BHOC: MISTER MIRACLE #23

I'm pretty sure that this issue of MISTER MIRACLE was bought for my brother Ken while on a trip to our grandparents' house one weekend. It was another small exposure for me of the Jack Kirby Fourth World mythos. But for all that it's a pretty great comic by a top-flight creative team, it did … Continue reading BHOC: MISTER MIRACLE #23 →

Brand Echh – Inferior Five #6

The Powers-That-Be at DC Comics in the 1960s could see that something was going on over at Stan Lee's new upstart Marvel imprint, but they were ill-equipped to figure out just what. This is largely due to the fact that the editorial and creative staff remained largely unchanged since the halcyon days of the 1940s. … Continue reading Brand Echh – Inferior Five #6 →

BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #153

The year 1977 had given way to 1978, and in the first days of the new month, the mailman arrived with another subscription copy of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA for me. I would end up with two copies of this issue--a few weeks later I'd be having a birthday, and as a gift my friend … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #153 →

BHOC: SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #15

I bought this comic in a non-regular venue for me while on a shopping trip with my family to a supermarket some distance from our home. I bought it both because I was reading SUPER-TEAM FAMILY regularly and because the Flash, still my favorite super hero, was headlining in it. This would be my first … Continue reading BHOC: SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #15 →

BHOC: SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS #13

I bought this issue of SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS at my local 7-11, and it was another comic book which my household ended up with multiple copies of--though in this case, for a different reason. I would have a birthday in about a month's time, and as a gift my friend and classmate Don Sims … Continue reading BHOC: SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS #13 →

BHOC: GREEN LANTERN #102

This was another book that I picked up on my weekly trips to 7-11 on Thursdays when new comics would drop. Green Lantern was at this point one of my favorite characters, primarily due to his stories in the back of FLASH. I wasn't quite as wild about the GL/GA incarnation of the character--while I … Continue reading BHOC: GREEN LANTERN #102 →

BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #140

There was a little store in one of the mini-malls where my Mother regularly shopped--I can't recall if it was a candy store or a stationary store or what. But the important bit here is that it carried a tiny selection of comic books. Tiny--just a few titles at any given time. So each time … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #140 →

BHOC: SUPERMAN #321

I had been steadily enjoying Marty Pasko's run as the writer of SUPERMAN just about since it began (I had missed/skipped his first issue.) This wasn't a loud appreciation, I wasn't waiting with baited breath for each new release. Rather, it had quietly become a title that I enjoyed each and every time I picked … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #321 →

BHOC: FLASH #259

A month had gone by, and so the mailman brought me my latest subscription copy of THE FLASH. This was getting towards the end of my subscription period. Now that I could, and was, visiting the 7-11 every Thursday when new comics dropped like clockwork, there wasn't as much of a need to make sure … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #259 →

5BC: The Five Best Comic Books of 1989

1989 was the year in which I entered the field, so this will be the final installment of this topic, as I don't think it's possible to be objective past this point. Grant Morrison begins his revelatory run on DOOM PATROL by hearkening back to the earliest stories and remembering that these characters are more … Continue reading 5BC: The Five Best Comic Books of 1989 →