Suburban Long Island, where I grew up as a kid, was an extremely whitebread area. There was only one African-American kid in my class during my grade-school years–his name was Alonzo Cook, which I remember solely because of his uniqueness. Consequently, I had (and perhaps still have) a cartoonish understanding of Black culture, formed primarily … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #222
My subscription copy of FLASH arrived next. It wasn’t an especially memorable issue. The thing I can recall the most is that somewhere–maybe the previous issue’s letters page–I had read the title of the story, “Who Put The Zing In The Flash” and intuited that perhaps we’d be getting a story that delved into mysteries and … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #245
Outside of a few sure-bet favorites, I was I think pretty typical in my comic book purchasing habits: I would pick up whatever looked good among what was available on whatever outing made it possible for me to purchase a comic book. At this point, I knew that what I wanted was super heroes (and … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #220
SUPER-TEAM FAMILY was becoming a regular purchase, a cool grab-bag of classic reprints every issue with no particular rhyme or reason save for a loose adherence to the concept of team-ups. I say loose because a World’s Finest story with Superman, Batman and Robin wasn’t difficult to come by, nor was a Marvel Family tale … Continue reading BHOC: SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #6
The mailman brought along the next issue of THE FLASH to my door, always a welcome occurrence. This one had an Ernie Chua/Chan cover that was actually pretty good. I’m guessing that Carmine Infantino did the sketch for this one, as it seems like his sort of layout. The story this issue was fine but … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #242
Centennial issues in comics books have for many decades been accorded a special status, an acknowledgment of longevity, a celebration of success. By 1976, it wasn’t enough any longer to simply publish a centennial issue, that issue had to in some way be special, and reflect the fact that this was a significant moment. SUPERMAN … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #300
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a copy of this particular issue of SUPERMAN FAMILY whose cover wasn’t miscut. I wonder if this wasn’t the result of the switch-over from a squarebound binding to traditional end-staples–if the cover has perhaps been set up for the former, and so without that additional bit of space, shifted the trim on the … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN FAMILY #177
Another eh cover by Ernie Chua/Chan graced the latest issue of THE FLASH to arrive in my mailbox. As was usual for the DC covers of this era, the premise of the image was good, but the actual drawing was a bit lumpy and misshapen, and the reproduction was blotchy. It would be a few years … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #241
Another folded-in-half subscription copy of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA showed up next in my mailbox. This one had a decent cover by Ernie Chua/Ernie Chan, though Wonder Woman has a strange torso, and a few of the background figures are a bit weird. I hadn’t been paying much attention to the continuing serial over in … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #128
Came the mail, and another delivery of a folded-in-half issue of THE FLASH, always a welcome surprise when it turned up. It has a cover that I really don’t like. The concept and composition is good, but the reproduction of the linework is again shaky, with finer lines breaking up throughout the piece. The baby … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #239
