This issue of FANTASTIC FOUR was another book that I got from my friend and classmate Donald Sims. We were only tight for about two years, taking up separate paths when we entered junior high school. I haven't seen him in easily 35-plus years. But I hope he's doing well. This was another FF issue … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #150
Don Sims was the first other regular comic book reader that I ever met, and we became fast friends for a few years--easy enough since we were in the same 5th and 6th grade classes. Like me, he not only read comics, but he made his own, a creative compulsion that united us once we … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #144
I can remember picking this issue up off of the spinner rack at my local 7-11. Despite having become a regular reader of FANTASTIC FOUR, I had up until this time ignored MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE over the past few months. I'm guessing now that this is because my interest in the FF stemmed at the time … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #36
A genuine sucker punch of an ending topped off this issue of FANTASTIC FOUR, as we learn the outcome of Sue Richards' latest pregnancy. Writer/artist John Byrne is in strong form here, at about the middle of his long run on the title. Good use of the rest of the Marvel Universe and a sympathetic … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1984
I bought this issue of FANTASTIC FOUR on the Tuesday it came out from my local 7-11. Unfortunately, it represents a bit of a nadir in terms of the quality of the title during this period. Regular penciler George Perez was going through some personal crises at the time, and had blown his deadline on … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #190
There is an often-told anecdote about the early days of Marvel and what inspired that era of creativity. I believe it was first widely shared publicly in the pages of ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS, though Stan Lee may have shared it during his college lecture circuit tours earlier. And it goes like this. By the … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Ditko: A Clue in the Saga of Joan Lee
One of the many things that fascinates me about the history of comics is the manner in which these stories and characters were exported around the world--the mad, slapdash, haphazard manner in which the Marvel super heroes made their way across the globe. It was typical that color guides might not be provided, resulting in … Continue reading Great Covers: Marvel Around the World
