On that same trip to Ed's Coins and Stamps in the Sun-Vet Mall courtesy of my accommodating grandparents, I also purchased a back issue of THE FLASH, one of my favorite series. Ed had a decent stock of back issues of the title at reasonable prices, so I flipped through them and landed on this … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #173
I was still routinely buying SUPERMAN and enjoying it for the most part, despite the fact that it was never quite as electrifying as the Marvel books that I was most into during this period, nor also the DC titles that I loved the best. What SUPERMAN had going for it was familiarity. It was … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #337
I was only a casual buyer of BRAVE AND THE BOLD, the long-running Batman team-up title. And that's really down to the scripting work of Bob Haney more than anything else. Haney had a different perspective on super hero stories than I did as a young reader, he was interested in different things. And so … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #151
This issue of THE FLASH is where new editor Ross Andru's vision for the title really crystalized. In essence, this took the form of bring on board a new regular penciler. Longtime FLASH artist Irv Novick had departed one issue after outgoing editor Julie Schwartz, and while Ross had stopgapped for two months, here he … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #273
MAGAZINELAND, USA was a giveaway comic book designed for the celebration on June 18, 1977, which had been proclaimed World Color Press Day. World Color were the printers for virtually all of the comic books that were then available on the nation's newsstands, including the output of DC, Marvel, Archie, Harvey and others. Accordingly, those … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: MAGAZINELAND, USA #1
So we begin this feature with my favorite comic book super hero, the Scarlet Speedster known as the Flash. Introduced in FLASH COMICS #1 in late 1939, by the second issue Jay Garrick had been relegated to a small cameo image on the left side, the primary cover area given over to the almost-as-popular Hawkman. … Continue reading The Second Flash Story
As with Hawkman, the Flash's final golden age appearance was in ALL-STAR COMICS #57 in 1950 as part of the Justice Society of America. But we're talking about the Scarlet Speedster's solo exploits here. And by that metric, Jay Garrick's final run in his winged helmet took place in the final issue of FLASH COMICS, … Continue reading The Last Flash Story
It had happened again. I had missed another issue of THE FLASH. Having never seen nor bought #269, now #271 proved elusive to me. And honestly, ever since my subscription had lapsed with issue #261, I was having the devil's own time following the book regularly. You might think this would have prompted me to … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #272
Walt Simonson had taken over the reins of FANTASTIC FOUR and propelled it into the stratosphere with a series of expansive stories that drew upon the best of Jack Kirby's era on the title and turned the concepts up to eleven. Graphically, the book looked sweet as well, as Walter was able to channel Kirby's … Continue reading 5BC: The Five Best Comic Books of 1991
You can't always hit a home run, and so there have been numerous characters all throughout the history of comics that were created with noble intent, but who failed to find a connection with an audience and swiftly were seen no more. Characters that are peculiar, ill-considered or just plain goofy. Here then are Five … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Best Forgotten DC Super Heroes
The Tom Brevoort Experience 