As we left off yesterday, this was the second of the two AVENGERS issues that I purchased simultaneously on a Saturday in 1979 and which made me a regular reader of the title going forward. If I had to guess so many years later, I would suppose that it was the artwork which made me … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #171
It was a weekend, I remember that much. I had a little bit of cash in my pocket (no idea where I would have gotten it from) and so I made an extra trek down to my regular 7-11 haunt to look at the spinner rack and see if there might be anything worth picking … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #170
I bought this issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA on my regular weekly trip to the 7-11 on New Comics Thursday, as I had the previous two issues. As we'll see, this was a bit of a patchwork issue, the result of pages not being completed in time for the prior one. Marvel was having shipping difficulties … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #221
Comic books for years were considered a juvenile medium, and that sensibility often extended to the behavior of the practitioners in the field. Like those who work in any other industries, not all comic book creators get along, and on occasion some of them have felt the need to take their aggression out in public, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Mean Caricatures of Comic Book Creators
A million words must have been written over the decades about this issue of X-MEN, the conclusion to the Dark Phoenix Saga and the high point of the fabled Chris Claremont and John Byrne run. And in the shadow of what would follow in the years to come, perhaps the book has lost some of … Continue reading Perfect Game – X-MEN #137
It was always the most exciting thing when a new batch of 3-Bags would show up somewhere, and you'd suddenly have access to issues that you had missed. In those days before there were comic shops, this was the only way one could find back issues (apart from mail order--and I was never confident enough … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #183
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
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
Back in the days when he was the Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics, Jim Shooter had a particular story that he liked to use as an example when explaining to people what he thought needed to be on the page in a well-crafted Marvel story. It was this one, the Human Torch story from … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: The Narrative Techniques of Jack Kirby
