I've always liked the concept of the mystery villain. The notion that there'd be some figure in a story who was pulling the strings and whose identity you might be able to work out if you were clever enough and could make sense of all the clues. This is pretty much the premise behind any … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #26
One of the changes to my school routine that happened during this year of sixth grade is that I was placed into the Gifted Student program. It had been clear for several years that I was ahead of most of the other students in my grade academically. But it was also clear that I had … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #47
I had skipped the last couple of issues of PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, having come to the conclusion that the series was relatively superfluous to the life of Marvel's wall-crawling hero. The stories were mostly fine, but nothing of any particular consequence seemed to happen in them, I can recall looking at both issues … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #25
It was immediately apparent once the trio of writer David Micheline, penciler John Romita Jr. and inker/co-plotter Bob Layton came on board the series over the course of two months that something good was beginning to happen in IRON MAN. The series had, for a long while, been a bit out of step with the … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #117
This next issue of IRON MAN represented the beginning of one of the most storied runs in the title's history, even though it was the second part to an adventure already in progress. And that's because this issue heralded the arrival of a pair of creators who would leave their mark on the armored Avengers, … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #116
This next issue of IRON MAN was the preamble to what would, in time, be considered one of the very best runs that the title had to offer. His arrival had been touted on the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins page all month, and so here was John Romita Jr., the son of Marvel legend and art … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #115
The arrival of this Annual gave me my first inkling that something was about to go wrong, although I didn't quite realize that at the time. I bought it not at my usual 7-11 but rather at a Card Store in some other mall that my Mom had gone to for some shopping. It turned … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #13
Eventually, after a week's gap caused by my having bought the new comics for that week while at Heroes World earlier, new comics that I did not already own started turning up at 7-11 again. And so, on my weekly Thursday venture, I bought this issue of PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN. It was a … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #22
Another new issue that I bought at Heroes World was IRON MAN #114. Not because I was particularly a huge IRON MAN fan, but because I went and bought all of the new books that they had that I didn't yet own before delving into the back issues. In retrospect, that may have been a … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #114
This was another recent back issue that I picked up as part of a plastic-encased 3-Bag in some department store or toy store. For its first year or two, PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was a title that seemed to drift aimlessly. It felt more akin to MARVEL TEAM-UP, running stories involving Spider-Man that didn't … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #12
The Tom Brevoort Experience 