This was yet another issue of MARVEL TEAM-UP that I wound up getting from my buddy Donald Sims during the last two years of grad school at some point. I definitely wound up with the better end of the deal in this instance. Because in just a few months, the prices on any and all … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TEAM-UP #53
Continuing on with the review of books that I acquired in trade with my grade school friend Donald Sims, that's how I laid hands on this issue of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES. I've mentioned this fact before, but just to reiterate: Don and I were friends for a few years, from the start of 5th Grade to … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #44
Even with the limited output allowed to them under the terms of their distribution deal with Independent News (which only permitted the Marvel of the 1960s to release a certain number of titles every month), Marvel often ran into situations where the talent they had on hand in order to complete everything wasn't enough. During … Continue reading Lee & Kirby & Everett & Grandinetti & Friends – The Messy Story of Tales to Astonish #84
These days, thanks especially to the global reach of the Marvel Studios films, you can't turn around but for bumping into some piece of merchandise based on the Marvel characters. There truly is a cornucopia of stuff out there, both wonderful and less-than-wonderful. But in the early days, before the characters had exploded in popularity, … Continue reading Make Mine Marvel Memorabilia
This was another book that came out of the drugstore's Big Bin of Affidavit Return Comics and the first point when I learned that before it had featured the Hulk exclusively, MARVEL SUPER-HEROES had been split between the Green Goliath and the Sub-Mariner just as TALES TO ASTONISH had been years before. More than anything, … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #55
Pretty sure that this was another issue that was bought by my brother Ken. He continued to follow the Hulk's adventures regularly for a few months before his attention shifted elsewhere and I wound up picking up both the baton and the issues he'd already bought. It's another reprint of a nine-year-old story from 1969--throughout … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #71
I've gone over this before, but it bears repeating. In 1978, there were no trade paperbacks, no Marvel Masterworks, no organized system reprinting the comic books of earlier days. There were a few scattered and irregular collections and that was about it. But Marvel, at least, maintained a regular and robust reprint program as a … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #65
My brother Ken also picked up this issue of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES featuring his Marvel character of choice, the incredible Hulk. As I mentioned yesterday, he liked monsters, and ever since the Hulk TV movies had aired, he had begun to peruse the occasional Hulk comic. I have a vague recollection that I helped egg him … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #70
My brother Ken was a fan of monster movies. Whenever Channel 7's 4:30 movie would cycle around to monster week, he'd be there, glued to the set. For me, they didn't do much, but for him, they were of great interest. So it's no great surprise to me that he wound up buying this issue … Continue reading BHOC: GODZILLA #8
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
