BHOC: CONAN THE BARBARIAN #96

As I indicated a bunch of entries back, at around this time my younger brother Ken had become passingly interested in CONAN THE BARBARIAN. So he'd bought issue #97 at our local 7-11 and seemed to like it well enough. At some point, on one or another shopping expedition, our family must have ended up … Continue reading BHOC: CONAN THE BARBARIAN #96

THE MAD WORLD OF MARVELDOM #1

THE MAD WORLD OF MARVELDOM was a short fanzine released in October 1967 by Greg Kishel and Fran Shusterich. It isn't especially noteworthy apart from that. But it does give us a sense as to what the fans of Marvel were talking and thinking about during the firm's heyday of the Silver Age.

The Last Wildcat Story

Wildcat was one of the great second banana super heroes of the Golden Age of Comics--one who has become ostensibly more popular in more recent years than he was when his series was running in the back pages of SENSATION COMICS. Wildcat was champion prize-fighter Ted Grant who was inspired by the example of Green … Continue reading The Last Wildcat Story

BHOC: SUPERMAN #334

As much as you might have thought that it would, the public debut of SUPERMAN THE MOVIE didn't really do much of anything to change the contents or direction of the SUPERMAN comics. Oh, sure, Clark Kent was brought back into the Daily Planet as a reporter (in addition to his job as a WGBS … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #334

Brand Echh: The Fannish Adventures of Blooperman, Part Three

Continuing our look at the obscure 1966 strip Blooperman, which incorporated a number of parody ideas from comics fandom, many of which had been originated by Marvel writer/editor Roy Thomas years earlier. Once again here, the character's designed Jon D'Agostino draws the small vignette of Blooperman on this cover for GO-GO #5. Writer Gary Friedrich … Continue reading Brand Echh: The Fannish Adventures of Blooperman, Part Three

BHOC: SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #250

Despite having followed the series for a few issues now, I still wasn't entirely a convert to SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES. For whatever reason, its stories of adventure in the far future with a veritable army of super-powered characters didn't grab me the way that other comics of the time did. In some … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #250

The Second Flash Story

So we begin this feature with my favorite comic book super hero, the Scarlet Speedster known as the Flash. Introduced in FLASH COMICS #1 in late 1939, by the second issue Jay Garrick had been relegated to a small cameo image on the left side, the primary cover area given over to the almost-as-popular Hawkman. … Continue reading The Second Flash Story

The Second Story Introduction

It often takes a bit of time for characters and series to find their footing. While many have their basic broad strokes premise set out by the end of the first installment, it's beyond that where the series begins to take shape, to become what it will eventually be known for. But this can be … Continue reading The Second Story Introduction

The Fifteen Best Doctor Who Episodes

The revival series of DOCTOR WHO has been around now for close to two decades, and has produced any number of wonderful and thrilling episodes. It improves upon the formula of the original 1963-1989 series (while studiously maintaining a tangible connection with it) by putting its greatest emphasis on emotionalism. DOCTOR WHO, the modern version, … Continue reading The Fifteen Best Doctor Who Episodes

The Battle of Lexington, Part Four

The concluding installment of our look at the fan comic book put together by future comics creators Kurt Busiek and Scott McCloud when they were high school students. It was produced between 1976 and 1978 and was never published professionally. Kurt and Scott have been working on this story for close to two years now, … Continue reading The Battle of Lexington, Part Four