This was, it turned out, the final issue of BATMAN FAMILY in its current form. Shortly after this, the DC Implosion would happen, slashing the size of the DC line dramatically and costing a number of people--including this issue's editor Al Milgrom--their jobs. On the chopping block at that moment was DETECTIVE COMICS, as it … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #20
This was the second issue of FOOM, Marvel's fan magazine for its in-house fan club of the same name. Established in the early 1970s, the initial four issues of FOOM were produced by Jim Steranko and so contained a variety of graphics from him seldom seen elsewhere. By the fifth issue, production of FOOM was … Continue reading FOOM #2
I got this issue of INCREDIBLE HULK, with its very nice Jim Starlin-drawn cover, in one of those 3-Bags sold in department stores and toy stores. The books in those bags were always about nine months old, so this was a way, at least during the first year of my starting to read Marvel books, … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #217
This book has been on my list to write about for a while now, but given the sad news regarding the health of artist George Perez, it now seems like something I should get too sooner rather than later. For those who are unaware, george has been diagnosed with inoperable and terminal cancer, and he's … Continue reading Personal Best: AVENGERS #1
One of the more overlooked pioneers of what would come to be called the Direct Sales comic book market was Mike Friedrich. He'd started his career as a writer for DC and Marvel, among others, and eventually became first Marvel's first executive in charge of Direct Sales and thereafter an artists representative. But in-between, he … Continue reading Brand Echh: Star Reach #1
Here's another issue that I got out of one of those 3-Bags that toy stores and department stores carried in the 1970s. The books therein were always about nine months old once those bags hit the racks, which was a godsend for me, as they provided a way in which I could get my hands … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #100
This was another book that I pulled up out of my local drugstore's Big Bin of Slightly Older Comics, and just like the issue of SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP we talked about last week, this issue was definitely purchased to round out a stack, to get me to that magic number of 5 where each book would … Continue reading BHOC: SON OF SATAN #1
This issue of INCREDIBLE HULK was another book that I got from my 5th and 6th grade friend Donald Sims. He was a sporadic source of issues that came out before I started reading, in particular Marvel titles, which was very valuable in these days before trips to back issue outlets became more common. This … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #176
Comic books are a petty business, it must be said. And the same freedom to imagine and play that allows for the creativity in conceptualizing new stories about characters who, let's face it, were designed to appeal to children also somehow invites the darker side of itself--the version where grown-ups behave like petulant children on … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Mean Caricatures of Comic Book Creators
This issue of CAPTAIN MARVEL was another book that I got out of the drugstore's Big Bin of Slightly Older Comics, though this purchase didn't go quite so well. There was something about this comic that I didn't like, that made me vaguely queasy, and I traded it away the first opportunity that I got. … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN MARVEL #40
The Tom Brevoort Experience 