BHOC: AVENGERS #168

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

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1982

The first entry in Marvel's line of European-style albums, released under the sobriquet "Marvel Graphic Novels", THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL remains as effective and affecting today as it was when it was first published. A good deal of that is down to the subject matter, which sees the titular Mar-Vell dying not in battle … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1982

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1980

It's perhaps difficult to see from the vantage point of so many years later, but this issue of X-MEN was a game-changer when it came out, and cemented the popularity of the series at the top of the Direct Market sales charts for a decade and a half. Powerful, unexpected, emotional, this comic generated both … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1980

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1978

We start off this time with a bit of a forgotten masterpiece (despite the fact that it's been reprinted at least once.) This issue of INCREDIBLE HULK, with its horrifying story of children and cannibalism packed a punch and really stayed with you--top notch work by writer Len Wein and illustrators Jim Starlin and Alfredo … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1978

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1977

Possibly the best issue of WHAT IF and certainly one of the best-looking as a young Klaus Janson inks Gil Kane to great effect. Writer and soon-to-be-Editor in Chief Jim Shooter delivers on all fronts with an emotional story that packs a real wallop to it. A tour de force by writer Paul Levitz and … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1977

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1975

In a time before the British Author Invasion and the rise of Vertigo titles, this issue of GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING was quite possibly the most literate and literary comic book as-yet published. A heartfelt, emotion-driven Steve Gerber story concerning a dead, bullied schoolkid anchors the issue. Gerber experiments with using huge blocks of text on certain … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1975