I had a kind of love-hate relationship with the work of Jack Kirby in the 1970s, in particular the work that he dialogued as well as illustrated. I wasn't a fan of it, there was something rough and harsh and uninviting about his characters and stories and the way is people talked. But at the … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #210
I can distinctly remember looking at the cover to this issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN when it first came out, through the window of a candy store near to where my Grandmother lived. At that time, I hadn't yet taken the plunge into buying Marvel books--but this cover, very much in the DC style of the … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #169
In 1978, CAPTAIN AMERICA was a series in a bit of trouble. After Jack Kirby's much-heralded return to the series a few years earlier ran its course, not quite capturing the classic Marvel flavor that was hoped for, a succession of different creators came on to helm the series, often on an almost ad hoc … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #220
I almost did it the previous month. That issue had a 1960s DC-style cover that promised an impossible situation for the wall-crawler to get out of, and it piqued my interest seeing it on the racks--though not quite enough to pick it up. Which is good, as it turns out, because as would happen again … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #179
I'm pretty sure that this issue of MISTER MIRACLE was bought for my brother Ken while on a trip to our grandparents' house one weekend. It was another small exposure for me of the Jack Kirby Fourth World mythos. But for all that it's a pretty great comic by a top-flight creative team, it did … Continue reading BHOC: MISTER MIRACLE #23
I ordered a copy of this MARVEL TREASURY EDITION featuring the Fantastic Four from the Superhero Merchandise catalog--or as the firm would later be known, Heroes World. They had bought out Marvel and DC's back-stock of their various Treasury Editions and would sell them for years thereafter, often advertising in the comics themselves. I eventually … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #2
Bought this issue of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE at my regular 7-11 on one of my weekly trips. I'm pretty certain that this is the first book I bought during tat three-month period where Marvel tried to get rid of the cover month--I'm not certain what the purpose of that exercise was. Anyway, as a newly-born Fantastic … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #38
The year 1977 had given way to 1978, and in the first days of the new month, the mailman arrived with another subscription copy of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA for me. I would end up with two copies of this issue--a few weeks later I'd be having a birthday, and as a gift my friend … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #153
I very much remember buying this issue of ACTION COMICS at the local 7-11, where its very nice Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez cover stared out at me. This was part two of a long four-part saga that I recall enjoying--in part because it featured a villain I was acquainted with: Amazo, the android who duplicated all … Continue reading BHOC: ACTION COMICS #481
I bought this issue of DEFENDERS from out of the local drugstore's Big Bin of Slightly Out-Of-Date Comics, one of my usual haunts for picking up books and the closest thing I had to a ready source of back issues in 1977. I can't say what drew me to in in particular, apart from simply … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #30
The Tom Brevoort Experience 