Prince Namor

For those who DON'T believe there was affidavit fraud... Charlton's Cheyenne Kid outsold a Neal Adams Green Lantern...

Heck they won't believe it NOW! They'll make up some excuse!

In the process of writing TWO books at once so... sorry if I've gotten behind here (one of them with a deadline)... hope this helps in the meantime!

In the process of writing TWO books at once so... sorry if I've gotten behind here... hope this helps!

True. But personally, I never needed anyone to congratulate me on what I could figure out for myself though. And one too many Marvel issues promising me 'The Greatest Story You'll Ever Read!', only to be sorely disappointed in a... well, in a nowhere NEAR great story (or art) much less EVER... and I knew pretty quickly I didn't want to be a part of any cult that followed a boy who cried wolf. Gerry Conway's disappointing conclusion to the Jackel/Gwen Clone Saga in ASM #149 (July 1975) - mandated by Stan's 'Bring Gwen back!' - had left me shaking my head like... wtf was THAT? - while at the same time Jim Starlin disappearing from Captain Marvel and Strange Tales (I didn't know they gave Warlock his own book until almost 10 years later) put me on somewhat of a hiatus from comics for the next 8 years... I wasn't impressed with the gimmicky way Marvel sold books or how my favorite artists never seemed to stick around... I came back strong in the mid-80's with ASM #249's cover making me wonder who was this Green Goblin in an Orange Costume and the mystery again held me for a few years until... they dropped the ball on THAT storyline as well. For ME, the Stan Lee way of doing comics - it's the Greatest! It's Collectible! You're SO smart! - was just a big disappointment. It felt like being talked to like a child. It worked I guess though. For people SELLING those books - I'm sure it was great - but I was a reader who was a fan of the art - and the superhero books just didn't hold my attention. Thankfully alternative comics DID (including Vertigo). That kept me in it more than anything throughout the 90's... no promises needed there. I found what I liked.

1970's TOP COMICS from Statement of Publication - Total Paid Circulation - these numbers tell us a LOT. Let's do the the entire decade if we can... If anyone deserves recognition for rising to the top, it’s Archie Comics, as its flagship title reigns again for the 2nd year in a row as the #1 seller in America. Betty & Veronica places a respectable 6th. DC takes up 7 of the other Top 10 spots, but only Superman has the numbers to challenge Archie. Marvel has Amazing Spider-man at #9, dropping 2 places from 1969, as Romita is stretched thin from Kirby leaving the company (Romita begins drawing the FF as the reporting period begins), and ASM goes through an assortment of artists contributing to keep the book on schedule. (roughly #78 - #90, besides Romita art here and there or at least ‘embelishing’, we get Jim Mooney, John Buscema, Don Heck and Gil Kane over the 12 issues). The Fantastic Four minus Kirby drops 55,000 copies a month from #12 to #16. Thor without Kirby loses 34,000 copies per month and drops from #17 to #24. Both books will decline in sales for the entire decade. Marvel is mostly MIA in 11-20, as only the FF shows up, with Archie Comics absolutely dominating sales - EIGHT of the Ten spots. Marvel finally makes its mark in 21-30, taking 7 of the 10 spots (24-30). Of interest is that Millie the Model is keeping sales pace with Captain America, Hulk and Sgt. Fury and outright beating the Avengers, and Daredevil. JLA and Brave and the Bold is out selling all of them. I thought Marvel was dominating the market by this time? Apparently not. Realistically, they’d gone from being on the verge of out of business to being a competent publisher - though without Kirby they’d struggle in the 70’s - with only a glut of reprints (many of Kirby’s work) and a Star Wars comic there to save them. I wish there were Statement’s for ALL the books but… this sure does give a pretty good picture of things…. How in the heck is O’Neil and Adams Green Lantern the WORST selling comic of 1970??? Well, we actually KNOW the answer to that….

I know someone who is in contact with Andy and... he doesn't really want the controversy, but he has been made aware of what's going on with all of this. And yes, that WOULD be a cool signature to have!

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1971 Forever People #2 -

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1971 Forever People #2 - Written, Drawn and Edited by Jack Kirby (inked by the horrible Vince Colletta) Cover by Jack Kirby (inks by Colletta) Part TWO:

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1971 Forever People #2 - Written, Drawn and Edited by Jack Kirby (inked by the horrible Vince Colletta) Cover by Jack Kirby (inks by Colletta) Part ONE:

ON NEWSSTANDS JULY 1964 Tales of Suspense #58 - Lee, Heck, Ayers, and Rosen Oh for God's Sake...

ON NEWSSTANDS JULY 1964 Tales of Suspense #58 - Lee, Heck, Ayers, and Rosen 'Iron Man AND Captain America are Dunces' (i.e. an excuse for poor writing)'. #6: Double DUH.

ON NEWSSTANDS JULY 1964 Tales of Suspense #58 - Lee, Heck, Ayers, and Rosen 'Iron Man is a Dunce' (i.e. an excuse for poor writing)'... #5: Iron Man's man Armor is the hardest iron alloy known to man, but the 'Chameleon' holds his own against him and he can't figure out that maybe it's actually Cap...

ON NEWSSTANDS JULY 1964 Tales of Suspense #58 - Lee, Heck, Ayers, and Rosen Especially going to call this issue, 'Iron Man is a Dunce' (i.e. an excuse for poor writing)'. #4: This Dimwitted Iron Man still doesn't get it.

ON NEWSSTANDS JULY 1964 Tales of Suspense #58 - Lee, Heck, Ayers, and Rosen A 'Room with Giant Automatic Cement Mixers!'. Ooookkkk.... and of course that's the same room Happy and Pepper wander into.... 'as luck would have it'. This is SO bad...