CAPTAIN ATOM #841977 When I was young, it seemed like you could find comic books everywhere–in convenience stores, in card stores, in drug stores, in department stores and in supermarkets. Sadly, that’s no longer the case, and the industry is much the worse for it. CAPTAIN ATOM #84 by Modern Comics was available in a … Continue reading BHOCOS: CAPTAIN ATOM #84
Discovering Marvel When I was young, I didn’t like Marvel comics. There are a couple of reasons for this. In my early comic book reading days, I’d sampled a number of Marvel titles on occasion. And none of them did anything for me—in fact, I often found them ugly and awful, a far cry from … Continue reading Life In A Four Color World column on FANTASTIC FOUR, 2003
MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #58September, 1975 After becoming enamored of the Fantastic Four (see FANTASTIC FOUR #177), I went looking for more of the same. And, inevitably, my search led first to that same big bin of off-the-truck comics at the Genovese Drug Store. This time, I pulled forth three issues of MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS featuring … Continue reading BHOCOS: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #58
FANTASTIC FOUR #177December, 1976 FF #177 was the first Marvel comic I truly went out and bought. I’d had bad experiences with the Marvel books that had made their way to my hands earlier. (see CAPTAIN AMERICA #183) But by 1977, I was becoming more and more interested in the history of comics. And in … Continue reading BHOCOS: FANTASTIC FOUR #177
DC Special #29 - September, 1977 The “DC Secret Origin Summer of 1977” continued with this entry, revealing the untold origin of the Justice Society of America after 37 years. It’s just as good a story as its bookend, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #144. Writer Paul Levitz turned in what is arguably the best story … Continue reading BHOCOS: DC SPECIAL #29
ALL-STAR COMICS #67 August, 1977 ALL-STAR COMICS #67 is a pretty mediocre offering, but it has the distinction of being the first comic book I was able to go and buy at the local 7-11 all by myself. Up until the summer of 1977, I was only permitted as far as the supermarket across the … Continue reading BHOCOS: ALL-STAR COMICS #67
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #144 July, 1977 The first of two entries in what I considered the “DC Secret Origin Summer of 1977”, JLA #144 reveals for the first time, the hidden beginnings of DC’s premiere super-team. I had mixed feelings about Steve Englehart’s one-year tenure on JLA as it was happening–at the time, I … Continue reading BHOCOS: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #144
SUPER-HEROES BATTLE SUPER-GORILLAS #1 Winter, 1976 There was nothing DC as a company liked more than gorillas. Stemming from a sales trend which dated back to the early 1950s, when the editorial team had realized that sales increased whenever a gorilla appeared on a cover (particularly a human-acting gorilla), it seemed that not a month … Continue reading BHOCOS: SUPER-HEROES BATTLE SUPER-GORILLAS #1
SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #7 November, 1976 SUPER-TEAM FAMILY was one of a bevy of DC reprint comics of the 70s–one of the best ones, under the stewardship of editor E. Nelson Bridwell. Bridwell’s encyclopedic knowledge of DC’s back-catalog made any reprint collection he assembled a treasure-trove of obscure and terrific stories. STF was no exception. The … Continue reading BHOCOS: SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #7
SUPERMAN #300 June, 1976 SUPERMAN #300 was, to the best of my remembrance, the first anniversary issue I ever purchased. It wasn’t double-sized, it didn’t present “a radical turning point in the life of the Man of Steel.” What it contained was a splendid single-issue story, which was something of a precursor to DC’s current … Continue reading BHOCOS: SUPERMAN #300
