Only a block or two away from my home in Farmingville, a new strip mall was being constructed. A new road had been put in behind my house a year or so earlier, which turned into a major throughfare, so putting up a commerce area right where it crossed the main road through town up … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN #315
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
DC's Dollar Comics program didn't wind up being the industry game-changer that new publisher Jenette Kahn had hoped it would, but it was a format that the company pursued for several years and resulted in some decently-crafted anthologies. Case in point is SUPERMAN FAMILY, which was never a great comic book but which was a … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN FAMILY #195
By 1983, DC was on a creative upswing. The arrival of new President and Publisher Jenette Kahn had coincided with efforts to expand DC's efforts into the growing Direct Market of comic book specialty shops that had sprung up across the country. At this time, DC's fortunes on the mainstream Newsstand weren't looking all that … Continue reading DC SAMPLER #1
Well, it had happened again: I had missed an issue of a beloved comic book series, this time THE FLASH. While my ardor for it had cooled somewhat as my attention was taken up with my exploration of the Marvel Universe, the character and the book remained a sentimental favorite. But in recent months, my … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #270
This is another comic whose contents I barely remember, whose story didn't really make much of an impact on me, and that I likely bought simply because it was there and I had the forty cents to spare. I was still lukewarm on BRAVE AND THE BOLD in general--it still felt "off" to me as … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #145
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #186 represented something of a turning point for the character, as new writer Marv Wolfman began charting out the direction he wanted to take the wall-crawler's life in next. Last issue saw Peter Parker graduate from college, which seemed monumental for a series so associated with that environment, and now he was ready … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #186
I was into picking up this next issue of ACTION COMICS thanks both to the impending showdown between Superman and Microwave Man--a costumed villain from the past who'd spend decades off in space--and the start of the Air-Wave back-up series. I knew Air-Wave from over in GREEN LANTERN and had liked him a bunch as … Continue reading BHOC: ACTION COMICS #488
The DC Explosion was finally upon us! As advertised for months leading up to this moment, DC's entire line of titles increased their cover price to 50 cents from 35, adding an additional 8 pages of story to each issue. This was an attempt to combat the low profit margin that comic books were able … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #265
I picked up this new issue of GREEN LANTERN (CO-STARRING GREEN ARROW) on my regular trip to 7-11 on Thursday, new comics day. As it turned out, this was a fill-in issue of sorts, its contents likely initially commissioned for some other purpose and then burned off here. But that didn't mean that I didn't … Continue reading BHOC: GREEN LANTERN #107
The Tom Brevoort Experience 