BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #212

The last things that came in the SUPERHERO GIFT PACK that I was given for Christmas in 1978 was two consecutive issues of CAPTAIN AMERICAN AND THE FALCON, of which this was the first. While the series had returned to its middle-of-the-road Marvel house style approach in recent months, these earlier issues written and drawn … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #212

BHOC: SUPERHERO GIFT PACK

Another gift that I received on that Christmas of 1978 was this SUPERHERO GIFT PACK. Ordered from I believe the Sears Catalogue, this Gift Pack was essentially a box containing ten recent-but-not-new Marvel Comics. There may have been a poster as well--I had a Sal Buscema-illustrated Marvel poster that hung in my bedroom at around … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERHERO GIFT PACK

The Other Captain America

The advent of World War II and the patriotic fervor that hit the nation swiftly became a driving force behind comic books. It was clear almost immediately that young readers, with no other real way of engaging the enemy and helping with the battle effort, wanted to live those experiences vicariously through stories. Consequently, all … Continue reading The Other Captain America

BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #231

Well, there's a cover that you probably wouldn't see today, as we're all just a little bit more sensitive to this stuff. This issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA, purchased on one of my weekly trips to the 7-11 for new comics, was the start of a six-part epic that I'd wind up really enjoying--even if I … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #231

GH: CAPTAIN AMERICA #281

The last regular issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA that I bought was #281, almost a hundred issues on from when I'd first sampled the book. The series was on a bit of an upswing at this point, having just concluded a multi-part adventure that established the contemporary Baron Zemo (who had previously appeared as the one-off … Continue reading GH: CAPTAIN AMERICA #281

BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #232

This issue of INCREDIBLE HULK was the conclusion of the two-part Corporation saga that had begun in CAPTAIN AMERICA #230 a couple of weeks earlier. Though the roots of this saga had been developing for years, all the way back to a number of Jack Kirby's final stories for Marvel, in which he introduced the … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #232

CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 – Heroes Reborn

As we did a few weeks ago, today we're going to take a look at the Heroes Reborn CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 packaged and produced by Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios as part of the four-book deal that became known as Heroes Reborn. Liefeld's CAPTAIN AMERICA wound up produced under a bit of a cloud within fan … Continue reading CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 – Heroes Reborn

BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #230

It must be said, this is a really striking cover to this issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA. And it showed a sort of novelty of approach that just wouldn't have been done only a few years earlier, not showing potentially sales-driving guest-star the Hulk clearly in the image (though his presence in the story is cover … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #230

BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #229

The next week brought more new comics to my local 7-11 on Thursday, which was delivery day for them back in those days. Among the new offerings was this issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA. The title had stabilized a little bit after a rocky couple of months and was now in the process of pulling the … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #229

BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #228

There was a slow but steady transformation of the Marvel titles under editor Jim Shooter. When he was given the job, Shooter realized that no single editor could shepherd the huge number of releases that Marvel was then putting out. So he went about slowly building up a staff of editors, each one of whom … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #228