Discovering Marvel When I was young, I didn’t like Marvel comics. There are a couple of reasons for this. In my early comic book reading days, I’d sampled a number of Marvel titles on occasion. And none of them did anything for me—in fact, I often found them ugly and awful, a far cry from … Continue reading Life In A Four Color World column on FANTASTIC FOUR, 2003
Category: Brevoort History of Comics
BHOCOS: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #58
MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #58September, 1975 After becoming enamored of the Fantastic Four (see FANTASTIC FOUR #177), I went looking for more of the same. And, inevitably, my search led first to that same big bin of off-the-truck comics at the Genovese Drug Store. This time, I pulled forth three issues of MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS featuring … Continue reading BHOCOS: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #58
BHOCOS: FANTASTIC FOUR #177
FANTASTIC FOUR #177December, 1976 FF #177 was the first Marvel comic I truly went out and bought. I’d had bad experiences with the Marvel books that had made their way to my hands earlier. (see CAPTAIN AMERICA #183) But by 1977, I was becoming more and more interested in the history of comics. And in … Continue reading BHOCOS: FANTASTIC FOUR #177
BHOCOS: DC SPECIAL #29
DC Special #29 - September, 1977 The “DC Secret Origin Summer of 1977” continued with this entry, revealing the untold origin of the Justice Society of America after 37 years. It’s just as good a story as its bookend, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #144. Writer Paul Levitz turned in what is arguably the best story … Continue reading BHOCOS: DC SPECIAL #29
BHOCOS: ALL-STAR COMICS #67
ALL-STAR COMICS #67 August, 1977 ALL-STAR COMICS #67 is a pretty mediocre offering, but it has the distinction of being the first comic book I was able to go and buy at the local 7-11 all by myself. Up until the summer of 1977, I was only permitted as far as the supermarket across the … Continue reading BHOCOS: ALL-STAR COMICS #67
BHOCOS: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #144
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #144 July, 1977 The first of two entries in what I considered the “DC Secret Origin Summer of 1977”, JLA #144 reveals for the first time, the hidden beginnings of DC’s premiere super-team. I had mixed feelings about Steve Englehart’s one-year tenure on JLA as it was happening–at the time, I … Continue reading BHOCOS: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #144
BHOCOS: SUPER-HEROES BATTLE SUPER-GORILLAS #1
SUPER-HEROES BATTLE SUPER-GORILLAS #1 Winter, 1976 There was nothing DC as a company liked more than gorillas. Stemming from a sales trend which dated back to the early 1950s, when the editorial team had realized that sales increased whenever a gorilla appeared on a cover (particularly a human-acting gorilla), it seemed that not a month … Continue reading BHOCOS: SUPER-HEROES BATTLE SUPER-GORILLAS #1
BHOCOS: SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #7
SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #7 November, 1976 SUPER-TEAM FAMILY was one of a bevy of DC reprint comics of the 70s–one of the best ones, under the stewardship of editor E. Nelson Bridwell. Bridwell’s encyclopedic knowledge of DC’s back-catalog made any reprint collection he assembled a treasure-trove of obscure and terrific stories. STF was no exception. The … Continue reading BHOCOS: SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #7
BHOCOS: SUPERMAN #300
SUPERMAN #300 June, 1976 SUPERMAN #300 was, to the best of my remembrance, the first anniversary issue I ever purchased. It wasn’t double-sized, it didn’t present “a radical turning point in the life of the Man of Steel.” What it contained was a splendid single-issue story, which was something of a precursor to DC’s current … Continue reading BHOCOS: SUPERMAN #300
BHOCOS: SUPERMAN VS THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
SUPERMAN VS. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1976 THIS SAYS IT ALL! And it pretty much did. Even though I wasn’t a Marvel Comics reader in 1976 when SUPERMAN VS. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was published, I nevertheless recognized it as something important, and so purchased a copy. Printed in the oversized Treasury format, it was a massive 96-pages … Continue reading BHOCOS: SUPERMAN VS THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
