GH: BATMAN #359

As I've mentioned often in the past, growing up, I was never all that much of a fan of Batman. I didn't dislike the Masked Manhunter, it was more a question of liking a particular flavor of him. I first encountered the Caped Crusader in daily reruns of the 1966 live action television show, and … Continue reading GH: BATMAN #359

SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #246

As my family would go shopping around town, I would occasionally get momentary access to spinner racks and other shelf spaces that I couldn't get to on a regular basis. And in most of those instances, these trips revealed comic books that I wanted to buy. Such was the case with this issue of SUPERBOY … Continue reading SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #246

Great Covers: METAL MEN #37

By the late 1960s, DC's sales were in a bit of trouble. The approach that they had been using for decades had suddenly begun to falter, and nobody then in a position of authority seemed to know how to reverse that situation. Accordingly, new blood was needed--and that came in the form of Carmine Infantino … Continue reading Great Covers: METAL MEN #37

BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #144

I bought a lot of issues of BRAVE AND THE BOLD (or as this cover would have it, THE NEW BIG BRAVE AND THE BOLD) despite the fact that I was never really all that wild about it. I liked the Jim Aparo artwork well enough, and I liked a number of the characters who … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #144

Crisis on a Brave New Earth

It's no secret that DC found itself with an enormous hit on its hands in CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, the anniversary limited series produced by Marv Wolfman and George Perez designed to restructure and streamline the DC continuity. It was that rare Event series that both left a lasting change upon the line in its … Continue reading Crisis on a Brave New Earth

When Batman Used A Gun

It's an argument that comes up every couple of months like clockwork, especially when some new film or television project is announced. There are always those that espouse that Batman, in order to be treated realistically, should carry and use a gun. And these people inevitably point to the character's earliest days as justification, talking … Continue reading When Batman Used A Gun

BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #143

This issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD was the first released under the auspices of the DC Explosion, which saw the line increating its cover price to 50 cents a copy from 35 while adding additional pages of material. Here, the Human Target, a feature that briefly ran in the back pages of ACTION COMICS … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #143

BHOC: JUDOMASTER #96

Whoever was responsible for selecting which old Charlton comics would be reissued in the 3-Bags put out under the Modern Comics imprint made some baffling selections. Take JUDOMASTER for example. Modern reissues four issues of the series: #93, #94, #96 and #98. Why not consecutive issues? Who knows? It may have been that these were … Continue reading BHOC: JUDOMASTER #96

BHOC: JUDOMASTER #94

This issue of JUDOMASTER was another of the books from the Charlton back catalog that Modern Comics reissued in the 1970s and sold three-to-a-bag through a network of discount department stores, supermarkets and the like. And it was another title that came into my possession during this time. I wasn't quite as crazy about Judomaster … Continue reading BHOC: JUDOMASTER #94

BHOC: THUNDERBOLT #57

This was another reprint of a classic Charlton comic book from the 1960s that was reissued under the Modern Comics imprint and sold in plastic 3-Bags through low-end discount department stores such as the Two Guys my family frequented. And it made an impact on me, not for the lead story especially, which I found … Continue reading BHOC: THUNDERBOLT #57