Whenever the conversation turns to the question of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and their collaborations during the 1960s and who was responsible for doing what--a question that I don't think can ever be definitively or conclusively answered--one of the misconceptions that I see come up time and time again is the notion that Lee … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: The Four Work Stages of Lee & Kirby
Continuing to follow up on my reading experiences from SON OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS, this was the first issue of AVENGERS that I purchased new (I had prior bought one issue of MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION featuring the team.) It's the second part of what would someday become known as the Korvac Saga, a high … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #168
I'm pretty sure that this issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA came out of the same 3-Bag as yesterday's issue of INVADERS. It represents, among other things, my first real exposure to the writing of Jack Kirby. I had read a few Kirby stories before--an issue of KAMANDI several years earlier, a reprint of a Golden Age … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #206
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
