It was right before this issue of FANTASTIC FOUR came out that SUPERMAN THE MOVIE finally opened on December 15, 1978. And strangely, for a film that sits so highly in my personal lexicon, I don't really have a strong recollection of going to see if for the first time. I don't think we got … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #204
This particular issue of THOR was another comic book that my household wound up with two copies of. As he would do from time to time, by younger brother Ken purchased his own copy of this issue for whatever reason. The series was drifting a bit at this particular moment, with this being another in … Continue reading BHOC: THOR #281
This issue of FANTASTIC FOUR doesn't at first glance appear to be anything special, just another one-off story in this run. But it has an interesting story behind it. You see, writer/editor Marv Wolfman had been friends with FANTASTIC FOUR co-creator Jack Kirby since Marv was a child. He knew about Kirby's reluctance to draw … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #203
David Steckel wasn't the only new person I met during those weeks in the Sachem Gifted Program that I went to every Friday. I also made the acquaintance of Frank Torres, who was similarly a comic book reader. While I was never quite exactly as tight with him as i was with Steck, he remained … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #188
I had skipped the last couple of issues of PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, having come to the conclusion that the series was relatively superfluous to the life of Marvel's wall-crawling hero. The stories were mostly fine, but nothing of any particular consequence seemed to happen in them, I can recall looking at both issues … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #25
So this next week was the moment it all hit home--when FANTASTIC FOUR #201 turned up on the spinner rack at my local 7-11 and I had to face the fact that I had indeed missed the double-sized anniversary issue of my favorite series, the culmination to a year-long story arc and a book that … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #201
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #186 represented something of a turning point for the character, as new writer Marv Wolfman began charting out the direction he wanted to take the wall-crawler's life in next. Last issue saw Peter Parker graduate from college, which seemed monumental for a series so associated with that environment, and now he was ready … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #186
The excitement was building, at least for myself and my small collection of comic book reading friends, as FANTASTIC FOUR neared its big issue #200. The build-up had been going on for almost a year, and now that inker extraordinaire Joe Sinnott had returned to teh series after missing a couple of issues, everything was … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #199
Dumb observation first: that blue molding on the corridor Reed and the troops are running down confuses my eye every time I look at this cover. Even after 40+ years, every time I look at it, my brain wants to decode it as somehow being a part of Reed's body, the only other 100% blue … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #198
This issue of IRON MAN was a bit more like it. After a pair of issues that were concerned with a war in deep space that I found it difficult to care about (the influence of STAR WARS was all over those issues, at least broadly) with #113 we were back in Earth, with grounded … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #113
The Tom Brevoort Experience 