TBTV: The Five Best Comic Books of 1974

https://youtu.be/CfCI_B47Ox4 Another new bit of video content, this time showcasing my selections for the five best single issue comic books released during the year 1974.

Perfect Game – DETECTIVE COMICS #500

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 →

BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #287

I bought this issue of DETECTIVE COMICS during that same first visit to Bush's Hobbies, and I bought it for the same reason: it was old. I believe it was likely the oldest copy of DETECTIVE in the actual boxes (though I wouldn't be surprised if some earlier issues were either on the wall or … Continue reading BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #287 →

BHOC: BLACK LIGHTNING #6

This issue of BLACK LIGHTNING was bought for me by my grandparents. It was a tough title to find in my area--during this time period, most of the new DC launches were difficult to locate in my area (I never, ever saw a copy of SHADE, THE CHANGING MAN, for example.) But as i related … Continue reading BHOC: BLACK LIGHTNING #6 →

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1980

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 →

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1977

Possibly the best issue of WHAT IF and certainly one of the best-looking as a young Klaus Janson inks Gil Kane to great effect. Writer and soon-to-be-Editor in Chief Jim Shooter delivers on all fronts with an emotional story that packs a real wallop to it. A tour de force by writer Paul Levitz and … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1977 →

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1974

SUPERMAN #276 gave the comic book reading world something it had been lusting for since around 1940, a battle between the Man of Steel and his publishing arch-rival Captain Marvel. Except that this issue cheated--despite having recently licensed the Big Red Cheese from Fawcett for the new SHAZAM series, here an equivalent stand-in, Captain Thunder, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1974 →

BHOC: SUPERMAN #298

I’m not 100% certain where I got this issue of SUPERMAN, apart from the fact that wherever it was had marked it down to only a quarter, and that it wasn’t one of my typical haunts. Like the issue of DETECTIVE COMICS we talked about last time, this could have been picked up at some … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #298 →

BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #458

This was the one and only comic book to be found in a department store toy section that we visited. I have no idea whether it was a remnant of a broken-open 3-bag (there were no other 3-bags in evidence) or if it had come into the store somehow by accident. But beggars aren’t choosers … Continue reading BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #458 →

BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #468

The next issue of DETECTIVE COMICS wrapped up the saga of the Calculator, which had been winding through the assorted back-up stories for several months. And it looked more like a Justice League adventure than a strictly Batman one, so I bought a copy. The story goes that editor Julie Schwartz took a lot of … Continue reading BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #468 →