When I think abut the Christmas season, I'm often put in mind of this issue of DETECTIVE COMICS, the seminal issue #500. I bought it on Christmas eve, 1980, and I don't know that any of the gifts I received the following morning were a match for that reading experience. It's all tangled up in … Continue reading Perfect Game – DETECTIVE COMICS #500
This issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD was another comic that I wound up with in trade with my classroom buddy, Donald Sims. Even by 1978, those first ten issues of SWAMP THING had gained a bit of a mythical stature among those in the know, so the character still had a bit of an … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #122
While as we've seen, Marvel was relatively quick to begin to self-mythologize its creative staff and editorial Bullpen, rival publisher DC (then known as National Periodical Publications in an attempt to disguise the fact that they published evil comic books in the aftermath of the senate hearings) wasn't as quick to follow suit. Even creator … Continue reading 5BC: Five Times DC Self-Mythologized
I bought this issue of DETECTIVE COMICS during that same first visit to Bush's Hobbies, and I bought it for the same reason: it was old. I believe it was likely the oldest copy of DETECTIVE in the actual boxes (though I wouldn't be surprised if some earlier issues were either on the wall or … Continue reading BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #287
At about this time, the next issue of BATMAN FAMILY came out, and I bought it at my trusty, reliable 7-11. I had been purchasing BATMAN FAMILY regularly almost since the beginning, and though I missed the vintage reprints in the transition over to the new Dollar Comics format, that didn't stop me from partaking. … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #18
This particular issue would be my candidate for most underwhelming oversized anniversary issue of the era. It was heavily promoted throughout the DC titles of the era--and who could resist that story hook? It's the day the Batman retires! But honestly, it's a pretty bleh read, tedious, and with the central thesis really being fitted … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN #300
Pretty sure that this was another book that my brother picked up that I eventually ended up with. All comics came to me eventually. Despite the fact that it was still being edited by Julie Schwartz, whose editorial style helped to define what I liked in my comic books, I still wasn't following Batman with … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN #299
Ever since I did the initial post about the 5 Best Forgotten DC Retcons, people have been turning up to remind me about other stories, most of them of a slightly later vintage, that fall into the same general category. And who am I to keep these sterling masterworks from enjoying the notoriety that they've … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Forgotten DC Retcons
When she first arrived at DC as the new publisher, Jenette Kahn instituted a pet format that she hoped would help reverse DC's fortunes in the mainstream newsstand market: the Dollar Comic. As it said right in the name, a Dollar Comic cost a buck, but you got an awful lot of material for that … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #17
This is another book that was bought for my brother Ken rather than me--though, looking at it, while I wasn't a huge Aquaman fan I might have been enticed into this one by the double-whammy combo of Batman and Kobra. This feels more like an issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD, though, with Batman, a … Continue reading BHOC: AQUAMAN #61
