Herbie Popnecker was introduced in a short one-off story that originally saw print in FORBIDDEN WORLDS #73. It was intended as a throwaway tale, one more short strange adventure to fill the pages of the anthology series. But the story and the character proved popular with readers, and creator Richard Hughes subsequently brought him back … Continue reading The First and Last of Herbie
Back at that same far-off stationary store maybe a week later to pick up whatever we had ordered for Cub Scouting, I came across this beauty, which never showed up at my regular 7-11. I’d seen the ads and so I was primed to read it. But to start with, boy, what an ugly mess … Continue reading BHOC: SUPER HEROES BATTLE SUPER-GORILLAS #1
This was the beginning of the last gasp of regular DC reprint books, which would be phased out over the course of the next year or two as incoming new publisher Jenette Khan focused the company’s fortunes on new material. But this issue of DC SPECIAL was nonetheless a beloved read, filled with three stories, … Continue reading BHOC: DC SPECIAL #18
Man, that’s a beautiful cover. It’s a painting of Superman, done in the early 1940s, which hung in the DC offices for years–this was its first actual printing. I bought this Treasury Edition at that regular old 7-11 again, and it’s a pretty good collection of stories. It opens with an extremely early Superman story, … Continue reading BHOC: LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION #C-31
Not a whole lot of memories of this one at all. A 7-11 purchase I’d guess, and another 100-Page Spectacular, a format I liked. But really, very little of it has stayed with me, apart from the fact that I owned it. The lead story is a really beautifully drawn clash between Superman and one … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #278
Another classic image, the 10th anniversary issue of SUPERMAN gave us this cover by Wayne Boring that would go on to adorn T-Shirts and lunchboxes and hardcover books. The yellow of the outer circle is immediately eye-catching, but doesn’t overwhelm the central figure of the Man of Steel.
comicbookcovers: Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #63, February 1966, cover by Wayne Boring and Kurt Schaffenberger
And sometimes, you don’t have any good ideas for a cover at all. This Wayne Boring SUPERMAN cover is self-referential and meta, in an era when such ideas weren’t common. The strong yellow background makes the image vibrantly pop off the page.
And some covers need no copy at all, such as this Wayne Boring SUPERMAN cover. This was the post-War period where the selling trend was towards comedy, and so the Superman covers of this period tended to be absurd and goofball, like this classic entry.
A terrific concept cover–too bad the story that goes with it is so mediocre–by Kurt Schaffenberger for LOIS LANE #63 (with some revisions to the Clark/Superman figure by Wayne Boring, it looks like.) This one’s all about the promise of the story. But that yellow background is like a beacon, and Superman’s primary colors aren’t … Continue reading Great Covers – LOIS LANE #63
The Tom Brevoort Experience 