The Death of Bucky!

By 1948, things were growing progressively more difficult for super heroes on the sales front. In te aftermath of World War II, other genres--crime, romance and horror chief among them--were increasingly popular, and the fad for super heroes had just about run its course. Over at Timely Comics, things were no different. As a bulwalk … Continue reading The Death of Bucky!

BHOC: DAREDEVIL #126

As I've mentioned previously, all throughout this period I would semi-regularly check back in at the Big Bin of Slightly-Older Comics that my local drugstore chain kept, pretty much any time my family went there. The way this would typically work is that I'd have developed an interest in a particular title, and so I'd … Continue reading BHOC: DAREDEVIL #126

BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #16

Bought this issue of BATMAN FAMILY at my regular 7-11. I was reading the title regularly, the only BATMAN book I was following so routinely, and I can't actually tell you why. Maybe it was the format, possibly it was that I liked the Man-Bat solo stories. But I wasn't particularly a fan of either … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #16

Captain America Musters Out!

The postwar era provided challenges for many of the super-powered costumed crusaders who filled the pages of the nations comic books as, without a ready-made national enemy to fight, they were faced with a crisis of irrelevancy. And none encountered this existential ennui more directly than Captain America. Cap had been created to win the … Continue reading Captain America Musters Out!

BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #15

People sometimes wonder about the fact that it took me so long to become a fan of Spider-Man and a regular reader of his adventures. Considering that he was immensely popular and the flagship character of the Marvel line, to say nothing of one of the best characters ever conceptualized, it does seem strange. But … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #15

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR POCKET BOOKS

It was one of the most exciting days of my young comic book collecting career. I found it in the bookstore in the Smithhaven Mall, a regular stop whenever my family went out shopping there, which was often. I had no idea that it was coming out--which is strange, because ads for it appeared in … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR POCKET BOOKS

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1987

The entirety of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's BATMAN: YEAR ONE story was must reading, and this final installment wrapped the story up beautifully--a story more of hard-boiled cop Jim Gordon than really of Batman (who doesn't appear in costume all that much throughout it. ) Mazzucchelli channels the best attributes of Alex Toth in … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1987

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #191

After two months of reprints and hastily-assembled album issues, the storyline in FANTASTIC FOUR once again began to move forward with the release of this issue. I have to say, I didn't particularly mind those diversions, since the reprint was new to me, and the information contained in that album issue gave me a greater … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #191

The Last Sub-Mariner Story

Continuing in our look at the final Golden Age adventures of the assorted Marvel mainstay characters, here's the final Sub-Mariner story presented in 1949. There were two stories presented in SUB-MARINER COMICS #32, so the second of these would have been the final Sub-Mariner story of the era. As it turns out, this story continues … Continue reading The Last Sub-Mariner Story

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR IN THE HOUSE OF HORRORS

I was wholly in the tank for the Fantastic Four by this point, and my interest in them led me to purchase a copy of this Big Little Books release from a local Stationary store. It had been issued several years previously, during the period when the first FANTASTIC FOUR cartoon was airing on Saturday … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR IN THE HOUSE OF HORRORS