BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #34

If I'm remembering things correctly after all these years, I bought this issue of DOCTOR STRANGE while on a shopping trip to a supermarket, which explains why I might have randomly chosen to purchase this issue of a series that i wasn't otherwise following. I have a dim recollection that the selection of comic books … Continue reading BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #34

BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #34

DOCTOR STRANGE was a series that had a hard time retaining me as a reader throughout the late 1970s. I really liked the very early Stan Lee/Steve Ditko stories once I got to read them, but the modern day adventures of the character held little appeal for me. They were a lot more phantasmagoric, a … Continue reading BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #34

BHOC: ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS

Christmas 1978 was a huge comic book windfall for me. Whereas in years past I had filled my wish list with an assortment of toys, starting here, I would instead begin asking for books on comics. ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS had eluded me for months, so much so that I eventually got to read the … Continue reading BHOC: ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS

BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #49

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #49 was another junky, lifeless issue of what had become a largely junky, lifeless series. There was improvement just around the corner, though, and while I didn't know that at the time, my critical standards at the age of twelve were pretty meager. I liked the Thing and the Fantastic Four, and so … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #49

WC: STRANGE TALES #129

This was the last issue of STRANGE TALES that I had gotten in the box of Silver Age comics that made up my Windfall purchase in 1988. As we've spoken about before, the series felt more and more like an afterthought, one that simply wasn't as important to the line as books like FANTASTIC FOUR, … Continue reading WC: STRANGE TALES #129

WC: STRANGE TALES #128

This was one of the better issues of STRANGE TALES that I got in my Windfall comics purchase of 1988. While typically the series felt like something of an afterthought, here editor Stan lee appears to be trying to bring a bit more attention to the Human Torch feature by having Johnny and the Thing … Continue reading WC: STRANGE TALES #128

WC: STRANGE TALES #124

As we've spoken about before, STRANGE TALES had become something of an afterthought in the Marvel line, a title where new prospective writers and artists could be tried out with limited risk. But after 22 issues of this, sales on the book seem to have slid enough for editor Stan Lee to look to make … Continue reading WC: STRANGE TALES #124

WC: STRANGE TALES #122

The more time went on, the more that the Human Torch series appearing in STRANGE TALES had become something of an afterthought. There was a distinct feeling that neither editor/scripter Stan Lee nor any of the artists who drew it were really putting a lot of energy or imagination into it. It was a bit … Continue reading WC: STRANGE TALES #122

BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #78

This particular week, I also picked up the latest issue of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES which reprinted stories published a number of years earlier in INCREDIBLE HULK. Since the Hulk now had his own television series, this reprint title began performing better as young viewers sought out the Green Goliath's adventures in print. Marvel tended to blurb … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #78

WC: STRANGE TALES #121

It must have been becoming clear to editor Stan Lee that the quirky back-up strip that he'd let artist Steve Ditko introduce was growing in popularity among the readership. So while it would still be several months before Doctor Strange would headline a STRANGE TALES cover all on his own, he had gone from carrying … Continue reading WC: STRANGE TALES #121