BHOC: BATMAN FAMILY #20

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

BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #217

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

Personal Best: AVENGERS #1

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

Brand Echh: Star Reach #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

BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #176

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

5BC: Five More Mean Caricatures of Comic Book Creators

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

BHOC: CAPTAIN MARVEL #40

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