As I got older, my tastes in comics began to change, or at least to grow more expansive. And so I wound up trying titles that might have done nothing for me before, like SAGA OF THE SWAMPO THING, The series was a bit of a hybrid, existing in a world halfway between that of DC’s other mystery/supernatural series and a horror hero title like Marvel’s INCREDIBLE HULK or WEREWOLF BY NIGHT. So I could approach it on that level and get some enjoyment out of it. But by issue #9, I was finding the book increasingly dull (an opinion that time hasn’t really changed.) I was continuing to purchase it out ..read more

I can remember this stretch of issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA trying my patience a little bit. As writer Gerry Conway continued to unravel the mystery of Zatanna’s mother and her upbringing, I increasingly was checked out on the series. A lot of this had to do, I expect, with my absolute inability to care about magical fantasy realms of any sort, so investing a whole lot of emotional energy into what was going on was difficult. I wanted to see the League battle super villains and otherworldly threats. In my mind, this story ran pretty much throughout issues #161-165, but looking at the in ..read more

By 1983, DC was on a creative upswing. The arrival of new President and Publisher Jenette Kahn had coincided with efforts to expand DC’s efforts into the growing Direct Market of comic book specialty shops that had sprung up across the country. At this time, DC’s fortunes on the mainstream Newsstand weren’t looking all that wonderful–Marvel was outselling them four to one. But by focusing their efforts on the Direct Market and producing works that appealed to that dedicated fan audience, DC hoped to turn its fortunes around and establish itself as the most progressive publisher in the field ..read more

The marketing build-up to the premiere of SUPERMAN THE MOVIE was gathering speed, and one of the benefits of it was this, the final FAMOUS 1st EDITION that DC produced during the 1970s (though they’d bring the format back to a limited degree in recent years.) These were Treasury Edition sized reproductions of the most crucial and most expensive Golden Age comic book in DC’s library. As a kid, I devoured them, loving both this format and this early material. By the time this SUPERMAN #1 reissue came out, I was slightly older but only a tiny bit more worldly, and so it truly hit the spot. I rem ..read more

Ever since I was six years old, the Flash has been my favorite super hero. There was something about the combination of elements–the slick costume, the simple power, the gallery of recurring villains, the sort of serious-but-not-too-serious tone of the strip–that really connected with me. But as time went on and I got older, both I and the Flash started to change. There was a clear push away from the sorts of simple, straightforward adventures that I’d loved growing up. The Flash was starting to deal with drug abuse, corrupt cops and systemic grief–the last in the form of the demise of Barry ..read more

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 awards today) and so I was at least somewhat impressed by this distinction being shown to one of my favorite titles. Which was the whole point of displaying it, of course–to maybe convince some impulse buyers of the book’s quality such that they’d pick it up and try it out. UNCANNY X-MEN sales were on the upswi ..read more

During the Silver Age of Comics, it was still a rare thing for a character of any significance to be killed off in super hero comics. Only two decades later, having realized the audience appeal that the demise of a beloved favorite would have, companies would turn death into a revolving door situation more promotional and profit driven than storytelling based. Yet, in the Silver and bronze Ages too, occasionally somebody would rethink the need to have offed a hero and found a way in which they were able to survive seeming death. So here are the Five Best Silver Age Character Resurrections. Li ..read more

I wasn’t yet sophisticated enough in my knowledge of and contact with the comic book industry to be able to tell when a title that I was following was in trouble. While there were places even in those pre-internet days where more plugged-in fans could learn such information, I had no awareness of them. So every once in a while, a series that I’d been following simply stopped showing up at my local 7-11, and it would be months before I realized that the book had been discontinued. That wouldn’t be the fate of NOVA for another issue yet, but the writing is very clearly on the wall here, if you ..read more

As I’ve mentioned often in the past, growing up, I was never all that much of a fan of Batman. I didn’t dislike the Masked Manhunter, it was more a question of liking a particular flavor of him. I first encountered the Caped Crusader in daily reruns of the 1966 live action television show, and like most other kids of that age, I took them entirely seriously. I also occasionally read comics starring Batman, and I found that I really liked the “New Look” era stories that Julie Schwartz had started to produce in an attempt to save the series. I also had a certain fascination with the stories of ..read more

This issue of MARVEL TALES presented me with a slightly more manageable conundrum. I didn’t own a copy of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #124, the issue that was reprinted here, but I had read it. I believe my school buddy Don Sims had a copy, and I’d read it at his place at some point. Consequently, this issue would hold very few surprises for me. But it was still a relatively simple choice to drop 35 cents on it. After all, I didn’t own the issue in question, Don did. We were right at the pivot-point where the Silver Age had transitioned into the Bronze Age. Stan Lee had handed over the scripting to n ..read more