When the cover price on comic books went up to 35 cents, this presented certain new challenges for readers. Primary among them was the fact that a dollar would no longer get you three comics--you needed to be packing an extra nickel. I didn't really yet have a ready source of income at this point, … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #57
Finally, we come to the last comic that I bought on that fateful first trip to a comic book store--the Heroes World in Levittown. I had only just begun reading X-MEN, but this was both an issue #100 (which I already understood to be a milestone issue regardless of the title) and also had the … Continue reading BHOC: X-MEN #100
Here's another book that came out of a 3-Bag in that era. This issue of MARVEL TEAM-UP didn't wow me, and in fact I don't own it today--somewhere along the lines I traded it away. It was yet another Spider-Man comic book in which the allure of the wall-crawler eluded me. Despite having watched the … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TEAM-UP #57
I picked up this issue of X-MEN at my regular 7-11, my second issue as a regular reader of the title. And I found it a lot easier to understand and follow than #108's conclusion to the M'Kraan Crystal storyline, with all of its guest-stars and extra characters. Here, I would begin to learn about … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #109
After a few false starts and doglegs, Dave Sim found his footing as his long-running Church and State storyline began to build up steam. Now paired with Gerhard, whose elaborate and expressive environments made the Earth-Pig's world more fully realized than ever, Sim was more free to focus on plot, character, world-building and even the … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1985
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
The first entry in Marvel's line of European-style albums, released under the sobriquet "Marvel Graphic Novels", THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL remains as effective and affecting today as it was when it was first published. A good deal of that is down to the subject matter, which sees the titular Mar-Vell dying not in battle … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1982
I've been thinking about this for a while now, pointed in this direction by having watched TOKUSATSU GAGAGA, where they make this sentiment overt: what is the purpose of super hero stories? On the surface, it would seem to be obvious. Like any other story, the primary purpose is to entertain. But with super hero … Continue reading The Purpose of Super Heroes
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
At around this time, the new season of the hit comedy HAPPY DAYS began, with a three-part opening storyline in which the cast went to Hollywood, and the Fonz wound up in a competition to water ski jump over a caged shark in the bay. This episode was the origin of the now-popular term "Jumping … Continue reading BHOC: X-MEN #108
The Tom Brevoort Experience 