As I wrote about last time, it was getting a pair of Marvel comics that put me off of the brand for several years. One was an issue of THOR, and the other was this issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA. I should mention, for context, that this is the final part of Steve Englehart’s long Watergate/Secret … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #183
I can remember it very clearly. We were coming back from someplace and my Dad stopped at the 7-11 to pick up cigarettes. The family stayed in the car–but I asked him to get me a comic book. He came back with two–thinking about it, I expect that one of them was intended for my … Continue reading BHOC: THOR #233
I owned two copies of this issue of THE FLASH, because I am an idiot. I came across the first one at the 7-11 as usual. At this point, I had a subscription to FLASH and I knew it worked–I had received two issues previous to this. But still I was worried–maybe I wouldn’t get … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #232
Once again, I had missed an issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, another one I had seen in the house ads but never ran across. But I was there for the subsequent issue, #116. Bought it at the 7-11, of course, and the fact that the series continued to be n the 100-Page Spectacular format … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #116
We’re getting near to the end of the era of the 100-Page Spectaculars, not that I knew that at the time. This issue of SUPERMAN represents one of the last I’d ever purchase, bought as usual from my local 7-11. I’ve had two or three copies of this book over the years–not quite sure what … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #284
Another Treasury Edition brought home by my father, and proof positive that we were in the closing months of 1974. I would have been reading comics for a year and a half at this point. These Christmas Specials used to be a regular thing, attractive even to more casual purchasers as something that could be … Continue reading BHOC: LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION #C-34
A month later, and back at my Grandparents’ house and back at that same candy store that only stocked Marvel Comics, I had the opportunity to pick up the second half of the MARVEL TEAM-UP story that I’d begun previously. This would be my final such chance, though, as the store shortly thereafter stopped carrying … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TEAM-UP #17
Pretty sure that I traded my next door neighbor Johnny Rantinella something for this comic, as it guest-starred the Flash, and was one of those great 100-Page Spectaculars that I loved. It’s got a fun Nick Cardy cover as well. The story opens as, inexplicably, Superman is in Clark Kent’s usual place, reading the news … Continue reading BHOC: ACTION COMICS #443
The mailman brought me another subscription copy of THE FLASH, folded in half as was the style of the era. This was always an exciting moment, because it was unexpected. I suppose I could have worked out approximately when a new issue would be showing up, but I somehow never bothered. This is the story … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #231
Oh, perfidy! Here is that horrible moment when I was first faced with that recurring bane of a comic book collector’s existence: a periodic price increase. Throughout the 1970s when I was first collecting, this seemed to happen with frightening regularity. You could always tell when one was in the offing because the price would … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #206
