is another comic book that found its way into my household twice. The first time, I bought it during one of our periodic visits to by Grandparents' house in Valley Stream. The other, I believe I got in a 3-Bag where there were other books that I wanted/needed. That would be the bane of … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TEAM-UP #70
The fannish desire for a unified field theory of fictional comic book universes is strong, and a fun game to play--especially when considering meetings between characters at rival publishing houses, characters who in all likelihood will never get to interact on the page (or at least not in the way the fans might desire.) Some … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Times Marvel Referenced DC Characters In Interesting Ways
Most long-running comic book companies, if they're in business for long enough and have a wide enough diversity of creators working on their releases, reach a point at which those creators begin to pull inspiration for their stories and characters from other media. Comics in general have a long history of reflecting the trends of … Continue reading 5BC: Five Times Marvel Misappropriated Characters
As assorted readers pointed out, there were a lot more instances of creators at both Marvel and DC including themselves as characters in the stories that they produced than I covered in the prior two pieces about Self-Mythologizing. And so, since this is a concept that seems to have attracted some audience interest, here then … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Times Marvel Self-Mythologized
With the sheer number of stories published about some of the characters, it's a wonder that there aren't more stories that feature developments that don't work, don't stick or are simply just plain weird. Here, then, are five more forgotten Marvel story developments. THE FALCON IS REALLY "SNAP" WILSON, LOWLIFE. CAPTAIN AMERICA #186 - There's … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Forgotten Marvel Story Developments
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