By 1942, Jerry Siegel seemingly had it all. He was the creator and writer of Superman, a character whose first appearance set off a fad that changed the comic book industry, but who had thereafter gone on to conquer the worlds of newspaper strips, radio shows, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and animated cartoons. Siegel … Continue reading The First Robotman Story
Month: January 2026
BHOC: THOR #286
This was the issue that put me off of reading THOR, at least for a short while. I already wasn't all that interested in the ongoing plotline involving trying to paste Jack Kirby's Eternals into the Marvel Universe--I'd sampled ETERNALS and not found it much to my liking, so bringing all of this baggage into … Continue reading BHOC: THOR #286
FSC: STARSLAYER #2
In 1982, I was a huge fan of Pacific Comics, and really all of the new companies that had begun to spring up in the developing Direct Sales marketplace. These new companies and their assorted offerings excited me with the possibilities. I truly felt that I might be on the ground floor of some future … Continue reading FSC: STARSLAYER #2
BC: SHAZAM #9
I was continuing to work my way through the stack of issues of SHAZAM that I had borrowed from my buddy Donald Sims that comprised a complete run of the series. But issue #9, changes were starting to take place. First off, following the prior issue's all-reprint format, from this point forward the book would … Continue reading BC: SHAZAM #9
BHOC: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #22
I had started to pick up the quarterly MARVEL TREASURY EDITIONS as a part of my comic book buying pattern. By this time, they had shifted from something that felt pretty special at the outset to just another regular publication, but they gave me a way in which to catch up on stories that I'd … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #22
Forgotten Masterpiece: The Rats Capture Airboy
We're back with a look at the second part of the classic-but-mostly-forgotten storyline in which aviator Airboy battled the threat of super-intelligent rats waging war against humanity. It was a memorable two-part encounter, one that certainly made an impact on the readers of the say. By the time it was published in late 1948, interest … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: The Rats Capture Airboy
BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #35
Having purchased DOCTOR STRANGE the previous issue, and being a relatively simple-minded kid, I went ahead and scooped up this issues well. This despite the fact that I'd only been lukewarm on that prior issue. But it was easy to get me into the habit of following titles, and even when I'd drop something--THOR on … Continue reading BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #35
FSC: DAREDEVIL #181
Going into 1982, there was no comic book series that was of greater interest to me and my small collection of comic book reading friends as DAREDEVIL. The title had been gaining momentum ever since newcomer artist Frank Miller had been brought on to pencil it a year or two earlier. Miller's storytelling chops were … Continue reading FSC: DAREDEVIL #181
BC: DETECTIVE COMICS #411
This issue of DETECTIVE COMICS was another that I borrowed from my grade school friend Donald Sims to read. I wasn't a big Batman reader particularly, but something about this issue evidently made me want to take a closer look at it. I had no idea that it was significant, containing the first appearance of … Continue reading BC: DETECTIVE COMICS #411
BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #236
This latest issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA brought to a finale the long-running six-part Doctor Faustus storyline, one that seemed to amble and move along herky-jerky as though the specifics of the plot were being made up issue to issue. But this final installment made me re-evaluate the entire story, and in fact go back and … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #236










