It really is something to look at the development of the Marvel line during the formative years between 1961 and 1965. It's pretty amazing how all of the key strips would take these sudden surges in quality, that the material kept getting better, stronger and more polished, and the ambition got greater and greater as … Continue reading WC: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #120
You'd see this happen from time to time in the mid- to late-1960s on the Marvel books. There's be a cover like this one that somebody--either editor Stan Lee or publisher Martin Goodman--didn't like, feeling that it was too cluttered and difficult to read from a distance, and it would get colored in a horrific … Continue reading (Not So) Great Covers: THOR #153
GREEN LANTERN (Co-Starring Green Arrow) was a series whose move into the DC Explosion I really liked--mainly because I had a real love for the Golden Age heroes of DC's past. So having a regular back-up spot dedicated to Alan Scott, the Original Green lantern, was very welcome in my eyes. I also really liked … Continue reading BHOC: GREEN LANTERN #109
CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE was something of a legendary title, in that it wasn't really a published title at all. In 1978, as a publishing initiative designed to restore the health of the division, new DC Publisher Jenette Kahn and her editorial team had made the decision to raise the price of the line from 35 … Continue reading CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #1: BLACK LIGHTNING #12
By the time this issue of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY was published, he series had crystalized into its final form. The short one-off adventures of the Thunder God Thor now gave way to an impressively long serialized story that ran consistently from issue to issue without a break for several years. In addition, the character's background … Continue reading WC: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #118
Marvel's reprint line was still going strong, providing a companion reprint title for most of the major series the company was putting out. This helped to reinforce the idea that the Marvel Universe was all one single continuous tapestry--these years-old stories were still important and might factor in to new adventures produced today. Or such … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION #44
This issue of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY was situated right at the transition point between the early Marvel style of storytelling and the more mature and measured approach the firm would take through its glory years. By this point, artist and largely plotter Jack Kirby had received a rate increase that permitted him to slow down … Continue reading WC: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #115
As I've mentioned here before, having become aware of the fact that my father's place of employment was located right in the vicinity of the Levittown Heroes World location, the only real comic book shop I yet knew of, I would regularly plead for him to stop by the place and pick me up some … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS ANNUAL #2
This issue of MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION was another book that I picked up as part of a 3-Bag purchased either at a department store or a local toy store. It reprinted an issue of AVENGERS that was about a decade old at that point. And during that time, AVENGERS was a very different book than … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION #38
It's more of the same, additional vintage photographs of the people who worked on the comic books of yesteryear during those earlier halcyon days! As usual, there's an awful lot of Stan Lee. Stan Lee promotional photo, circa 1980 Assorted Marvel and DC creators, including Joe Orlando, Paul Levitz, Don McGregor, , Jenette Kahn, Stan … Continue reading Comics Creators in the Wild 10
The Tom Brevoort Experience 