BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #148

I can very clearly remember buying this issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD on a regular trip to the 7-11, for no particular reason. B & B wasn't a title that I was all that in tune with, and so my readership of the series would ebb and flow, often based on who the guest-star … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #148

GH: ACTION COMICS #543

I really liked Marv Wolfman's run writing ACTION COMICS. He was able to find a way to operate within the strictures of editor Julie Schwartz's likes while still bringing the sort of serialized storytelling and characterization that he'd learned over at Marvel to the stories. It probably didn't hurt that Marv and George Perez's NEW … Continue reading GH: ACTION COMICS #543

BHOC: ACTION COMICS #493

I had gotten back into the habit of buying ACTION COMICS after a break of three or four months. I don't remember making any specific determination that I wasn't going to follow the Superman titles any longer, it was just a thing that happened--possibly because my financial resources were being strained by all of the … Continue reading BHOC: ACTION COMICS #493

BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #213

This issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA was the last book that was in the SUPERHERO GIFT PACK that I was given for Christmas in 1978. It was another issue from right at the end of writer/artist Jack Kirby's individualistic run, one that read and played unlike anything else in the Marvel line. As always, Jack's work … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #213

GH: NEW MUTANTS #3

NEW MUTANTS was very much an anticipated comic book in 1982. It was going to be a long-in-development spin-off/expansion of X-MEN, which was at that moment and throughout the decade the most popular comic book in the land. NEW MUTANTS started as a way of pushing back at Marvel EIC Jim Shooter, who had been … Continue reading GH: NEW MUTANTS #3

BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #212

The last things that came in the SUPERHERO GIFT PACK that I was given for Christmas in 1978 was two consecutive issues of CAPTAIN AMERICAN AND THE FALCON, of which this was the first. While the series had returned to its middle-of-the-road Marvel house style approach in recent months, these earlier issues written and drawn … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #212

BHOC: AVENGERS #163

This issue of AVENGERS was another book that fell into my hands from within the SUPERHERO GIFT PACK that I had been given for Christmas in 1978. And the story in this issue is interesting. It's clearly a fill-in, designed to buy the series back some time on the schedule. But the story had been … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #163

GH: DAREDEVIL #193

For the past couple of years, DAREDEVIL had been one of the best and strongest titles in the industry, mainly under the guiding hand of writer/penciler Frank Miller. Miller completely shifted the emphasis and the tone of the series, making it into much more a crime noir book, and being inventive with his storytelling and … Continue reading GH: DAREDEVIL #193

BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #172

This was the second issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN that came in the SUPERHERO GIFT PACK that I was given for Christmas in 1978. This was another issue where I had read the concluding chapter already, so this set-up part was just a little bit perfunctory. This was the issue that introduced the Rocket Racer, a … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #172

BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #171

This was the first of two issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN that was in the SUPERHERO GIFT PACK that I received for Christmas in 1978. It was also the second half of a two-part story, but one that had begun in a different title entirely. Unless I miss my guess, this is the first time when … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #171