BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #199

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

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #198

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

BHOC: IRON MAN #113

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

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #197

It seems like forever since we spoke about the issue of FANTASTIC FOUR that came out before this one. A side effect of me starting to find comic shops and regularly buy back issues as well as new books. But FANTASTIC FOUR was still my favorite series at this point, and I was very much … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #197

BHOC: IRON MAN #112

This was the second issue of IRON MAN that I bought new off the spinner rack at my regular 7-11, and it wasn't a book that I particularly cared for. I know this, because a few years later I traded it away for something else. Of the classic Marvel characters, Iron Man was perhaps the … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #112

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #196

It was always a red-letter day when a new issue of FANTASTIC FOUR would show up on the spinner rack at my local 7-11. FANTASTIC FOUR had swiftly become my favorite comic book at the time, and so I was hungry for the continuing adventures of the cosmic quartet. This particular entry was still in … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #196

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #195

A month had gone by, and there was no more welcome sight than a new issue of FANTASTIC FOUR arriving on the Spinner Rack at my local 7-11. This issue was one of those odd books where my younger brother Ken subsequently bought his own copy a week or two later, so there were two … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #195

5BC: Five Times Marvel Misappropriated Characters

Most long-running comic book companies, if they're in business for long enough and have a wide enough diversity of creators working on their releases, reach a point at which those creators begin to pull inspiration for their stories and characters from other media. Comics in general have a long history of reflecting the trends of … Continue reading 5BC: Five Times Marvel Misappropriated Characters

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #194

An exciting day at the 7-11 when a new issue of FANTASTIC FOUR showed up. This one was the second half of a two-parter featuring Diablo and Darkoth the Death-Demon, and was set during the year when the FF had broken up, with each member going his or her own separate way. I didn't believe … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #194

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #193

As usual, it was an exciting day when a new issue of FANTASTIC FOUR turned up on my 7-11's spinner rack. We were in the midst of an extended "FF breaks up" storyline, one that had been running virtually since I began buying new issues, and I was very much invested in what was going … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #193