BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #153

The year 1977 had given way to 1978, and in the first days of the new month, the mailman arrived with another subscription copy of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA for me. I would end up with two copies of this issue--a few weeks later I'd be having a birthday, and as a gift my friend … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #153

BHOC: ACTION COMICS #481

I very much remember buying this issue of ACTION COMICS at the local 7-11, where its very nice Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez cover stared out at me. This was part two of a long four-part saga that I recall enjoying--in part because it featured a villain I was acquainted with: Amazo, the android who duplicated all … Continue reading BHOC: ACTION COMICS #481

BHOC: SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS #13

I bought this issue of SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS at my local 7-11, and it was another comic book which my household ended up with multiple copies of--though in this case, for a different reason. I would have a birthday in about a month's time, and as a gift my friend and classmate Don Sims … Continue reading BHOC: SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS #13

BHOC: SUPERMAN #321

I had been steadily enjoying Marty Pasko's run as the writer of SUPERMAN just about since it began (I had missed/skipped his first issue.) This wasn't a loud appreciation, I wasn't waiting with baited breath for each new release. Rather, it had quietly become a title that I enjoyed each and every time I picked … Continue reading BHOC: SUPERMAN #321

BHOC: FLASH #158

Another similar thing that I did during my first trip to my very first comic book shop, Heroes World in Levittown, was to buy the oldest issue of THE FLASH that I could. As with FANTASTIC FOUR, there were some older releases on the wall--I seem to recall that SHOWCASE #13 with its pirate torpedo … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #158

Lee & Kirby: The Four Work Stages of Lee & Kirby

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

BHOC: BATMAN #296

Here's another book that was bought for my brother, Ken--it seems as though at this time, he was trying to match me book-for-book. And eventually it ended up with me in any case. That's a pretty dramatic cover by Sal Amendola. I wasn't as wild about his work on the interior of the book--he took … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN #296

BHOC: ETERNALS #9

My brother Ken had eclectic taste in comic books. He was only ever so-so interested in them, mainly because I was--and that interest tended to flow in two directions. First, he wound up buying copies of more than a few comics that I already owned, so that he would have what I had. Alternately, he … Continue reading BHOC: ETERNALS #9

BHOC: ACTION COMICS #464

This issue of ACTION COMICS would have been another book that I got from my grade school buddy Donald Sims. It's not a bit of a weird cover on it--Superman is so over-muscled here that he practically looks inflated. And I don't know that the lime green background is helping matters any either. All of … Continue reading BHOC: ACTION COMICS #464

5BC: Five Best Comics of 1984

A genuine sucker punch of an ending topped off this issue of FANTASTIC FOUR, as we learn the outcome of Sue Richards' latest pregnancy. Writer/artist John Byrne is in strong form here, at about the middle of his long run on the title. Good use of the rest of the Marvel Universe and a sympathetic … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1984