Why Is This Blog Called Key Issue Comics?

If you've been reading this blog you may be wondering, "Why the hell is it called 'Key Issue Comics?'  The only thing here is a bunch of comic reviews and links to comic related stuff."  Well, I started this blog so that I could put together lists of key issues of various comic book titles.  That was and still is my intention.  I got back into collecting comics after an absence of nearly 13 years.  Triggered primarily by a couple of articles I read about the new Wonder Woman costume and the new X-Men title.  Probably more important is that I can actually afford it now.

I enjoy reading comics and I also hope that someday someone will pay outrageous amounts of money for the ones I've collected.  So I'm always on the lookout for "REALLY good deals" on collectible books.  Like the New Mutants #98 that I found for about 80 cents.  I haven't had it graded yet but my guess is that it's probably VF/NM 9.0.  That's what I mean by really good deals.  If that book had been 40 bucks or more I probably would have passed on it.  Thanks to many generations of my family, I'm what you might call a tightwad.

Key Issues - Black Tom Cassidy

Cover, Michael Ryan and Rick Ketcham

Do you like Juggernaut?  Most people do.  He's unstoppable and that has created some fantastic battle scenes against heroes like Thor, Colossus, and the Hulk.  In this post I'd like to give a little recognition to the man who is responsible for many of those battles, Black Tom Cassidy.  Tom was created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum back in 1976.  He and Juggernaut first fought the X-Men at Cassidy Keep in X-Men #101 - 103.  Unfortunately, we only get to see Tom in issues involving either his cousins, Banshee and Siryn, or the man I can't believe is still is friend, Cain Marko.  He's primarily portrayed as a killer for hire, usually as the brains behind some plan that unleashes Juggernaut.  He hasn't shown up, except for flashbacks, since New Excalibur #13 back in 2007.  I believe there is more to Tom that would make a very interesting story and hopefully someone at Marvel will figure that out.  If you work for Marvel and you're still reading this, take a look after the list of key issues to see what you could potentially do with the character.