First off, what a great name for a comic magazine. I can't help but thinking to myself, "As opposed to the SECRET HOUSE OF SINISTER LOVE", which may have been down the block. Anyway, in attempting to cash in on a corner of the growing marketplace for gothic romance stories in the early 1970s, DC … Continue reading Great Covers: SINISTER HOUSE OF SECRET LOVE #2
We've talked about Quicksilver in the past, and how this perennial back-page filler for Quality Comics' NATIONAL COMICS was brought back decades later by writer Mark Waid in the pages of FLASH and transformed into a virtually new character, Max Mercury. Quicksilver had never been a headliner, but he was a reliable supporting player, and … Continue reading The Last Quicksilver Story
This obscure issue of Charlton's BLUE BEETLE series--not the version re-conceptualized by Steve Ditko but the earlier, super-powered version, seems like any other throw-away Charlton comic of the era--good for a few moments of entertainment, but not at all memorable for any particular reason. But this issue is noteworthy for being one of the earliest … Continue reading Brand Echh – Blue Beetle #54
This is another book that I got from my friend Donald Sims back in fifth grade. And honestly, it was a bit of a mess of an issue, though I enjoyed it quite a bit. KOBRA had started life as one of the last projects worked on by Jack Kirby before his return to Marvel. … Continue reading BHOC: KOBRA #1
FREEDOM FIGHTERS #1 was another comic book that I got in trade with my childhood friend Donald Sims. Given that I was a big fan of comic book history, of the Justice Society and the Invaders, and that I liked weird, off-the-wall super heroes, FREEDOM FIGHTERS seems like it should have been a title that … Continue reading BHOC: FREEDOM FIGHTERS #1
This is another comic that I got from my friend Donald Sims, with whom I would often trade books. There's no way of tracking precisely when each book that I got in trade with him came into my possession, so I'm estimating as best I can. We were in each others' orbits for two school … Continue reading BHOC: CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #81
When I think abut the Christmas season, I'm often put in mind of this issue of DETECTIVE COMICS, the seminal issue #500. I bought it on Christmas eve, 1980, and I don't know that any of the gifts I received the following morning were a match for that reading experience. It's all tangled up in … Continue reading Perfect Game – DETECTIVE COMICS #500
Joe Kubert was one of the most talented cover artists of his time. Typically, though, his skills would primarily be put to use on the war and western comics that he usually drew throughout the Silver and Bronze Ages of Comics--where he perfected almost infinite variations on the "heroes exclaim that they're out of danger … Continue reading Great Covers – FLASH #189
Here's a strip from the past that even I have little information on. In fact, I don't know where I got it from, where it might have seen print. Hopefully, some curious reader of this blog page will help us in that regard. But I saved copies of this amazing little two-page story when I … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: The Silencing of the SHAZAM Sayer
This was another book that I bought at Bush's Hobbies, the hole-in-the-wall collectibles store that had a good stock of vintage comic book back issues, and which was not all that far from my home. I picked up this issue because I was interested in reading the Origin of the Justice League, one of the … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #97
The Tom Brevoort Experience 