Bill Everett Archives goes digital at Comixology!

September has seen the debut on "Heroic Tales: The Bill Everett Archives vol. 2" in stores, but you can now get both volumes of the series available for digital download at Comixology! Click on the titles of each volume for links right to their respective Comixology pages.

Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives Vol. 1 - collects over 200 pages of this never-before-reprinted work from titles such as Amazing Mystery Funnies (1938), Amazing-Man Comics (1939), Target Comics (1940), Heroic Comics (1940), and Blue Bolt Comics (1940). These titles feature an endless array of great vintage Everett characters such as Amazing-Man, Hydroman, Skyrocket Steele, Sub-Zero, The Chameleon, and many more, all produced by Everett’s shop Funnies, Inc. for such clients as Centaur, Novelty Press, and Eastern Color, and all displaying Everett’s brilliant cartooning and energetic storytelling.

This book collects over 200 pages of this never-before-reprinted work from titles such as Amazing Mystery Funnies (1938), Amazing-Man Comics (1939), Target Comics (1940), Heroic Comics (1940), and Blue Bolt Comics (1940). These titles feature an endless array of great vintage Everett characters such as Amazing-Man, Hydroman, Skyrocket Steele, Sub-Zero, The Chameleon, and many more, all produced by Everett’s shop Funnies, Inc. for such clients as Centaur, Novelty Press, and Eastern Color, and all displaying Everett’s brilliant cartooning and energetic storytelling. - See more at: http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/amazing-mysteries-the-bill-everett-archives-vol.-1-pre-order-2.html#sthash.HsgMHgyx.dpuf

This book collects over 200 pages of this never-before-reprinted work from titles such as Amazing Mystery Funnies (1938), Amazing-Man Comics (1939), Target Comics (1940), Heroic Comics (1940), and Blue Bolt Comics (1940). These titles feature an endless array of great vintage Everett characters such as Amazing-Man, Hydroman, Skyrocket Steele, Sub-Zero, The Chameleon, and many more, all produced by Everett’s shop Funnies, Inc. for such clients as Centaur, Novelty Press, and Eastern Color, and all displaying Everett’s brilliant cartooning and energetic storytelling. - See more at: http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/amazing-mysteries-the-bill-everett-archives-vol.-1-pre-order-2.html#sthash.HsgMHgyx.dpuf

Heroic Tales: The Bill Everett Archives Vol. 2 - is almost 250 pages deep; a huge heaping of not only the remainder of his Golden Age action hero material, but his 1950s horror work, his humor and romance material, as well as his phenomenal fantasy work from the early 1970s. Most everyone knows that Bill created the Sub-Mariner (for Marvel Comics #1 in 1939) and co-created Daredevil, The Man Without Fear (along with Stan Lee) in the 1960s, but he also touched every genre in comic-book history, and you see it all in this volume.

Get into the digital age with Bill Everett and Comixology!

NYC Book Release Party w/ Al Jaffee & Stan Goldberg!

Check out the "Secret History of Marvel Comics" Book Blog for an announcement about our official book release event in New York City on the Saturday (Oct 12 at 7pm) of the NY Con at the Society Of Illustrators! 

Not only will you get a crack at the book weeks before it hits stores, but we're being joined by famed artists AL JAFFEE and STAN GOLDBERG who will discuss their memories of working for Martin Goodman during the halcyon days of Marvel Comics in the 1940s and 50s! 

Your ticket also gets you get a signed, limited edition, tipped-in plate; an exclusive book signing session; a catered reception afterwards (!) and the debut of the "Martin Goodman Exhibit!" Tickets are extremely limited, so go to the book's blog for a link to purchase tickets.

"Secret History Of Marvel Comics" 1st Look!

We're back for the third time in a week; this time with news on the release of my third book coming out this fall: "The Secret History Of Marvel Comics". The publisher, Fantagraphics, has received some promo copies, and we've got three teaser images to whet your appetite! (Click to enlarge)

If you want a crack at getting your copy first, you can click HERE to pre-order the book right from the Fantagraphics website. The book is on target for a mid-to-late October release (right after my Bill Everett Archives vol. 2 book, and my Steve Ditko Archives vol. 4 book, also out in early October).


Marvel Comics would probably prefer that their origins go unremembered, but myself and early Marvel historian, Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, trace Marvel's roots in the sordid, exploitative pulp publishing empire of Martin Goodman. You'll also be treated to a bounty of rare, never-before-reprinted artwork by such comics legends as Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Alex Schomburg, Bill Everett, Al Jaffee, and Dan DeCarlo, plus top-tier pulp artists, including Norman Saunders, John Walter Scott, Hans Wesso, and L.F. Bjorklund.

Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 4 first look!

Well, I was going to do an update on why you should purchase "Heroic Tales: The Bill Everett Archives vol. 2" (on sale now directly from Fantagraphics; in stores in the next 2 weeks), but how about your first look at the new cover for "Impossible Tales: The Steve Ditko Archives vol. 4!" (At a book a week, maybe you'll get news on our "Secret History Of Marvel Comics" book next!)

You click on the image above, or to see the entire wraparound cover, click on the image below. This latest volume of Ditko goodness - continuing the exhibition of his 1957 work - should be available in early October! Fantagraphics always gets their mail-order copies out first, so you can pre-order from them right now at this link on their website.

Five years before Steve Ditko began work on his co-creations for Marvel Comics, the Amazing Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, he was producing his best work in near anonymity for Charlton Comics. “Impossible Tales: The Steve Ditko Archives V4” features over 200 full-color pages of Ditko in his early prime. These are stories that have never seen a proper reprinting until now; thrilling stories of suspense, mystery, haunted houses, and unsuspecting victims all led into Ditko’s web of artistic mastery over the comic-book form.

This fourth volume ranks as the most superior in the Archives series to date because of the inspiration Ditko took from comics related to old radio shows and that had hosts who narrated the tales. This Magazine is Haunted and Tales of The Mysterious Traveler saw an explosion in Ditko’s ingenuity with manipulating the traditional comic-book page layout. This level of excellence was also present in his work on other books like Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds, Out of This World, Strange Suspense Stories, and Unusual Tales, marking this fourth volume as the best example yet of the Steve Ditko that later crafted iconic classics with Stan Lee at Marvel Comics in the 1960s.

(Click on the image below to enlarge)