It was like a little miracle, a book that couldn't and possibly shouldn't ever happen. But happen it did--and SUPERMAN VS THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was an excellent mixing of the then-contemporary styles of Marvel and DC, very different flavors in that period. The creative team was spot on, anchored by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1976
I got this issue of DC SUPER-STARS while visiting my grandparents in Valley Stream, New York. They were weekly visitors to our home in Farmingville, making the hour drive up virtually every Saturday, but on occasion we would go out to meet them at the home they shared with my Aunt and Uncle--possibly for some … Continue reading BHOC: DC SUPER-STARS #17
DC put a huge push behind the roll-out of their Dollar Comics line of titles, but for the most part they weren't very appealing to me. And the reason for that is that none of them were really very good. Oh, they were all adequate, competent comic books. But each one contained a ton of … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN FAMILY #186
My brother Ken went through a period during which he was somewhat enamored of war comics. War comics never did much for me for the most part--I had no aspirations to fly into battle, shooting at the enemy. That seemed like a good way to get hurt--and I was far from an athletic kid to … Continue reading BHOC: SGT ROCK #310
As I understand things, the Neal Adams image that was used on the cover to this issue of SUPERMAN was sitting around in editor Julie Schwartz’s flat files, an inventory piece or just something that Neal had done to amuse himself. Writer Marty Pasko saw it and wanted to use it on one of his … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #317
I was excited to get my hands on this issue of BLACK LIGHTNING after the cliffhanger of the previous one, where the new crime-fighter found himself confronted by an angry Superman. And the issue was pretty good! The one place it really fell down is in the incomplete inking of Vince Colletta. I know that … Continue reading BHOC: BLACK LIGHTNING #5
Today, there are thousands of books on vintage comics, both collections of material from decades ago or literary tomes discussing those works, how they were created, what impact they had and what they meant. But in the 1970s, the landscape for such volumes was exceedingly scarce. So it was positively an event when a new … Continue reading BHOC: SHAZAM! FROM THE ’40s TO THE ’70s
The mail carrier also delivered me my subscription copy of FLASH right around this time. This was the middle chapter in a three-part story. Multiple part epics were beginning to become more frequent at DC, which was good in that, between having read the DC titles for so long and beginning to discover the Marvel … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #255
Now that I was able to travel to the 7-11 at will, my subscriptions to JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and FLASH were becoming a little bit troublesome. To wit: I am certain that I saw this issue of JLA on the spinner rack at the 7-11 before my sub copy arrived in the mail. The … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #148
My Aunt Clementine was my Grandmother’s sister, and she and my Uncle Jerry Blazer shared a house with my grandparents that they’d all purchased in 1955 and remained in for almost 50 years. Because of this, they were very much immediate family, although we didn’t see them as often since Clem didn’t like to travel … Continue reading BHOC: SHAZAM #32
The Tom Brevoort Experience 