Let's face it, lightning doesn't strike every month, and sometimes inspiration can be difficult to come by. But comic books still had to come out, ready or not. And so, occasionally, our favorite heroes of Marvel's silver age would find themselves contending with opponents who--well, let's just say they weren't quite up to the usual … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Dopey Marvel Silver Age Villains
I've gone over this before, but it bears repeating. In 1978, there were no trade paperbacks, no Marvel Masterworks, no organized system reprinting the comic books of earlier days. There were a few scattered and irregular collections and that was about it. But Marvel, at least, maintained a regular and robust reprint program as a … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #65
By 1967, Steve Ditko had become an industry legend. By this point, he had left Marvel and his two best-known creations, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, behind. But he was on the cusp of revealing the character whose outlook and point of view most closely resembled his own--and he did it in the third issue of … Continue reading Brand Echh – Witzend #3
Once we get to the 1960s, the deaths of super hero characters becomes a more frequent occurrence, though still relatively a rarity (and usually the characters who meet their end--Lightning Lad, Junior Juniper, Ferro Lad--either aren't the headliners of their series but rather one member of an ensemble. And some of them, like Lightning lad, … Continue reading The Death of Menthor
Attempts to tap into the Marvel style weren't limited to only the 1960s. One of the most blatant attempts happened in the 1970s, and represented a tragedy of unfulfilled potential. In 1974, after he had sold Marvel and thereafter his son Chip had been pushed out of the company in favor of Stan Lee, Marvel … Continue reading Brand Echh – The Destructor #1
Upon hearing that Captain America co-creator Joe Simon had joined forces with Harvey Publications to release a new line of super hero titles to capitalize on the new wave of costumed hero popularity, both Martin Goodman and Stan Lee were concerned. They both had a ton of respect for Simon's commercial abilities, and feared that … Continue reading Brand Echh – Unearthly Spectaculars #2
Having left Marvel in 1965 because he was unhappy with the way the books were created--where the artist was having to do the lion's share of the plotting as well as illustrating, thanks to the "Marvel method"--veteran artist Wally Wood was recruited by the start-up Tower Comics to help create and launch their new line. … Continue reading Brand Echh – Dynamo #4
A bunch of changes were evident in this next issue of ALL-STAR COMICS. First off, the Super-Squad banner was gone, replaced by a gigantic logo declaring that, once and for all, this series was about the Justice Society of America. Similarly missing was Wally Wood, the artist who had visually identified at least the previous … Continue reading BHOC: ALL-STAR COMICS #66
I think I would have bought this issue of ALL-STAR COMICS during the Christmas break–a new issues of ALL-STAR was always a welcome sight, as I was totally in the can for the Justice Society of America. It’s got a pretty basic Wally Wood cover–by this point, Wood was pretty much the whole show on … Continue reading BHOC: ALL-STAR COMICS #65
Now this was a good one–so much so that I’m pretty sure that my brother Ken later bought his own copy of it. This issue of ALL-STAR COMICS made excellent use of the skills and aptitudes of artist Wally Wood with a story that took the Justice Society back to the time of King Arthur, … Continue reading BHOC: ALL-STAR COMICS #64
