I got this issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD while on another shopping trip, in a store where the selection of titles was rather limited. I was beginning to follow the book semi-regularly despite the fact that it was often weird, that writer Bob Haney's approach to super heroes and continuity wasn't really in tune … Continue reading BHOC: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #139
It's been bettered but never equaled, the granddaddy of all inter-company crossovers. At a time when a comic book featuring Superman and rival Spider-Man sharing the same pages was a positively shocking idea, this enormous tabloid spent its 100 pages synthesizing the narrative styles of both the DC and Marvel house approaches into a single … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Marvel/DC Crossovers
My brother Ken also dabbled around with super hero comics from time to time, which is where this issue of BATMAN came from--it's another that was purchased for him but which I eventually wound up with.I liked Batman well enough, but in this period I found his adventures a bit too colorless for my tastes, … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN #295
I was regularly haunting the section of the Sachem Public Library that contained books on or about comics, not just for that elusive copy of ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS (which I never did find there) but also for anything else of interest. I took out and read a bunch of books from that section, many … Continue reading BHOC: ALL IN COLOR FOR A DIME
It's perhaps difficult to see from the vantage point of so many years later, but this issue of X-MEN was a game-changer when it came out, and cemented the popularity of the series at the top of the Direct Market sales charts for a decade and a half. Powerful, unexpected, emotional, this comic generated both … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1980
Possibly the best issue of WHAT IF and certainly one of the best-looking as a young Klaus Janson inks Gil Kane to great effect. Writer and soon-to-be-Editor in Chief Jim Shooter delivers on all fronts with an emotional story that packs a real wallop to it. A tour de force by writer Paul Levitz and … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1977
For a while here, I became a regular reader of BRAVE AND THE BOLD--and I'm not entirely sure just quite why. B&B still felt "off" to my sensibilities--writer Bob Haney's take on most of the title's guest-stars didn't jibe with what I knew of them in their appearances elsewhere. He also had an odd take … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #138
1973 was the first year in which i was reading comic books, and only for the back half of the year. But I think i can be forgiven for that--I was only six years old. For the purposes of this survey, however, I've taken into account the entire output for the year, not just those … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1973
Every time my family would shop at the drugstore with the big bin of Marvel comics in it, I would dig around through it. I wasn’t at all interested in the Marvel books at this point, but I thought there was the possibility that some other titles might turn up there at some point. This … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #121
This was the one and only comic book to be found in a department store toy section that we visited. I have no idea whether it was a remnant of a broken-open 3-bag (there were no other 3-bags in evidence) or if it had come into the store somehow by accident. But beggars aren’t choosers … Continue reading BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #458
The Tom Brevoort Experience 