BHOC: INVADERS #35

INVADERS was a title that I liked during its initial run in the 1970s, but for a while it had been growing progressively weaker. Ever since the departure of artist Frank Robbins, a succession of fill-in creators had taken the helm with varying results. Even Roy Thomas, who ad conceived the series as a tribute … Continue reading BHOC: INVADERS #35

BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #230

This next issue of INCREDIBLE HULK was eminently forgettable, and so I forgot about it almost entirely until we reprinted it in a MARVEL MASTERWORKS volume a year or so back. It was a fill-in job, a break in the ongoing storylines and continuity, and so it didn't have all that much to offer to … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #230

WC: SUPERBOY #128

Hey, it's a comic with Go-Go Checks! Go-Go Checks, for those who aren't familiar, are that checkerboard pattern at the top of the cover. These ran on all of the DC titles for about a year in the mid-1960s. The intention was to make it easier for prospective buyers to spot the quality DC books … Continue reading WC: SUPERBOY #128

BHOC: AVENGERS #178

This issue of AVENGERS, frankly, baffled me. We were coming off of the climax of the Korvac Saga the previous month, where the entire Avengers line-up had been killed and only resurrected in the final moments. So my expectation is that we'd see these circumstances followed up on in some way. What I wasn't anticipating … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #178

BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #161

On that same trip to that Ronkonkoma Stationary store, I also picked up he next issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, the first post-implosion issue. This was an issue that had been built up to in the background for a while now. You see, on the letters page, editor Julie Schwartz had been running a … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #161

BHOC: THE FLASH #268

There's a lot to unpack about this issue of THE FLASH for me. For starters, I bought it not at any of my regular comic book haunts but rather in a far-off stationary store in distant Ronkonkoma where my family had gone for some reason. That store was a supply chain for the Cub Scouts … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #268

BHOC: BATTLE OF THE PLANETS

The next big thing to come along for me wasn't a comic book at all, though it was a super hero adventure. This was the debut of BATTLE OF THE PLANETS on the afternoon of Monday, September 11, 1978. Like everyone my age, I watched a certain number of cartoons every day as available, but … Continue reading BHOC: BATTLE OF THE PLANETS

BHOC: THOR #278

This issue of THOR featured the wrap-up to the long-running Ragnarok sequence begun by writer/editor Roy Thomas, a saga that felt like a saga to me even as it was coming out. Looking back, the story is more of a mixed bag than I had considered at the time, when I was very much into … Continue reading BHOC: THOR #278

WC: STRANGE TALES #120

Tis was a slightly more noteworthy issue of STRANGE TALES than many of the other ones that were in the box of comics that I bought as my Windfall. For the most part, any issues that could have been considered "keys" for one reason or another had been extracted. But this one was close, and … Continue reading WC: STRANGE TALES #120

BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE POCKET BOOKS #1

One of the benefits to the Doctor Strange television movie airing was that there was suddenly an interesting in doing a bunch of Doctor Strange-themed ancillary publishing. I hadn't really connected with the character before this. Especially in the 1970s, his stories tended to be heady and metaphysical in the manner of the time, and … Continue reading BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE POCKET BOOKS #1