BHOC: DAREDEVIL #150

I continued, as opportunity and funds allowed, to explore the Marvel characters whose exploits I had enjoyed in the SON OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS volume I had read at my local library. The next of these that I picked up was DAREDEVIL, here celebrating his landmark 150th issue. This was a pretty decent place … Continue reading BHOC: DAREDEVIL #150

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1981

1981 was a year of many anniversaries, and many anniversary issues as a result. This 25th anniversary issue of FLASH was built around a premise that was even then a bit old: Barry Allen wakes up in a hospital room, his body paralyzed and horribly scarred from the accident when lightning struck his police laboratory. … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1981

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1980

It's perhaps difficult to see from the vantage point of so many years later, but this issue of X-MEN was a game-changer when it came out, and cemented the popularity of the series at the top of the Direct Market sales charts for a decade and a half. Powerful, unexpected, emotional, this comic generated both … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1980

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1979

This issue of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE featured John Byrne's first outing with the team as both writer and artist, a time travel adventure that had Ben Grimm coming face-to-face with the earliest version of himself as seen and characterized in FANTASTIC FOUR #1 and #2. Byrne does a great job of capturing the period of the … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1979

Great Covers – WOLVERINE #1

Inspired by Clint Eastwood, this Frank Miller WOLVERINE cover is one of the quintessential images of the character. Everything about his outlook and attitude is communicated in this simple image.

Great Covers – DAREDEVIL #187

Another minimalist Frank Miller cover for DAREDEVIL, this one using white space both to isolate the character and to make the size and impact of DD’s word balloon that much more pronounced.

Great Covers – BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #4

A bold and famous cover, Frank Miller reduces everything to silhouettes for the final issue of BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, thus heightening the iconic power of the conflict between Superman and Batman depicted. This whole series was a trend-setter in terms of cover treatment–you didn’t see covers like this on comic books before this … Continue reading Great Covers – BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #4

Great Covers: BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #1

The cover to BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS by Frank Miller is a classic, but for all the right reasons. Here, more than in any comic book cover produced before this point, strong design and typography lead the way. This image is designed to feel far more like a book cover than a comic book … Continue reading Great Covers: BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #1