My friend David Steckel got a copy before I did. As I've talked about previously, for whatever reason our area didn't get any copies of FANTASTIC FOUR #200, the long-awaited and heavily-promoted anniversary issue. For some reason, none of the oversized Marvel books, such as Annuals, turned up in this period. It was one of … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #200
My grade school friend Donald Sims only had two comic books from Jack Kirby's by-then-gone Fourth World line of titles. This was the other one, MISTER MIRACLE #2. And like FOREVER PEOPLE #1 which I spoke about last time, this comic book seemed strange and alien to my young sensibilities. It was clearly a super … Continue reading BC: MISTER MIRACLE #2
SUPERMAN FAMILY was constantly a solid B-book, which is to say that the material contained therein never rose to the level of being a must-read. But it was a home to several well-crafted stories each issue, none of which was especially challenging. So it was a comfortable reading experience, assuming that you liked the world … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN FAMILY #196
The Sandman was introduced in NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR COMICS #1 and immediately became the featured player in ADVENTURE COMICS staring with #40. He was a character steeped in an old formula and clearly influenced by the radio hero the Green Hornet. Like the Hornet, his main weapon was a gas gun, and he battled … Continue reading The First Sandy Story and the Super-Heroification of the Sandman
This week brought another issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, the third and concluding chapter to the League's body-swapping adventure with the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a group whose short-lived series I was a big fan of. This story was also influential on novelist and future DC writer Brad Meltzer, who made it a key … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #168
I would occasionally venture over to my friend Don Sims' house across town, located several blocks behind my regular 7-11 haunt (which became a communal space for us on Thursdays) down on the access road that paralleled the Long Island Expressway. Don had a nice little collection of comic books, including a bunch that had … Continue reading BC: FOREVER PEOPLE #1
It occurred to me the other day that there was a whole other category of comic books that I had read in my formative years that hadn't been otherwise accounted for. And that was comics that I didn't own but which I was able to borrow and read from my circle of friends who also … Continue reading Borrowed Comics: Introduction
I'm not certain what compelled me to pick up this issue of BATMAN on my weekly trip to my local 7-11 for comics. It could simply have been a function of me having a bit more change to my name than usual and deciding to branch out a bit further. At some point during this … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN #313
By the time 1946 rolled around, the excitement over costumed super heroes had cooled considerably on the nation's newsstands. With the war over, the active servicemen who needed portable easy-to-read entertainment went back to public life, and sales of super hero titles fell sharply. Other genres, such as teen humor, funny animals, crime, romance and … Continue reading The Last Starman Story
This extended THOR storyline, in which writer/editor Roy Thomas vainly but valiantly attempted to integrate the events of Jack Kirby's recent series THE ETERNALS into the mainstream Marvel Universe was tedious, and it went on forever. Twice during its run I dropped the title, but wound up coming back on weeks when the number of … Continue reading BHOC: THOR #285
The Tom Brevoort Experience 