The next comic I bought was a regular on my list: BATMAN FAMILY. The switch-over to all-new material hadn’t dampened my enthusiasm for big, oversized comics. This lovely Jim Aparo cover is a hair deceptive, though–indicating that Robin, Batgirl and Man-Bat will all be sharing linked stories in this issue, which wasn’t the case. But … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #12
I picked up these two issues of ACTION COMICS at the same time, from the same rack–I must have been flush with cash, possibly the change from a haircut (my Dad would give my a few bucks and send me off to our barber down in the center of town) as I know they were … Continue reading BHOC: ACTION COMICS #471 and #472
I picked up this issue of WORLD’S FINEST COMICS, despite its dollar price tag, because its lead story was going to wrap up the ongoing Martian Manhunter storyline that I had been following in recent issues of ADVENTURE COMICS, and that I liked quite a bit. So this was my first encounter with the phenomenon … Continue reading BHOC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #245
I’ve owned three different copies of THE STERANKO HISTORY OF COMICS Volume 1 over the years. It’s an important milestone book in the development of the hobby, but it’s also more oversized magazine than book, with saddle-stitched binding and a cover that tended to crack down the spine and separate. It fell apart easily. For … Continue reading BHOC: THE STERANKO HISTORY OF COMICS
I bought this issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD while my Mother was out doing household errands one day with the family. I know I got it in an unfamiliar candy store and that its selection was due as much to the limited offerings at hand as anything else. But I can recall flipping through … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #134
In January of 1977, I turned ten-years-old. And around that time, I would up getting my second book collection of vintage comic book stories–a book that, up until that point I didn’t even know existed. We found it in the remaindered section at Two Guys, a regional low-rent department store chain, kind of like the … Continue reading BHOC: THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES
The next issue of DETECTIVE COMICS wrapped up the saga of the Calculator, which had been winding through the assorted back-up stories for several months. And it looked more like a Justice League adventure than a strictly Batman one, so I bought a copy. The story goes that editor Julie Schwartz took a lot of … Continue reading BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #468
It was an unimaginable 41 year ago today, on Christmas day of 1976, that I finally got my hands on this much-desired beauty, a gift from Santa Claus. And actually, having asked for it specifically on the Christmas list that my mother would demand that each child write (usually sourced out of the Sears Christmas … Continue reading BHOC: SECRET ORIGINS OF THE SUPER DC HEROES
Another issue of WORLD’S FINEST COMICS about which I remember very little. This is another book that might have originally been bought for my brother Ken, but I’m not sure. I do know that I wouldn’t normally have picked up an issue of WORLD’S FINEST without good reason as I’d already identified it as one … Continue reading BHOC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #243
This was a fairly inconsequential issue of DETECTIVE COMICS that I bought in the little candy store next door to my barber’s office. It’s another one where I didn’t recall any of the details of the lead story until I cracked it open again today. The Rich Buckler cover is all right, decently dramatic, a … Continue reading BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #467
The Tom Brevoort Experience 