Great Moments In Comic Book History #44: The Amazing Spider-Man #33

Posted on November 2, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

On what would have been Steve Ditko’s 98th birthday, let’s remember his greatest moment as the artist who first truly brought Spider-Man to life.

From The Amazing Spider-Man #33:

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Great Moments In Comic Book History #43: The X-Men Meet Frankenstein’s Monster

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Back in the early days of the X-Men, before Wolverine and Nightcrawler and Storm, when the comic book was an acclaimed but perennial low seller, the X-Men celebrated 1967’s Halloween by meeting Frankenstein’s Monster!

He wasn’t actually the Monster. He was a robot who looked like the film version of the Monster and he was destroyed by the end of X-Men #40. Still, this was the first reference to Frankenstein in the Marvel Universe. The “real” Monster would officially join the Marvel Universe a few years later.

Cover art by George Tuska, Marie Severin and Sam Rosen

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Great Moments In Comic Book History #42: Tomb of Dracula #27

Posted on October 23, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Of all the Marvel horror comics that were published in the 70s, Tomb of Dracula was the best. Not only did it have the best stories, the best villain, and the best supporting cast (Blade, Hannibal King, Rachel van Helsing, Doctor Sun, and many others) but it also had the best covers.

Tomb of Dracula #27 (first released on September 3rd, 1974) is one of my favorites. Gil Kane’s cover features Dracula, fire, a beautiful woman, a beast in the moon, and a melodramatic tag line. What more could a comic boom reader ask for?

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Great Moments In Comic Book History #40: Chambers of Chills #2

Posted on October 1, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

In the early 70s, with the Comics Code Authority weakened by a changing culture and publishers that were finally willing to stand up for themselves, horror comics finally started to make a comeback.

Not to be confused with the earlier pulp magazine, Chambers of Chills was published by Marvel from 1972 to 1976. It featured adaptation of horror stories from writers like Robert E. Howard, Edgar Allan Poe, and H.P. Lovecraft. The cover almost always featured monsters on the verge of attacking, the better to capture the attention and allowances of potential readers.

I’ve always felt that cover for Chamber of Chills #2 (which came out in October of 72, despite the January date on the cover) was one of the best of the series. Credit for this cover goes to Gil Kane, Tom Palmer, and Gaspar Saladino.

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Great Moments In Comic Book History #39: LBJ Stands Up For The Hulk

Posted on January 19, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Say what you will about Lyndon B. Johnson, he was one of the few presidents to understand that the Hulk was not the menace that the media made him out to be. In 1967, he even issued full amnesty to the Hulk in recognition for the number of times that Hulk had saved the planet. Gil Kane captured the moment in Tales To Astonish #88.

Guilty of only being feared and misunderstood! That was something that LBJ could probably relate to in 1967. Unfortunately, after a fight with the masked criminal known as the Boomerang, Hulk was once again viewed as being a menace and General Ross threw the amnesty order away. I guess that’s what they mean when they talk about the Deep State.

LBJ wasn’t popular with young readers and he didn’t make many appearances in the world of comics. It’s a pleasant surprise that, one of the few times that he did appear, it was to do the right thing and offer some temporary hope to the Incredible Hulk.

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Great Moments In Comic Book History #38: The Cover of Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85

Posted on January 8, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

“You always have all the answers, Green Arrow … well, what’s your answer to that!?”

Green Lantern and Green Arrow were always mismatched as friends. Green Lantern was an upstanding citizen of the universe while Green Arrow was the former millionaire who now fighting for the working man. In Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 (August, 1971), they discovered that the Green Arrow’s arrows were being used by junkies to commit crimes so that they could pay for their habit. They were buying the arrows from Speedy, who was the Green Arrow’s own sidekick! Speedy had gotten hooked on heroin.

Along with a three-issue arc of The Amazing Spider-Man in which Harry Osborne developed a pill addiction, Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 was one of the first comic books to deal with drug addiction and it featured one of its own heroes getting hooked on a very real drug. Both artist Neal Adams and writer Denny O’Neil wanted to deal with the issue realistically. Neal Adams’s cover, featuring not just paraphernalia but Speedy in the act of shooting up, was considered to be very risky in 1971. Today, it’s the moment that DC finally made the move into exploring more mature storylines.

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Great Moments In Comic Book History #37: MAD Magazine Plays Both Sides

Posted on January 2, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

In January of 1961, Mad Magazine taught a nation of young readers how to cover their bets. With the magazine due to go to press before the results of the 1960 presidential election would be known, Mad Magazine #60 was published with a double cover.

25 cents was not only a cheap price to pay for Mad’s trademark humor and satire but it was also the price of an invaluable political lesson. Thank you, Mad Magazine!

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Celebrate Patriotism With These American Heroes!

Posted on July 1, 2024 by Dazzling Erin

Do you need some help getting the mood for the 4th of July? Just check out these patriotic heroes!

Great Moments In Comic Book History #36: Marvel Publishes Star Wars #1

Posted on May 4, 2024 by Jedadiah Leland

As strange as it seems now, the Star Wars comic book series nearly didn’t happen.

In 1975, while Star Wars was still in pre-production, George Lucas approached DC Comics and offered them the chance to adapt his upcoming film into a comic book. When DC turned Lucas down, Lucasfilm’s publicity supervisor, Charles Lippincott, Jr., took the project to Marvel Comics.

At first, Stan Lee turned down the project because he didn’t want to commit to a series before the film itself had been completed. (Again, as strange as it sees now, Star Wars was not originally expected to become the commercial hit that it did.) Lippincott, still trying to set up a series somewhere, then tried to recruit Roy Thomas to write it. After he was allowed to look at a production sketch of the Cantina scene, Thomas realizes that Star Wars was tailor-made for a comic book adaptation. Thomas arranged for Lippincott to get a second meeting with Stan Lee and, this time, the comic book adaptation was greenlit.

Allowed to look at an early draft of the script and also to visit the set during shooting, writer Roy Thomas and artist Howard Chaykin collaborated on a six-issue adaptation of the movie. The series actually came out before the film. The first issue was released on April 12th, a full month before the movie was released into theaters. Along with Alan Dean Foster’s novelization, the comic book series play a huge role in publicizing a film that many were expecting to be dismissed as just being a B-movie for kids.

Because no one expected the film or the comic book series to be a huge success, Marvel was able to negotiate a very favorable contract with Lucasfilm, one that Marvel almost complete artistic control over the comic and which also allowed Marvel to use the Star Wars character with no royalty payments until the series sold 100,000 issues. When the success of the film led to the comic book become the industry’s top seller from 1977 through 1979, the financial windfall saved Marvel from having to file for bankruptcy.

For many future Star Wars fans, their first exposure to characters like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader came in April of 1977 when they looked at the magazine rack in their local store and saw the now-iconic cover of Star Wars #1.

After reading about how Luke came to own to droids with a secret, readers could then turn to the back cover and learn how to improve their jump shot.

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Great Moments In Comic Book History #35: Tomb of Dracula #49

Posted on October 7, 2023 by Jedadiah Leland

Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula #49 (October, 1976) finds Dracula in a foul mood. Not only does he have the pesky vampire hunters still chasing him but also the leader of his cult, Anton Lupeski, is obviously plotting against him. Dracula just wants to spend some time with his wife but instead, he finds himself suddenly transported to the mansion of Angie Turner.

Angie is a recluse who has the ability to bring fictional characters into existence. She spends her time with the Frankenstein’s Monster, D’Artagnan, Tom Sawyer, and Injun Joe. Her favorite fictional character, though, is the title character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The real Dracula is stunned and angered to discover that he’s been summoned by a woman who thinks that he’s the same as what calls the “inferior” who is featured in Stoker’s novel. Angie watches as Dracula not only kills all of her companions but also kills Robin Hood and Zorro when she summons them. Angie realizes that Dracula is not the tragic figure that she imagined but instead a vicious monster.

Dracula, who truly was a monster in Tomb of Dracula, taunts Angie and prepares to attack her, just to suddenly find himself back in his lair. Dracula may have claimed to have been real but Angie was not only able to wish him out of her mind but, as the final panels show, she was also able to bring back to life all of her other companions. The story ends by revealing that Angie is a mental patient who has been in a padded room ever since losing her family.

If this issue just featured Dracula dismissing Stoker’s novel, it would be an important part of Marvel’s vampire mythology. What makes the issues a classic is the suggestion that even the “real” Dracula is just a figment of Angie’s imagination. Since Tomb of Dracula regularly featured guest appearances by other Marvel character, one could argue that this one issue suggests that the entire Marvel Universe might just be an elaborate fantasy in the mind of a woman mourning the loss of her husband and children. Either way, this issue is a strong portrait of the power and comfort of imagination. Angie stands in for every comic book reader over the years.

Tomb of Dracula #49 (October, 1976)

“And With The Word Shall Come Death”

Writer — Marv Wolfman
Penciler — Gene Colan
Inker — Tom Palmer
Colorist — Michele Wolfman
Letterer — John Costanza
Editor — Marv Wolfman

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