The entirety of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's BATMAN: YEAR ONE story was must reading, and this final installment wrapped the story up beautifully--a story more of hard-boiled cop Jim Gordon than really of Batman (who doesn't appear in costume all that much throughout it. ) Mazzucchelli channels the best attributes of Alex Toth in … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1987
I bought this issue of SUPER FRIENDS, and I'm not really sure why. I was 10 years old in 1977, and like any ten-year-old, while I watched SUPER FRIENDS regularly on Saturday Mornings, I also felt somehow like it was kiddie stuff--like it wasn't as mature or sophisticated as the mainstream DC titles that I … Continue reading BHOC: SUPER FRIENDS #10
My brother Ken was still picking up the occasional war comic, and I have a memory of this one coming home from the supermarket one day. DC's Dollar Comics initiative did make inroads into my local supermarket, at least for a while, so on that level it was a success. Even as a kid, I … Continue reading BHOC: G.I. COMBAT #206
Whenever the conversation turns to the question of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and their collaborations during the 1960s and who was responsible for doing what--a question that I don't think can ever be definitively or conclusively answered--one of the misconceptions that I see come up time and time again is the notion that Lee … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: The Four Work Stages of Lee & Kirby
It's impossible to encapsulate how seismic the effect of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS was on the field of comic books. Not only did it introduce a more prestigious package for comics (and a then-unheard-of cover price of $2.95) but interest in the series also inaugurated the now-common process of repackaging collections of recent storylines into … Continue reading 5BC: The Five Best Comic Books of 1986
Another issue of SUPERMAN that I bought at my local 7-11. It's got something of a strange cover image to it--I'm not certain how intrigued a potential reader would likely to be by the notion that Solomon Grundy was stealing Superman's cape. It's not exactly a big stakes question, after all. But what do I … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #320
Here's another book that was bought for my brother, Ken--it seems as though at this time, he was trying to match me book-for-book. And eventually it ended up with me in any case. That's a pretty dramatic cover by Sal Amendola. I wasn't as wild about his work on the interior of the book--he took … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN #296
Shortly thereafter, my local mailman also brought me my subscription copy of that month's issue of THE FLASH. I have to admit, this cover really freaked me out when I was younger. There was something about the manner in which the Flash's skin was melting off his bones that I found especially disturbing. When coming … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #258
At around this time, the main delivery brought me the next issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA in my subscription. This was the first issue scripted by new regular writer Gerry Conway. Conway would go on to write the series steadily for around 60 issue over the next five years, providing the title with some … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #151
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
